Theyve taken all my money - HELP!

[Scaggy]

Re: Theyve taken all my money - HELP!

Could that have been due to a leak somewhere of heavy electricity? link

Just looked at the sight. It mentions heavy soup!!! I cant afford soup!!!!!!! Thanks for the giggle!!!!

[PlanB]

Re: Theyve taken all my money - HELP!

You've been a busy lady

I've been looking into these Woolwich Open Plan Offset mortgages which are most unusual. It seems you have a mortgage where the interest due is offset against any savings or income paid into the account however temporarily. But then if you want to borrow more money instead of giving you a further advance the bank creates a serperate overdraft facility. Have I got that right? So this means that the bank reduced the limit on the overdraft last week but didn't alter the original mortgage - because it can't.

I think it would help if you were to take a close look at the overdraft Ts & Cs since if it's a different product and it may have different rules for the bank to break I also wonder whether the bank can seek possession proceedings of your house if the *mortgage* is not in arrears (you're working on that!) but only the seperate overdraft facility is, because surely that would be a completely different court recovery route. Maybe the Woolwich already knows this which is why they haven't made your life hell for the past two years even though you admit to being over your limit with arrears too.

Think carefully what you plan to say before you write that letter to the bank. I would be seeking to ask questions and not be too willing to provide answers at this stage. You need an explanation of exactly why they reduced your overdraft limit without notice and under what lawful authority did they think they could do this. And unless you've saved a copy of the overdraft's original Ts & Cs maybe you should be asking them to provide you with a copy of those too. These should have been refreshed and sent to you again every year I have been told

This bank has shown immense forebearance with your overlimit and arrears situations over two long years which makes me highly suspicious of their motives. Banks don't play nicely unless they're in the wrong

[Scaggy]

Re: Theyve taken all my money - HELP!

Hi Plan B,

I have written a letter but your right, I have given them too many answers. I should keep it simple! Oh and you are right about how the mortgage works. it is the open plan offset.

I am adjusting the letter to include everyones advice!

I have found my terms and conditions for my mortgage. We took it out for 150k. When they capped the mortgage i was £1000 under this so I dont understand. The terms do not say anything about reducing the reserve limit or notice periods.

I called them and asked for an explanation but the absolute twaddle that the guy gave me didnt add up!! He said I took a mortgage out for 146k???? And we capped it because we had gone over our limit. And I hadnt?? He also said my account will be frozen if i dont clear my overlimit and arrears at the end of march.

The reserve is secured on the property and is not a normal overdraft.

Cheers all

[mgfboy]

Re: Theyve taken all my money - HELP!

I've never seen this happen on a openplan before, but I seem to remember a woolwich rep once saying that they do reserve the right to remover the facility if the account isn't conducted in a proper manner and by that I mean if they account doesn't get regular payments in ( unless a formal payment holiday us asked for) , the funny thing is if you draw down all the money paid it into another account and them transfered it back they would be none the wiser!!!!!

[Scaggy]

Re: Theyve taken all my money - HELP!

The strange thing is I have conducted the account very well. We dont go over the reserve and we never have done. We have struggled on 4 payments recently on the mortgage, not the reserve. But we have kept payments up on the reserve. We have never missed anything.

On the mortgage front we agreed on the phone to pay £603 mortgage and £97 towards arrears. We were told to make payments over this and next month.

Then low and behold, wages go in, £700 goes out to them and next day wallop - they take it all leaving me with nothing. Stuck in town. No notice.

AAAAARRRGGGHH! I think I need to do something to relax! A pint it is!!

[Scaggy]

Re: Theyve taken all my money - HELP!

Well, I cant afford that.

A coffee it is!!!!!

[PlanB]

Re: Theyve taken all my money - HELP!

Does the tenants' rent go into the *mortgage* account or the *reserve* account, and is that rent enough to cover the current monthly mortgage payments due even if it isn't enough to contribute to any reduction in the arrears. Also do you pay both your and your husband's income into the reserve account and not the offset mortgage

I only ask because the bank may not be not looking at your accounts in a holistic way and may be using this payment hierarchy against you when judging your financial performance (i.e. money in) in isolation and not in overall total payments across the accounts You may win them over by paying into the accounts in a different order.

