Complaint to Northern Rock Cancelling PPI - Advice Please!

bumblebee_3

Hi there,

I have a loan with Northern Rock and wanted to cancel the PPI on it which was £60 pounds per month.

Phoned and spoke to customer services who refused to listen to me for 20 minutes, put me on hold for ten minutes then cut me off. So for the last couple of months I have been sending them the payment for the cash loan by cheque. Have tried in vain for the last month or so to get this sorted out and I have been receiving harassing phone calls from NR saying I am in arrears etc, I have explained the situation and they have never given me a proper explaination as to why I cannot cancel the ppi.

Had a look at MSE and found other people who have had similar experiences and decided to send a letter to complaint (suggested on here) saying I believed I had been mis-sold the policy as when I took the loan out I was basically told to take the PPI as well. This was posted at the weekend.

Anyway, had another call from them this morning (at my work!) and they said that I was in arrears and I told them this was now the matter of a complaint and I had asked for a response in writing within 14 days, they went off the phone quite quickly then. Are they allowed to contact you whilst a complaint is being investigated?

Not totally sure if I could have handled this situation a bit better but wondered if anyone has been in a simiar situation? I hate being harassed on the phone and am feeling like some sort of criminal for making a innocent enquiry and trying to save some money.

Many thanks!

flip01

I took out a £10,000 loan with NR, and took out the PPI, as I thought it gave me a better chance of getting the loan. I got accepted, got the money, and cancelled the PPI within 10 days of being accepted for the loan. BUT- they said I couldent cancel, and after arguing a bit, they CANCELLED my whole £10,000 loan, and made me go through the application process again for a new loan for £10,000 without PPI. Strangely enough, they said the new loan came out at a slight increase of 1% on the APR. They said since it was me *blush* they would reduce it to the same APR as before.

I do believe taking PPI when applying for a loan does make it more likely you will get it.

In your case, did you send written conformation of your intent to cancel your PPI within 28 days of your loan being agreed? They could hold you to that, I suppose.

desmonds

Hi,

I borrowed £18750 from Northern Rock and accepted PPI 'cos it gets you the loan!!

Having got the money I then cancelled within the "cooling off" period which is a consumers legal right.

But, they didn't cancel it and when I quiried it they denied having any record of cancellation.

So, I cancelled the Direct Debit and set up a standing order for the monthly amount minus the PPI and informed them that as i'd cancelled within the cooling off period then this was what I was going to pay.

I refused to go through a new application with them as this would show as another search on my file.

In the end, I did a fresh application minus PPI which cancelled the initial Loan.

Well, tat's what should have happened but guess what they sent me another £18750 as another loan without PPI, so, now I had 2 loans with them totalling £37500 which is impossible as their maximum lend is £25000.

As they had not treated me correctly regarding the PPI I decided to keep the 2nd loan which I had for about 10mths until they agreed that if I was to pay the original loan of £18750 minus what i'd already paid back then they would not charge me any interest on it.
So I had £18750 of their money for nearly a year until they were bending over backwards for me to pay one of the loans back.

Northern Rock customer service is appaling and it served them right for what they did to me.

I am now paying of one loan by standing order which creates extra work for them although they have pestered me to pay by direct debit.

They ought to sort their act out.

If you cancelled within the cooling off period then you have every right to complain but start taking action and only pay what you now should be paying minus PPI.

Good luck

Paul

bumblebee_3

Thanks for replying, I am outwith the 28 days cooling off period but am complaining with the view that they would not give me the loan without the ppi, which is illegal to do.

Will see what happens with this complaint and keep you updated.

Totally agree with you re customer service it is really bad. Might pay by standing order too to annoy them but I figure cheque is worse!

bank_of_slate

Hi bumble bee

Have you read through all the small print that you recieved when you recieved the paperwork for the loan?

Can you find anything in there that says you can/cannot cancel the PPI? If it says you have the option, then quote their own words back to them to strengthen your case.
...Linda xx

bumblebee_3

Thanks Linda, I will have a look and say what it says.

Many thanks

desmonds

Also, quote the Banking code to them and say you will be contacting the Financial Services Authority(FSA) and Banking Ombudsmen about this dreadful issue wih them forcing you to take PPI.

I totally agree that the PPI is your choice and they are absolutely out of order for this.

Paul

desmonds

Hi again,

They are corrupt and they too tried to charge me 1% higher for not taking PPI.
I argued that this was ridiculous and that they could not do that and they soon chaged their tune.

Paul

bank_of_slate

Bumblebee,
When I took a loan out with Northern Rock the first quote they gave me automatically included the PPI. I refused PPI and the guy spent another 10 minutes trying to guilt me into taking it by suggesting things that could quite easily happen (accidents, death etc...) In the end I had to be very firm and I interrupted him and said "I already told you to take it off!" which he did.
...Linda xx

bumblebee_3

Thanks Paul.

Got a really good letter template from this site, which stated that I wanted a reply 14 days in writing so that I could pass it on to the Financial Services Authority(FSA) and their appeal policy. Also mentioned their dreadful customer service too. Will see what happens but if it comes back and they are not doing anything about I will be appealing and complaining again.

Thanks for all your helpful suggestions.

bank_of_slate

Keep us posted bumblebee,
If they don't sort it out, be prepared to use the sting in your tail!
....Linda xx