One Account rates cut

bunking_off

97trophy wrote: »

I agree, RBS are clearly desperate.

Regards the review calls, I'm no supporter of RBS (just a 70% share...), but they make these calls periodically so it's not necessarily an indicator of their financial straits. I got one approx 3 years ago, and at the time reduced my facility because it nudged me onto a lower interest rate. I got another a few weeks ago, and politely declined as it was entirely for their benefit and did nothing for me.

TheDame_2

Saran wrote: »

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.

Saran, thats fantastic info thanks. Do I need to be in posession of the 'promises'? Obviously I was sent the same as everyone else at the time. It seems unfair that they don't automatically have to give restitution to everyone in this position.

I shall start with your step one, an official complaint letter. Many many thanks!

Saran_2

TheDame wrote: »

Do I need to be in posession of the 'promises'?

The FOS has said in its decisions that the letters were sent out - so if you were an account holder during the 1999-2001 period then they accept that you will have received one.

TheDame_2

Woo Hoo! That's great. I guess the last question (for now) is do I have to state what was said in the letters, or supply dates etc. or can I just say that we were promised the rates would track BofE?

Thanks Saran, you're a star!

Saran_2

You were PROMISED that the One Account would follow the BoE base rate, and it did until April 08:

0.25% cut not passed on in April 08
0.25% increase (no base rate change) July 08
0.5% not passed on after the Nov 08 1.5% base rate cut
0.3% not passed on as part of the Jan 09 0.5% base rate cut
0.5% not passed on as part of the Feb 09 0.5% base rate cut
0.25% not passed on as part of the March 0.5% Base rate cut

You want them to restore the account to follow the BoE base rate with the margin that existed in March 08 (ie about 1.1% - 1.3% depending on banding).

TheDame_2

Thanks Saran!!!!!!!!

karanda

TheDame wrote: »

Saran, thats fantastic info thanks. Do I need to be in posession of the 'promises'? Obviously I was sent the same as everyone else at the time. It seems unfair that they don't automatically have to give restitution to everyone in this position.

I shall start with your step one, an official complaint letter. Many many thanks!

See my post today - Good luck!

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=29312607&highlight=rbs+one+account+interest+rates#post29312607

TheDame_2

Hard to believe that it is just over a year since I posted!

I submitted my complaint to RBS asking for a final decision - rejected the complaint.

I then went and complained to the FOS and the adjudicator partially agreed and recommended a small amount of compo (this did not include repayment of any extra interest). This was rejected by RBS!!! I rejected it as well, submitted some more evidence and it is now waiting to go to the ombudsman in the next couple of weeks, so I have fingers crossed. Just to add, we never changed out facility.

In any event, I thanks those who earlier offered advice - especially Saran. I won't comment on the exact details of my complaint, but having put it all together, I DO feel I have a good case. What's more, I also think that RBS has not shown themselves to be behaving in a particularly good light...

So, see what happens, and I will post the final result here when I get it.

Just also wondered if anyone else has been successful and to what degree in the past year...

Dame

Saran_2

Good luck with the Ombudsman. RBS will not be able to reject this outcome.

Have finally been able to remortgage away from One Account - not that they care! - but a great relief not to have to worry about the OA rate when the base rate starts heading up.

TheDame_2

Thanks Saran!

We are not in a position to remortgage unfortunately, so we are stuck with V1.

"but a great relief not to have to worry about the OA rate when the base rate starts heading up."
Are you suggesting that they will track the rates up, after not tracking them down...:p

We are desperately hoping the omnbudsman will accept our complaint, rather than the weasel words and trying to hide behind small print that OA seemes intent on.

I am keen to share my experiences, but only once the decision is made. If you have any advice or experience re any other arguments that may be helpful, it would be great if you could email me. I understand though if you can't or uncomfortable to.

Biting my nails here :-(