One Account rates cut

lrr_2

As most people have put their savings into their one account to make it work better, surely they wouldnt do it to us would they?

Dont know whether to now to take all my savings out and just leave in the bare minimum now....

Any thoughts?

Saran_2

Saran wrote: »

Had a quick re-read of Section A: 1.1.1 - 1.1.7, I could be wrong, but it seems that as long as you stick on the straight and narrow and don't drop off the repayment guide, they can't force you to reduce your facility.




They have however introduced a pretty comprehensive set of if's that could trip you up and allow them to reduce the facility -

• must have regular payments into the account
• provide evidence of ability to meet repayment guide
• meet repayment guide or they could provide discipline to achieve the guide by reducing the facility
• any reduction in income

plus from Condition 5

• significant reduction in property value

Posted this earlier on the thread about the new Terms and Conditions.

They also have started doing phone reviews of whether you want to keep large facilities if you have a low balance. Just say YES!

So you can agree to lower the facility but can't be forced.

lrr_2

Ive had one of those phone reviews, thought it was a bit intrusive as payments are always made. I dont think you should get one if your account is running fine. Also tried the hard-sell on their insurance as well. Not impressed.

97trophy

Saran wrote: »

They also have started doing phone reviews of whether you want to keep large facilities if you have a low balance. Just say YES!
.

We had the phone call about 6 weeks ago. They told us they were speaking to all one account customers.

They were very polite. I would not say they were pushy but they were quite inquiring about my plans with the facility. I said I was being cautious during this recession but had firm plans to spend once recovery came.

That is the first time I have heard from them since opening the account in 1998.

I dont blame the staff its the senior management that cause all the problems.

97trophy

lrr wrote: »

I dont think you should get one if your account is running fine. .

I agree, RBS are clearly desperate.

JODEUK

We had our Foundations mortgage credit limit reduced overnight with no notice in effect taking nearly £40K of our savings. The surplus that they have now taken is 8 years worth of savings, shares we have sold, tax rebates, bonuses etc. We regularly transferred any surplus cash in to save for holidays, large household purchases etc. Unless we could prove (with invoices/contracts ) that we were comitted to spend the money within the next four weeks then they will not take our mortgage back to the original amount. They didn't even have the decency to notify us in writing until after the event, I only discovered it when I went online to transfer some funds back to our current account.
We have had no choice but to re-mortgage at a higher rate to recover the money so that we can complete our extension and be able to pay for our holiday. If for one second we thought they could do this we would have kept our savings in separate accounts. The oiginal press release for this mortgage clearly states

"Customers may borrow up to 90% of their property's value and can raise the borrowing back up to that level at any time during the life of the mortgage. They must make monthly payments to cover the interest on the loan, but can choose how and when to pay off the capital.

Overpayments can be made at any time and can be :

Withdrawn at any time
used to fund a repayment holiday
left in the account permanently to reduce the outstanding balance or reduce the remaining term of the mortgage "

Were we mis sold this product as now they have taken all surplus funds as being a reduction in the outstanding balance ?

We have registered a formal complaint with Natwest.

Soooo angry !!! as our new mortgage is unlikely to come through before Christmas. Not that we want or need the money for that but it makes my blood boil to think they have withdrawn so much money from so many.:mad:

No doubt they will get bonuses paid our on their yearend balance sheet/ cashflow improvement too !!

Saran_2

JODEUK wrote: »

We have registered a formal complaint with Natwest.

When you get your "final letter" from RBS it is well worth continuing on to the Financial Ombudsman Service. If you have the original t&c that show how the account should operate and RBS have unilaterally changed them then you stand a good chance of being successful. (see earlier in this thread where RBS have been held to "marketing" promise and now have to pay up).

They seem to think they can do what they like, with no come back - don't they understand how hated they are at the moment?

Saran_2

97trophy wrote: »

That is the first time I have heard from them since opening the account in 1998.

97Trophy,

Have you formally complained to OA then gone to the FOS regarding the OA rate policy?

As you held the account when the "rate promises" were made between 1999-2001 you are almost certain to be successful - the only outstanding hiccup is whether facility changes reset the account t&c and the Ombudsman should rule on that soon.

TheDame_2

TheDame wrote: »

Hi there. I have been with V1 since about 99 and wondered what I need to do to claim? My understanding always was that the rate changes would follow BofE on the day either up or down. Until 'that point' when they decided to start screwing us over. I understand someone has been successful in their claim, and I would like to know what steps I need to go through to claim some form of recompense, and also ask if winning would then mean a sudden change to your rates so that they follow BofE again. Thanks a lot.

Reposting the above. I could really do with some help as we are having financial difficulties. Cheers.

Saran_2

Hi TheDame,

Should be straight forward as waiting times at the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) seem to have come down alot.

1. Make a formal complaint to the One Account (OA) about the fact that their rates have stopped tracking the Bank of England (BoE) base rate despite the OA promise made in their marketing material between 1999 and 2001. Ask them for their "final response letter", as you cannot proceed to the FOS until you have this.

2. Contact the FOS - (details below - copied from their website).
They are extremely friendly and do not expect you to be a legal expert - just outline the problem. Worth mentioning that you are aware of similar cases that have been successful recently.

phone their consumer helpline on 0300 123 9 123
(8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday)
They'll be happy to phone you back, if you're worried about the cost of calling them.
email [EMAIL="complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk"]complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk[/EMAIL]

3. Await decision. If you have been with them since 1999, received all the "promises" then it should be straight forward. As said earlier, Ombudsman still to decide whether a facility change effectively resets the terms and conditions.

4. Be aware - there are two different solutions made at different stages. Initially your complaint will be handled by an adjudicator. If he rejects it you can appeal to an Ombudsman.

Decisions already reached by adjudicators have offered a "settlement". This has been a refund of money equal to the overpayments made up to the point of the decision, then a compensation amount and a free move to another RBS mortgage.

The Ombudsman decision effectively forced OA to track the BoE base rate back from April 2008 and ONWARDS.

My advice would be to hold out for the ONWARDS decision.

Good luck.