Northern Rock - grrrr

amilroy

Hi - This is my first post, so please go easy.

I hope this is in the correct forum.

I purchased my first house with a mortgage from Northern Rock in June 2002. I did it with my ex-girlfriend. I took out a loan for £100,000.

In March 2003 I left my ex and have now found a new partner, who is now my wife. She and I took on the house and the mortgage, but I had to find £6000 to "pay off" my ex (exactly half of equity minus potential costs etc). I took an extension on my mortgage which was considered a secured loan, with Northern Rock (it was all under the same t's&c's and interest rate as the mortgage - so no issues there (apart from more money to pay off!)).

In Jan 2005 I finished all my other debts off, so I started significantly overpaying the mortgage. As a psychological "upper" I wanted the money to come off the secured loan part. As I was making the overpayments in cash at the local branch, I was in writing, asking for this money to be paid off the loan portion.

I got to 10th of April 2006 when I phoned them for an update, when I found out the overpayment requests were not being carried out, I immediately asked for all the overpayments to be transferred to the loan. They immediately did this and said that it was now at a "nil" balance and that a letter would be sent to me confirming that.

"Great!", I thought. But I wasn't convinced, so a couple of days later I phoned again and to my shock was told that I still owed £2000 :mad: (I have made about £5000 in overpayments!)

I am currently in an ever-ongoing investigation to see what my SOA's are with the mortgage, so, after all this, my questions are these:

1. If I get the "nil balance" letter does that mean that it is officially a "nil balance" regardless of what they find?
2. Why oh why are Northern Rock such an incompetent bunch?
3. How the heck do the customer service reps get away with that kind of !!!! up (significant errors on accounts relating to debts of c.£95000)?

When I get to the bottom of my SOA's I am going to complain, try to argue a reduction my redemption costs (I have a fixed rate) and move mortgage companies. Any recommendations?

My apologies if my first post is a rant! :rolleyes:

Thanks

Alban

mrbadexample

I had some hassle with Northern Rock a while back, so wrote to this guy:

Chris Jobe
North East Regional Director
Northern Rock Plc
Northern Rock House
Gosforth
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE3 4PL

He made things happen, eventually, and I got a few quid compensation out of it too.

amilroy

Thanks mrbadexample - I'll give it a shot. To be honest I have never had any good experience with them, but I am locked in my current mortgage. Will keep everybody updated.

endemoniada_2

Hi guys,

I've also had bother with NR.
Remortgaged last year - house had risen in value and I wanted to tie in my debt to mortgage.
What a mistake - has cost me around 5k in redemtion and so called admin fees.
The statements do not make sense at all
I have called many times but they seem to ignore complaints.
Finally today, the girl has now referred me to their complaints dept .
Heres hoping - I could do with a bit of compensation
Mo

MarkyMarkD

How's it NR's fault if you have to pay someone else £5k of redemption fees?

And how's it NR's fault if you fail to realise you are due to pay admin fees which would be clearly stated in any redemption statement you ask them for?

(Not clear from your post whether you were remortgaging FROM or TO NR hence the two scenarios).

endemoniada_2

I remortgagaged from NR

It was MY mistake to remortgage - if I had realised that there were other ways to reduce my outgoings (fom this site) I would have not remortgaged.

I was aware of having to pay 2.5K of redemption fees, however it was not explained to me that I would have to return 1k of "help with fees" costs and other admin fees and mortgage review fees.

Having more financial awareness now has triggered me to ask NR why there was no correspondance sent to me regarding the remortgage. It wasn't until i received a mortgage statement that these charges were evident.

In addition, when I did remortgage, a sum of 11k was transferred into my account with no correspondance to inform me of the remortgage calculation. The remortgage was supposed to pay off a 13K unsecured loan that I had as part of the Together mortggae with them. When I called to check, it was stated on THREE occasions that the unsecured loan had been paid and that the 11K was extra. I asked again for a written calculation to show me how this was worked out . I never received this.

Three weeks ago, spurred on by my new awareness of financial institutions processes, i decided to challenge the statements i had received - which did not make sense. It appears that I have been charged the redemtion fees and other charges twice! I was told that this would be investigated. No further correspondence from them.

I called yesterday and spoke to 3 different depts - none of which understand what has happened. But, finally, I have now been informed that this is going to be treated as a complaint.

Thanks for your comments.

Mo

amilroy

Hi again,

Things are getting worse for me now. I still didn't get my SOA on Monday, so I rang up to make a complaint.

I rang up again yesterday and found that because I have made a complaint, my SOA request has stopped! This is unbelieveable.

I am waiting for a phone call back so I won't hold my breath. But I am making full notes of the cost of calls etc. It is also making me sick.

To everybody who reads this: If you want a fully flexible mortgage with seriously rubbish customer service then go with the BIG N.R.

money-juggler_2

:A My advice to all dealing with Northern Rock, go into a local branch to sort out any problems, failing that ask for all the data they have on you (costs £10 data protection act) finally if they still dont sort things, tell them that you will go to the financial omnibudsman ( costs you nothing, costs Northern Rock £600).
They will help you then, (I know this, as I spent 2 months working for them at head office in 2004) :T

Make sure you check all your statements as N. Rock often adds hidden fees.
If there is no mention of them in black & white DO NOT pay them!!

evab_2

I'm with Northern Rock too and have had nothing but superb service from them on the phone and by post when I have sent overpayments directly to the secured loan part of my account, this is paid by cheque with an accompanying letter.

In your terms and conditions it should clearly state that the help with costs payment will need to be paid if you pay off the mortgage early or remortgage (i.e. change your product). For example my help with costs repayment runs out in April 2010 so if I remortgage then I wouldn't have to pay back the £1000.

However if I remortgage then I will still have to pay the redemption fees - the way I look at it it's breaking a contract.

The statements clearly show what is paid and to which account and on the back lists the outstanding balance, the interest rate and the date of any end of early repayment charges.

You can now also access your account online which will give you these dates clearly.

I'm sorry that you had to pay the charge when you remortgaged but I'm sure you'll find it in your documentation. I disagree that they have hidden fees but yes check the statements carefully.

I hope you get your issue sorted and there is clearly an issue over charges.

Best wishes Ev

evab_2

omg just seen how old this thread is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!