Financial Fight Back Guide discussion

flapjack_2

Not sure if this is the right category for my post, but I'm thinking of lodging a complaint to Lloyds TSB.
The problem I have is that I have credit card debt of £3000 and an overdraft averaging £1800 with Lloyds, and whenever I start paying back my card either by phone or in branch the clerk dealing with the transaction starts telling me he or she has looked at my records and I should be elligible to consolidate both into a much cheaper loan.
I tell them pull the other one it has bells on, I've been through this before and after running checks they always consider me a bad credit risk for a loan.
But they almost always push on regardless, tell me I don't need to sign up for anything until they make an offer, play the hard sell card, convince me that this time it will all be different and they can't see any legitimate reason to reject my application. After being put through to the loans department they take me through an hour's worth of timewasting complete with a credit check and then give me the inevitable rejection and cut me off with a "I'm sorry but on this occasion you've been rejected, goodday".
This has happened 4 times in 3 years (not counting the times I put my foot down and said no) and I'm convinced it isn't doing my credit rating any good. Do I have grounds for complaint for being lead up the garden path or is it simply buyer beware?

dunstonh

. Do I have grounds for complaint for being lead up the garden path or is it simply buyer beware?

No complaint whatsoever.

1 - you are free to say no
2 - they are trying to help and its YOUR credit record that is preventing it

ladyanj

Hi All
Im not sure what way to go now, I have sent the questionaire the to financial company involved, received a letter say NO. I then wrote to the Jersey Financial Service and the Trading Standards. i received 2 letters from the JFS first was logging my complaint , second letter was NO and advised me if i wanted to continue the complaint i would need to get legal advise. Trading Standards however acted as a mediator putting my case to the company involved. Friday the 12 August, I received a letter from the company involved stating they were satisfied that they had followed the correct procedure (even though I only found out after i sent the questionaire that I had paid PPI )for selling this product.They also state on the letter that they value my custom and they will ensure that i would receive preferential rates on a new loan. Trading standards have now said case closed but i am really not happy with the decision can anybody give me some advise as it feels like living in JERSEY means we do not have any rights to claim back the missold PPI. Thanks Anj

sparkovic

Apologies if this is not the correct place to post :-

I placed a winning bet + was due to be paid out £300. Can anyone advise when this money becomes mine ? - To pay me out the staff would have had to empty a gambling machine which I requested but they did not make enough effort to obtain authorisation from their manager (bit of dubiety as to whether any attempt was made) to do so.

I required the money + knew I would not be able to make it into the shop the next day which they requested. I believe at this point the money was mine + I shouldn't have had to go back to the shop if it did not suit me.

Could anybody please advise what me consumer / legal rights are in this instance as I believe it is at least very poor customer service + their investigation was not very fair or transparent.

mollyandmeg

Me and my husband have complained to Santander because we think we have been mis-sold investments. We invested with Legal and General following the advise given by their financial advisor at Alliance and Leicester in 2008. Our main aim from these investments were to create an income and to protect the capital so that we could take early retirement and move to Portugal. Within the first couple of months we discovered that the capital invested in the L&G Distribution Fund was reducing at a vast rate. We therefore stopped the monthly income payment of £240.00 per month from this fund. Not long after we received a letter from Santander telling us that they had taken over from Alliance and Leicester and that they were no longer obligated to give us advise regarding our investments. We were advised by the financial advisor that it was advisable to have a yearly review. Following this we were the victims of CCE and lost 55,000.00, this money was to pay the builders for renovation of our house in Portugal and a little over to live on. Having lost this money we had to surrender some of the investments, having no access to specialist advice we decided to surrender the policy that at the time was loosing the most money. We subsiquently had to surrender more investments as we did not have enough money to live on. We now have one investment left With Profit Bond that pays £135.00 per month, in 2010 this was £240.00 per month, we were thinking of surrendering this policy as well as we still owe the builders and they have started legal action to get their money. When we rang a couple of months ago they said there was now a MVR on this policy and that was 9% this would mean that any monthly income we have had would be clawed back meaning that our money has been tied up for 4 years for nothing. Our complaint is that the investments were not suitable. It was not explained to us what MVR was, the advisor talked about reductions to the monthly payments due to market conditions and early surrender charges, we thought the reductions she talked about was the same as MVR which was mentioned in the report and surrender charges. We feel that fee of 12,000.00 commission that they made should be repayed as they told they were not obligated to give us advice. I have written to them and they admit that the Distribution Bond was not suitable and offered 2,500.00, there is no mention of the letter they sent. Another 50.00 compensation offered. Should we accept, need every penny we can get living of 500.00 per month. Advice, comments please.