Your new HSBC account sounds promising though. Nothing like a clean slate

[Scaggy]

Re: Theyve taken all my money - HELP!

Thanks for the replies.
Just an update on where we are at:
New account with HSBC should be open by end of week.
Then we will move all our direct debits and get wages put in there at end of month.
We have also sent a letter to formal complaints and we have taken advice from your posts. A simple letter giving no answers but demanding an explanation as to why the reserve was reduced without the contractual notice.
Aslo some questions on whyn they had agreed for me to pay £700 per month and then took all the money.
Also at the start point of the IVA. So its all happening.

A question I need some help with though:
Whats best to do with the Woolwich? We are in a position where we have had direct debits not gone thru and charges are clocking up? Currently at £72.
Whats best to do. We cant pay the mortgage as the tenant is moving out of our house on 1st april. We also cant pay the charges and the overdraft charge because they have taken all the money.

Any advice would be great. I just dont know how to deal with them and I am worried they will keep increasing the charges!!!

[PlanB]

Re: Theyve taken all my money - HELP!

Shepherdess made that good suggestion earlier that you should ask the Woolwich to refund all those charges and re-instate your reserve account OD limit which they took away without notice as part of your formal complaint. If you gave them 14 days to respond to your letter (sent yesterday) then you should at least know where you stand with them well before the end of the month when your next mortgage payment is due.

In my experience even if you get a buyer for your property straight away it will still take about 3 - 4 months to complete on the sale while everyone messes about with lawyers, surveyors and mortgage brokers so maybe you could take a new tenant from April 1st on a 6 month tenancy agreement? The new buyer might even want to keep them after that time if it's a good investment for them

[CleverClogs (RIP)]

Re: Theyve taken all my money - HELP!

Whats best to do with the Woolwich?

I'd recommend isopropyl methyl phosphanofluoridate.

[Undercover Elsa]

Re: Theyve taken all my money - HELP!

Assuming you can entice them into a Tokyo subway...

Scaggy...As above..make a formal complaint to Woolwich..you can't go to FOS till you've had a final response to your complaint from Woolwich.

Shep x

[Scaggy]

Re: Theyve taken all my money - HELP!

Well all, heres an update:

Formal complaint gone in.

House now officially on market.

IVA paperwork done.

HSBC account should be set up soon. Just waiting for paperwork.

Thank you all .

I will let you know the outcome of my events. And you have all been very helpful through a sticky time!

[Undercover Elsa]

Re: Theyve taken all my money - HELP!

Well done Scaggy!!

[Scaggy]

Re: Theyve taken all my money - HELP!

Hello all.

Heres an update on what progressed so far. You have all been so helpful and I would like to hear any views on whats happened. I dont know if its good news or not!

so....

HSBC is now open and all direct debits and salary operates from it.

Woolwich - The reserve: After much tooing and frowing and complaint letters the Woolwich have sent a reply. They have admitted that they should have told us they were capping my reserve. They have upped it by £1300 for us and told us we can withdraw all of this tomorrow.

When the reserve was capped they took £2100 from us.

Is this a good offer. the recent performance of the account is not great as I have arrears.

Just wondering if I should take the money out and still try to get the rest or just drop it.

They have said they will not reimburse any charges for failed direct debits which will be taken out of whats left for me to with draw. (so only £1100 to take out.)

I hope you understand that!!!!

Thanks all!

[mgfboy]

Re: Theyve taken all my money - HELP!

Hello all.

Heres an update on what progressed so far. You have all been so helpful and I would like to hear any views on whats happened. I dont know if its good news or not!

so....

HSBC is now open and all direct debits and salary operates from it.

Woolwich - The reserve: After much tooing and frowing and complaint letters the Woolwich have sent a reply. They have admitted that they should have told us they were capping my reserve. They have upped it by £1300 for us and told us we can withdraw all of this tomorrow.

When the reserve was capped they took £2100 from us.

Is this a good offer. the recent performance of the account is not great as I have arrears.

Just wondering if I should take the money out and still try to get the rest or just drop it.

They have said they will not reimburse any charges for failed direct debits which will be taken out of whats left for me to with draw. (so only £1100 to take out.)

I hope you understand that!!!!

Thanks all!

When you say they took £2100 from you, do you mean they reduced your facility by that, or was it £2100 of your own money???