Santander killed my credit rating too

firebelly

This is a bizzarre little gaff however until now I thought it would be a simple error that would be corrected without fuss. Little did i know the diablo would want to crucify me. It started in December 2010 when i noticed on the day after my direct debit for an ex Alliance and Leicester loan did not come off my bank account. It did not show as returned either. Not wanting to miss a payment i called Santander with debit card in hand to make the payment however was told by the adviser that the payment had in fact been recieved ok and that I had nothing to worry about. I thought nothing more if it until 2 months later when I received a call from a debt recovery agency looking for immediate payment. I explained my shock at the call and that I had called previously to query if the payment was made and was told it had been made successfully. Apparently the funds had been reclaimed by my bank. Later i was to find that this was due to funds not clearing in time. The agent then offered that they increase the term of my loan by one month which i accepted believing that this was a perfectly reasonable thing to do.

I then began to recieve many letters accepting this 'arrangrment to pay'. It was the first I had heard of the term however I did not think anything of it. It was not until I was refused credit for a new car that I investigated this further. My credit report now shows in Red with the letters AP in it every month since Febuary and my report also shows that I have renegotiated an existing agreement. Hence my credit rating is now shot completely! I called Santander and explained the situation. The adviser accepted thatthey had been at fault and told me that they would correct my credit report and that I would recieve a letter confirming this. No letter arrived. This time I raised a complaint with Santander's complaints department, enclosing a cheque for the outstanding payment. To my suprise the response is that Santander have acted correctly in their opinion and have a responisbility to accurately show my account history on my credit report. The onus they say is on me to ensure "With My Bank" that the payment was made.

I intend to take this as far as I can go to get resolved, I have to - my lively hood is going to be severly hampered by this in the coming months. Before I do the standard procedure does anyone have any tips for me to get this resolved quicker and do I really stand a chance?

JasX

firebelly wrote: »

Apparently the funds had been reclaimed by my bank. Later i was to find that this was due to funds not clearing in time.

If that is the case the odds are against you getting very far.

Basically its a case of 'Loan didn't get paid due to you not having enough cleared funds in your account to pay it.'

So there are grounds for some form of black mark which is your fault, One day late is still late in their eyes.

Also 2 months passed without you following up when they'll argue you should have noticed you still had the money/hadn't paid the installment in that time

They didn't help things by suggesting an arrangement to pay so first off you need to stop that being an ongoing thing on your report (ie pay now and get things back up to date)

You might be able to get the reporting reduced to reflect a single missed payment which was the original fault but even thats a long shot, let alone trying to get a 'clean' credit report out of this.

KingElvis

Typical, I love how tiny erros can lead to massive problems.

When I noticed a payment hadn't been taken for one of my cards a few months back I was on it like a tramp on a kipper and didn't stop until I knew it had all be sorted correctly.

firebelly

So regardless that I was wanting to pay at the time and Santander told me that I did not have to I am still unlikely to get a positive resolution to this?

JasX

firebelly wrote: »

So regardless that I was wanting to pay at the time and Santander told me that I did not have to I am still unlikely to get a positive resolution to this?

Had you made a payment the day after the DD would it not have still been late (accounting for their processing time as set out in the Ts & Cs)?

one day late is still 'late' rather than 'at the time'

firebelly

Thanks JasX, though my credit report does not actually show that the payment was in fact missed, it shows that the status was 'up to date' for December. it does however show the Arrange to pay from February to May. I have escalated the complaint to Santander's 'level2'. This time I have recorded my call with Santander however it looks like it will be another 6 - 8 weeks before they will respond. I have also requested a copy of the original loan agreement and a statement of the account. They are unable to to provide a statement of the account from the time it was an Alliance and Leicester loan account, only from when they took over.

backfoot

It can't be correct that one incident can cause such a radical and significant effect upon a person's future financial affairs.

Such a small discretion,especially when explained as an administrative and minor timing problem,should receive sympathetic treatment.

The problem being that Santander are a faceless organisation which cannot see the wood for procedure.You will need to keep at it,using the Financial Ombudsman to finally get back to where you started.

They don't have the ability to see reason so you will have to go through the process I am afraid.

The lesson for others is avoid Santander in all financial dealings.

firebelly

backfoot wrote: »

It can't be correct that one incident can cause such a radical and significant effect upon a person's future financial affairs.

Such a small discretion,especially when explained as an administrative and minor timing problem,should receive sympathetic treatment.

The problem being that Santander are a faceless organisation which cannot see the wood for procedure.You will need to keep at it,using the Financial Ombudsman to finally get back to where you started.

They don't have the ability to see reason so you will have to go through the process I am afraid.

The lesson for others is avoid Santander in all financial dealings.

Unfortunately did not have a choice in this as the loan was originally a Alliance and Leicester account.

backfoot

firebelly wrote: »

Unfortunately did not have a choice in this as the loan was originally a Alliance and Leicester account.

My own problems with this stupid organisation stemmed from the same takeover.

My advice was to others to avoid......based on inflexible experiences of this inept company.

firebelly

backfoot wrote: »

My own problems with this stupid organisation stemmed from the same takeover.

My advice was to others to avoid......based on inflexible experiences of this inept company.

I hear you. Will adhere too.

firebelly

Just had Santander's final response which I followed up with a phone call. They haven't even answered my complaint correctly or acknowledged my complaint about the Arrangement to Pay. They seem very keen just to bat me off to the FOS. I spoke to the FOS and they estimate that it will be at least 6 months before they will investigate it. It kind of feels like Santander know this and are just wanting to get rid of me quick by referring me to an overwhelmed ombudsman service (the chap from the FOS did sound pretty tired in fact yesterday). So tough tittie is the response from el diablo even though they have previously acknowledged that it was their mistake. Completely unreasonable. I struggle to see what they gain from this.