Our atitude to risk cautious and we were classed as novice investors. Capital was our priority. Lost thousands
atitude to risk cautious

dunstonh

Within the first couple of months we discovered that the capital invested in the L&G Distribution Fund was reducing at a vast rate.

The first loss would be the initial charge. So, it would drop on day one. The fund itself though would fluctuate in value but is suitable for the objective.

Having lost this money we had to surrender some of the investments, having no access to specialist advice we decided to surrender the policy that at the time was loosing the most money.

The loss on CCE was not foreseeable by the branch adviser and the loss there where you chose to withdraw funds from this investment are not something that the original adviser would have been responsible for you.

having no access to specialist advice

What not? There are over 27,000 advisers registered with the FSA and any IFA would have been available to you to give advice.

we decided to surrender the policy that at the time was loosing the most money. We subsiquently had to surrender more investments as we did not have enough money to live on. We now have one investment left With Profit Bond that pays £135.00 per month, in 2010 this was £240.00 per month, we were thinking of surrendering this policy as well as we still owe the builders and they have started legal action to get their money.

A sad situation but all external events not within the control of the original adviser or Santander.

Our complaint is that the investments were not suitable.

How are they not suitable? The investment fund you mentioned is designed to provide a regular income with the objective of capital growth over the long term although there would be short term periods of potential losses.

It was not explained to us what MVR was

There is no MVR levied on the L&G distribution fund. So, who sold the policy where the MVR is being levied?

We feel that fee of 12,000.00 commission that they made should be repayed as they told they were not obligated to give us advice.

You really should have seen an IFA. That would have been around £1000-£2000 but as you chose a commission sales rep they will get paid the commission. Banks have never provided a servicing contract and you were not paying for a servicing contract. So, unless you can provide a copy of the contract that says you employed them on ongoing servicing basis then you have no hope. The £12000 was to set it up. Not to service it.

I have written to them and they admit that the Distribution Bond was not suitable and offered 2,500.00, there is no mention of the letter they sent. Another 50.00 compensation offered. Should we accept, need every penny we can get living of 500.00 per month. Advice, comments please.

You are asking us to provide judgement on information we dont have. As the fund is suitable for objective, this would indicate they have spotted another failing or perhaps more likely that the sales rep didnt document the advice correctly.

Our atitude to risk cautious and we were classed as novice investors. Capital was our priority. Lost thousands

You lost money because you had to surrender the investments because of events that were not foreseeable. The fund is not a high risk fund. it is more like just below medium risk. It is currently valued higher than the peak prior to credit crunch and recession. It is a top quartile performer over 3 months, 6 months and one year and been top half for 3 years and 5 years. It has made 9.57% this year. it lost 0.38% last year. It made 7.50% in 2010 and 21.44% in 2009. It lost 18.61% in 2008 but that was credit crunch and you can see from 2009 figures that it quickly bounced back.

We cant say if the outcome is the right one or not but whilst there are some issues that Santander are not happy with internally (hence the £2500) there is an awful lot you are complaining about that they have no control or responsibility over and it just one of those things.

mollyandmeg

The initial charges were not fully explained, as you say we could have got IFA for much less, why didn't we go down that route, because it was not explained clearly that actually we were paying in around about way a lot more. A NOVICE INVESTOR. We were also unaware that there was only one product being offered. We thought we were getting IFA.

