Getting no-where with Halifax mortgage complaint

[PriorityOne]

Re: Getting no-where with Halifax mortgage complaint

Hi Missy..... I thought PlanB was on this one?

[PlanB]

Re: Getting no-where with Halifax mortgage complaint

does anyone have chance to review my response to FOS? I need to reply to them tomorrow (Friday).

You sure know how to make a girl feel guilty

I'm assuming your reply to the FOS will be by email so if I get back to you tomorrow morning that should be ok to meet your deadline

My own life is a bit topsy turvy at the moment while I battle Lowells, Arrow, MKDP etc on a daily basis

[PlanB]

Re: Getting no-where with Halifax mortgage complaint

Hi Missy..... I thought PlanB was on this one?

Point taken

[SA Gold]

Re: Getting no-where with Halifax mortgage complaint

Hi Missy..... I thought PlanB was on this one?

Hi P1,
I believe PlanB is but thought I should ask the forum just in case she hasn't got time to post back before tomorrow morning.
thanks
Missy

[SA Gold]

Re: Getting no-where with Halifax mortgage complaint

Hi PlanB,
many thanks for posting. Sorry to hear about your daily battles!
He brill if you could post a reply.
thanks in advance,
missy

[PlanB]

Re: Getting no-where with Halifax mortgage complaint

Hi PlanB,
many thanks for posting. Sorry to hear about your daily battles!
He brill if you could post a reply.

Don't worry, I'll make you my priority

[SA Gold]

Re: Getting no-where with Halifax mortgage complaint

Don't worry, I'll make you my priority

Aw thanks PlanB! Sorry for the guilt trip - not indended

[PlanB]

Re: Getting no-where with Halifax mortgage complaint

I do hope my comments about your FOS letter didn't sound bossy What I meant was the Adjudicator's last email to you implied that she had already made up her mind to reject your complaint so you now need to convince her why she should uphold it from a bold stance. It's about attitude not content. Sorry if I offended you This is how I would approach it but you should be yourself in any letter you write. See this as inspiration not criticism.

Dear Adjudicator,

I have reviewed my file on receipt of your letter dated xxxx which caused me some concern. I felt that you had decided the outcome of my complaint prior to seeing all my evidence. You seemed to be relying on what you (as a professional) would expect from the situation rather than what I (as an ordinary member of the public) would have expected at the time. My expectations will be very different from yours.

In your letter you say "in a basic valuation I would only expect to see a fairly basic inspection to be carried out" which I see as a generalization. Would you hold the same view if someone, such as myself, had made the effort to research exactly what that inspection would include before parting with a hefty £350 fee? I was provided with that information for a reason. It was to give me the opportunity to select the appropriate level of service I required. I am not a rich man and £350 is a lot of money to me especially at a time when I was paying for all the other associated costs with purchasing a property such as legal fees. I took this expenditure seriously.

I was aware that the survey was being carried out so that the lender could decide whether they should lend on the property, and not for my specific benefit. Nevertheless I was involved in the decision making. My decision was based on having sight of exactly what would and what wouldn't be carried during the inspection. The information on the surveyor's website clearly stated "insert the bit about inspecting the roof void" and there was no ambiguity (see Document No 1 attached). This didn't happen and I have suffered financially as a direct result and that is the basis of my complaint to the FOS. I have been advised that by failing to carry out the service as described on their website the surveyor is in breach of the Misrepresentations Act 1967 and I should be entitled to the appropriate damages.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1967/7/section/2

After the survey had been carried out I received a document from HBOS entitled "Halifax Survey" (see Document 2 attached). It is for this reason that I feel that HBOS should take full responsibility for my loss and not the surveyor.

That letter (report/survey?)from HBOS contained nothing to cause alarm and nothing that hinted at the need for further investigation. If the report had flagged up any concerns I would have reacted by obtaining a more detailed inspection of any problems it highlighted. But none were highlighted so HBOS' claim that I should have got another survey as stated in their Guidance Notes (insert that quote) is completely irrelevant (see Document 3 attached). Common sense says I wouldn't commission a second survey just in case the first survey missed out inspecting all of the things it said would be included in the survey printed in black and white on its website.

There are other inconsistences between what the surveyor's website promised before the survey took place, and what HBOS' Report stated after the survey had been carried out. For example (insert the bit about discussing things with the surveyor). The Guidance Notes read like a legal disclaimer but it was provided to me after the event took place so it has no legal standing in my view.

I made my complaint to the FOS because I reached deadlock in my attempts to resolve this direct with HBOS who I feel have stonewalled me from the start. I have now discovered that the surveyors known as Colleys are in fact a trading name of HBOS and not an independent business. It's now become obvious that HBOS was not in a position to take an objective or impartial view of the situation and sanction the surveyor since the lender would in fact be criticising itself and therefore admitting liability. I believe that this is the reason that HBOS has not resolved this issue.

Furthermore since then Colleys (aka HBOS) has amended their website to remove the roof void inspection from the list of included items from the Valuation Survey. This suggests to me that I am not alone in challenging the lender's conduct and they have reacted accordingly (see attached Document 4) (add link to new website or printout).

