MSE News: Senior MSE figure appointed to official Consumer Panel

Please if you do nothing else do whatever you can to end the debt spiral bank charges cause. Its not in banks or customers interest so why does it continue to happen (as if by design?).

Congratulations. Sounds like customers at least have a chance of being heard and that must be a good thing

would be nice to get the FSA to enforce their own rules such as MCOB.

(i'm currently reclaiming mortgage arrears charges/fees and the FOS say they're fair, without having asked the bank for a breakdown, as it's a market rate).

the FSA say to get a breakdown as their rules state these must cover admin costs only. When the bank won't give me this and the FOS won't ask (because they won't investigate mortgage arrears charges/fees) and the FSA don't look into consumer complaints, who do i go to? The FOS say the follow FSA Handbook rules.

so there's many thousands of pounds that i can't reclaim but the bank has got off me and keeps applying more and more.

Milarky wrote: »

Sounds like FOS are merely following the rules established, before the fact, by the FSA.

I think they're NOT following the rules. FSA MCOB 12.4.1R says mortgage arrears charges must reflect admin costs only and common law on penalties and UTCCR say such higher than costs charges may be unfair and hence unenforceable.

The FSA tell me I need to get a breakdown from the bank to show they are/not complying with this MCOB rule (or UTCCR). I can't get this breakdown.

The FOS say they cannot investigate mortgage arrears fees because no-one has yet said they fair or unfair and its not in their remit. They say the OFT report on credit card charges does not apply. They say the personal current account charges test case last year applies.

The FOS also say they don't have to follow the law (hence won't look at common law and UTCCR) but i've queried how the adjudicator has come to his conclusion that the charges are fair (because it says in the contract that they can charge me and because i breached this term) without obtaining a breakdown of the charges and considering the law. He says it's not in his remit to investigate the charges but then has made a decision that they are fair. I've asked him to either consider (and show how he's done that) the charges or if not, then don't refer to them in the decision (because he cannot make a comment on something that is not in his remit).

The FOS's own annual report of 2009 says they look into arrears fees yet when i asked the adjudicator what internal rules/regulations he followed in making his decision, he pointed me to the FSA handbook as 'guiding' them. But the handbook says arrears charges must reflect costs so why didn't he follow this rule?

Its just a mess and the adjudicator is making things up to prove his decision which was biased from the beginning (he told me in the first instance that he considers the charges fair because they follow market rates).

New one on me GEMA .....http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/About%20us/Authority/Pages/TheAuthority.aspx

tifo wrote: »

I've queried how the adjudicator has come to his conclusion .... I've asked him to either consider (and show how he's done that) the charges [are fair] or if not, then don't refer to them in the decision (because he cannot make a comment on something that is not in his remit).

Its just a mess and the adjudicator is making things up to prove his decision which was biased from the beginning (he told me in the first instance that he considers the charges fair because they follow market rates).

As a tactic, rather than going to 'service review' (after the Ombudsman this gets referred to makes their 'final decision' and agrees pretty well with everything their Adjudicator has said - as they're wont to do) writing to the Chief Ombudsman in person inviting her to get involved [ex 'service review'] could be of assistance to you. It worked for me.

Otherwise, good luck with trying to get answers.