Mortgage question

[lookingforward]

Re: Mortgage question

Letter rec'd today to my Mrs dated 7th May stating they have tried to contact by telephone today without success in order to discuss your account. Please call our office on xyz as soon as possible.

Now I'm assuming this is some form of automated letter because she doesn't have an agreed repayment plan with them at the moment. They haven't got the phone number so no wonder they didn't have any success ringing, they always ask for it but the she always says they don't need it and they leave it at that.
Either way she won't be phoning them, the letter was dated 10 working days into the 20 they said they needed to investigate the complaint, we are now at 12 working days. She's going to ignore this, is that correct ?

[lookingforward]

Re: Mortgage question

Hi Plan B,

Do you think it's OK to ignore ?

Thx

[PlanB]

Re: Mortgage question

Hi Plan B, Do you think it's OK to ignore ?

Golly, are you implying that I'm ignoring you


Seriously though, I'll reply fully tomorrow. You're right to guess it was an auto-generated letter but it also gives you an opportunity to write back and so add to your paper trail.

[lookingforward]

Re: Mortgage question

Haha as if I would

Thx

[PlanB]

Re: Mortgage question

the letter was dated 10 working days into the 20 they said they needed to investigate the complaint, we are now at 12 working days. She's going to ignore this, is that correct ?

Your complaint is trundling though the lender's complaint process. They said they needed 20 days to investigate although I'm not sure how they got to that prediction but who cares.

You're right, I can see no reason to respond. They weren't asking you for anything, and they weren't telling you anything you didn't already know which is that they say that they need 20 days to investigate. For some silly reason they decided to write to you after 10 days to tell you what they had already told you which is the investigation will take 20 days.

Actually that letter wasn't really written to your Mrs it was written with the FOS in mind because the lender knows full well that's where this file will end up. They're laying a paper trail in the vain hope that the FOS will think they're the Good Guys.

[lookingforward]

Re: Mortgage question

Your complaint is trundling though the lender's complaint process. They said they needed 20 days to investigate although I'm not sure how they got to that prediction but who cares.

You're right, I can see no reason to respond. They weren't asking you for anything, and they weren't telling you anything you didn't already know which is that they say that they need 20 days to investigate. For some silly reason they decided to write to you after 10 days to tell you what they had already told you which is the investigation will take 20 days.

Actually that letter wasn't really written to your Mrs it was written with the FOS in mind because the lender knows full well that's where this file will end up. They're laying a paper trail in the vain hope that the FOS will think they're the Good Guys.

Yes their letter was just asking her to ring to discuss the account and we've had similar before when there is no payment plan set up.

Today she's received a reply to the complaint which is 4 pages so I'll try and summarize as best I can :-)

Re the service rec'd in the telephone conversation (this was about being bullied on the phone) they listened back to the conversation and have upheld the complaint and passed on these concerns to the relevent manager to address with the individual concerned and have acknowledged the fact that she now wants written communication only because of this and have asked that she reponds to any written requests.

Re the validity of the SPO previously granted given the arrears were previously capitalised. Complaint upheld and confirm that if solicitors were instructed again they would re-start the litigation process rather than requesting enforcement of the order. Credit management have been told to update the account to make clear that this is the current position in respect of the previous order.

Re the account monitoring charges. Not upheld as it is clear that the fees applied to the account are in line with the conditions of the mortgage and they believe fair and proportionate to the work undertaken. However as a gesture of goodwill they would like to offer a refund of the monitoring charge incurred for months where they received the contractural monthly payment or more within the calender month. Some of these fees have already been refunded where an agreed arrangement was in place and the payments were maintained. The remaining fees offered total (£1000.00 plus ) are are made up of the following months (details given)

There is a form enclosed to sign to accept the offer and enable the refund to be arranged. They have added a note to state that it will be credited to the mortgage balance as this is where the fees were applied originally. Your arrears balance will therefore not be affected by the refund.

They explain why they ask for information (I & E) in line with the FCA as the arrears accrue interest it is in your best interests to reduce the arrears over as short a period as possible ( I assume this is referring to the fact we stated that £26 would clear the arrears by the end of the term of the loan). They have agreed to the amount for 6 months (assume will then need reviewing).