The bottom line is I have had to pay a considerable sum of money to make urgent remedial repairs to the property as a direct result of the surveyor failing to carry out the job as described. I can further confirm that if I had been made aware of any roof defects or any associated issues with the chimney stack inside the roof void I would have obtained estimates for the work to consider whether I should have remained committed to the purchase. If the quote had suggested the £1,000 it subsequently cost me, I would have immediately contacted the vendor and asked for a price reduction to cover the expense. I am confident that this would have been a successful negotiation since the vendor was seeking a quick sale and would not have risked losing me as their purchaser.

I have enclosed/attached the receipts for the cost of the work to the roof/chimney and to the ceiling (see attached Document(s) No 5 - 7) (don't mention your boyfriend did the ceiling labour because that implies he knows a bit about buildings when you need to come across as pig ignorant). You may recall that we were experiencing the wettest winter/spring for many years on record at the time I purchased this property (insert date). The roof works were urgent and could not be delayed until I could comfortably afford to pay for the work which put me in a perilous position with my cash-flow. If I hadn't carried out the work the condition of the roof would have rapidly deteriorated which would have had a detrimental effect on the fabric of the building. This in turn would have had a negative impact on its market value. HBOS should be pleased that I have repaired and maintained the property to a high standard. In contrast they have made my life living hell with lost paperwork, refusal to acknowledge my mortgage even exists and other errors.

The resolution I am seeking is as follows:

(a) £XXXXX in full refund of the cost of the works.
(b) £XXX in full refund of the cost of the survey which was incomplete
(c) compensation for the stress and inconvenience due to poor service levels from HBOS who have been both unhelpful and obstructive throughout this complaint process, which has come at a time when I should be enjoying my new home.

Yours sincerely,

Ms Pissed Off Missy

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Getting no-where with Halifax mortgage complaint

^^^ very good. I'd use that Missy. The FOS need a slightly different approach; the above is really good.

Thanks planB

[SA Gold]

Re: Getting no-where with Halifax mortgage complaint



Plan B,
Thank you so much for taking the time to do this for me. I will get that with the attachments e-mailed over this afternoon.
Thanks so much.
Missy

Edit

I do hope my comments about your FOS letter didn't sound bossy What I meant was the Adjudicator's last email to you implied that she had already made up her mind to reject your complaint so you now need to convince her why she should uphold it from a bold stance. It's about attitude not content. Sorry if I offended you This is how I would approach it but you should be yourself in any letter you write. See this as inspiration not criticism.

Not at all. You are a million times better at letter writing than me. Simples!

[PlanB]

Re: Getting no-where with Halifax mortgage complaint

I deliberately left out the bit about the roof void being inspected by the surveyor's "head and shoulders" only so as not to draw attention to it. If she questions this point then you should explain that you noticed the 'water' problem using your "head and shoulders" from the loft hatch, therefore a fully qualified surveyor should be *expected* to notice these things too. Why else was he there if it wasn't to sniff out problems based on his vast qualifications

Leave the door open with a line at the end inviting her to ring you if she hasn't understood your position.

If you don't like her response you can escalate it to an Ombudsman which will take a few months and give me more time to seek out case law to quote. Surveyors are always getting things wrong which land them in court.

[SA Gold]

Re: Getting no-where with Halifax mortgage complaint

I deliberately left out the bit about the roof void being inspected by the surveyor's "head and shoulders" only so as not to draw attention to it.

Sure, i'll just put the roof void bit.

If she questions this point then you should explain that you noticed the 'water' problem using your "head and shoulders" from the loft hatch, therefore a fully qualified surveyor should be *expected* to notice these things too. Why else was he there if it wasn't to sniff out problems based on his vast qualifications

Leave the door open with a line at the end inviting her to ring you if she hasn't understood your position.

Will do.
Thanks Plan B. i'll let you know how i get on

[PlanB]

Re: Getting no-where with Halifax mortgage complaint

You may recall that we were experiencing the wettest winter/spring for many years on record at the time I purchased this property (insert date). The roof works were urgent and could not be delayed until I could comfortably afford to pay for the work which put me in a perilous position with my cash-flow. If I hadn't carried out the work the condition of the roof would have rapidly deteriorated which would have had a detrimental effect on the fabric of the building. This in turn would have had a negative impact on its market value. HBOS should be pleased that I have repaired and maintained the property to a high standard.

If I'm not too late maybe you should emphasis the point that the surveyor failed to notice something (roof defects) that would have been in the lender's interest to be told when making an assessment for valuation purposes not just of interest to you (if you follow me). Sorry if I'm not making sense but I've got a lot of *stuff* going on at the moment and my head's in a spin

[SA Gold]

Re: Getting no-where with Halifax mortgage complaint

If I'm not too late maybe you should emphasis the point that the surveyor failed to notice something (roof defects) that would have been in the lender's interest to be told when making an assessment for valuation purposes not just of interest to you (if you follow me). Sorry if I'm not making sense but I've got a lot of *stuff* going on at the moment and my head's in a spin

I saw this just prior to sending although with my boss lurking around was happy to get the amazing reply (thanks a million!) with relevant attachments sent.

I'll keep you posted.

[PlanB]

Re: Getting no-where with Halifax mortgage complaint

Just out of interest who did you pay for the survey? Was the cheque made out to Colleys or HBOS? I was surprised to see that the FOS didn't question the fact you may not have entered into a contract with HBOS (unless you paid them direct). This would definitely be an issue if you took it to court. How can they breach a contract that doesn't exist