We were looking for an income, the advisor arranged for the distribution fund to pay £240 a month, I am sure she would have know that this would be reducing the capital straight away, which it did at a vast rate, we would have had to surrender anyway as we did not have enough to live on. They admit this fund was not suitable.

In the suitability report it states " We agree to undertake a further review of your financial needs in 12 months time so plans that we had put in place continue to meet your requirements, if your circumstances change significantly in the meantime please contact me for another meeting. You have confirmed that you are happy for an annual review." Why should we pay another advisor they had 12,000.00

I can clarify that we rang last week and they are applying a 9% MVR, which did not apply until about a year ago, they say even on the 5th year this may still be applied, so as I said they will recoup the majority of the monthly income paid so what was the point.

Never again, will do my own research in future and make my own judgements

badger42

Hello everyone, I would welcome some advice on the below if possible.

I closed my current account and moved to a completely new bank in November 2011. I wrote to the original bank closing the account and they issued a cheque in final settlement of the outstanding balance in December 2011. This was my last account with this original bank and I have had no dealings or communication with that bank since.

On Friday last week, I received a new bank card/Delta card from the original bank for this same account that I closed over a year ago.

Is the original bank able to retain and use my personal data, despite my closing the account as this would be the only way they could have sent me this new card? Or is this "simply" poor corporate governance on their part that has meant they've not fully closed my account with them? Either way, I have serious concerns about the original bank's practices. Is this something the FSO is there to help with, if the original bank cannot adequately explain themselves?

Thanks in advance

dunstonh

On Friday last week, I received a new bank card/Delta card from the original bank for this same account that I closed over a year ago.

This indicates the account is not closed.

Is the original bank able to retain and use my personal data, despite my closing the account as this would be the only way they could have sent me this new card?

As the account hasnt closed, the cards will auto issue.

Is this something the FSO is there to help with, if the original bank cannot adequately explain themselves?

The FOS isnt of use to you here. They will get involved if you dont like the complaint outcome but there is nothing to be gained from going to the FOS (which you only have access to after you make a formal complaint and I doubt many would make a formal complaint about a nil balance account not being closed. Contact to get it closed, yes but not a formal complaint and referral to the FOS after that.

appmandoo

Hi Everyone i feel i have been really scammed by my bank and let down by the ombudsman
Can any one offer any advice ?
Back in February this year i received some faulty goods £700!, When i contacted the seller (i only had a phone number)
He was very rude and told me to go away (F off)
I immediately contacted my bank Santader to start a charge back and was told initially over the phone i needed to return the item and give them a tracking number before they could open the case
I tried contacting the seller several times and kept being told to F off
I had no invoice and no return address just a phone number
I contacted the bank and told them this and was told that under the circumstances i did not need to return the item and they would send me the charge back paper work
I filled in all the forms and sent them off and in march i had a letter saying the case had been investigated and decided in my favor and my money was returned
In July i received another letter from the bank back dated a week that stated the charge back case had been re-debited due to the fact that i had not sent the goods back
This was exactly 10 days before the 120 day time limit was exceeded for charge backs
I spent the next ten days being passed from Tom to Jon to Andy etc etc they deliberately gave me the run around untill the 10 days expired
I must have spent 4 hours on the phone and been promised at least 4 call backs which i never received it was and absolute living nightmare
They insisted that they told me to send the goods back and it was my fault case closed they said very sorry your 120 days has expired
So i took my case to the financial ombudsman and listed all my telephone call times exactly and all the details
I had a telephone call from the ombudsman yesterday and he said that it is unlikely i will get my money back as he has no proof
Guess what!
The first telephone call i made, the one where they told me to send the goods back the bank has a copy of
But the second call i made when i was told i didn't have to send the goods back, the banks computer has automatically erased and strangely enough all the other calls have been erased too !
I might add that i had no correspondence from the bank at any point between and i wasn't sent the sellers letters in which he made me out as a lair and i wasn't sent the return address details at any point
When speaking to my case officer at the ombudsman i said don't you think this stinks and he agreed but unfortunately he has no proof so no case?
The whole thing absolutely stinks to me
Any help would be appreciated ?