As a goodwill gesture and in recognition of the service experienced they would like to offer £100 by way of a further apology and again there is an accpetance form to sign.

If the response is unacceptable then there is the FOS etc etc They confirm this is their final response

So quite happy with this as the main point the SPO has been clarified but would have preferred the refund to be taken from the arrears so that reduced down.

As for the £100 goodwill, I'm assuming that is a standard bank amount for complaints of this nature ?

Thanks Plan B for all your help, what do you think of the contents ?

[PlanB]

Re: Mortgage question

That's brilliant news

They've upheld everything you complained about even if they are describing one issue as "not upheld" but they'll refund you £1,000 as a gesture of Goodwill anyway. That'll do.

They've confirmed that they cannot use the old SPO to evict you and they're going to make sure their Credit Management team note that on the file to prevent it happening by accident. This must be a huge relief.

I think you're saying that they have agreed to accept a payment of £26 per month towards the arrears for the next six months which is great. It sets a benchmark for accepting it for another six months after that and beyond especially if your financial circumstances don't change for the better. If it's acceptable to them now then they'd need to have a damn good reason for it becoming unacceptable in six months time.

If they pay that £1k into the mortgage account (not arrears) that in effect reduces the overall outstanding balance so the interest charged on it will be reduced albeit by only a few pence.

All I can say about £100 compensation for making you're life miserable is that's never going to be enough but I believe it's the standard going rate. It will cover four months' arrears payments so not all bad

I doubt you'll have any more trouble from them after this. I also can't see any reason to progress the complaint to the FOS unless you want to. You've achieved what you set out to achieve. Well done you!

[cookie2112]

Re: Mortgage question

Great news lookingforward, really pleased for you!

[lookingforward]

Re: Mortgage question

That's brilliant news

They've upheld everything you complained about even if they are describing one issue as "not upheld" but they'll refund you £1,000 as a gesture of Goodwill anyway. That'll do.

They've confirmed that they cannot use the old SPO to evict you and they're going to make sure their Credit Management team note that on the file to prevent it happening by accident. This must be a huge relief.

I think you're saying that they have agreed to accept a payment of £26 per month towards the arrears for the next six months which is great. It sets a benchmark for accepting it for another six months after that and beyond especially if your financial circumstances don't change for the better. If it's acceptable to them now then they'd need to have a damn good reason for it becoming unacceptable in six months time.

If they pay that £1k into the mortgage account (not arrears) that in effect reduces the overall outstanding balance so the interest charged on it will be reduced albeit by only a few pence.

All I can say about £100 compensation for making you're life miserable is that's never going to be enough but I believe it's the standard going rate. It will cover four months' arrears payments so not all bad

I doubt you'll have any more trouble from them after this. I also can't see any reason to progress the complaint to the FOS unless you want to. You've achieved what you set out to achieve. Well done you!

Yes it's fantastic isn't it, thanks again for all your help and yes they agreed to the £26.00 extra for 6 months. That's actually quite long for them it's normally 3 months

ps I'd love to be a fly on the wall when the advisor gets his "pep talk"

[lookingforward]

Re: Mortgage question

Great news lookingforward, really pleased for you!

Thank you

[cymruambyth]

Re: Mortgage question

Well done on your success and thanks to PlanB for her expertise and help.

[IF]

Re: Mortgage question

Here's to lookingforward and planB, well done both

[CleverClogs (RIP)]

Re: Mortgage question

I see my last post on this thread has also disappeared.

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Mortgage question

I see my last post on this thread has also disappeared.

What post and when? If it involves idiots or amateur pretend forums posts do get deleted.

[CleverClogs (RIP)]

Re: Mortgage question

What post and when? If it involves idiots or amateur pretend forums posts do get deleted.

The second post did allude to He-Who-Is-Not-To-Be-Named, but my previous post did not - it merely suggested that, as an act of contrition, the CEO of the mortgage company should kiss or lick the backside of their customer which - of course - won't happen, even metaphorically. I also averred that the probability of the telephone bully having to attend an "interview without coffee" would be vanishingly small, as he would doubtless have been "only obeying orders".