Your unwanted Bradford & Bingley mortgage Terms and Conditions

marcone

I'm looking for an old 1960s or 1970s issue of Bradford & Bingley's mortgage terms & conditions. If you (or any of your relatives) had a mortgage with Bradford & Bingley between 1964 and 1975 please could you check whether you still have copy of the terms and conditions locked away somewhere that you no longer have use of?

I will pay £20 for the document but will need to see some form of proof, such as a couple of photos, beforehand.

An original copy issued by the society (not a photocopy) is what i'm looking for.

Thanks in advance for your help.

marcone

I need to check that a mortgage loaned to my parents in 1966 had a Life Assurance policy assigned to it that would have been effected following my father's death in 1970. Bradford & Bingley should have the answer but unfortunately they wont give it to me, so I'm trying to find as much documentation as I can. Section 33 of the 1962 building societies act gives building societies the power to impose life assurance on all borrowers, but Bradford & Bingley wont say whether or not they effected those powers and applied the condition to their mortgage lending policy at that time? I have been repeatedly told by Bradford & Bingley that they don't keep historical records, and the Financial Services Ombudsman have accepted B&Bs position on the matter, however I have evidence that B&B do have historical records and that the FSO ignored my plight by letting B&B off the hook.

I have contacted Bradford & Bingley, Santander, UK Financial Investments Ltd, National Archives and the Financial Services Authority to no avail. There is no clarity as to who owns the repository of historical documents of Bradford & Bingley and where those records are being held. I have also contacted the treasury to establish the governments position regarding Bradford & Bingley's historical records but all they do is refer me back to Bradford & Bingley.

Who ultimately has the statutory authority in respect of ownership of the records sufficient to compel B&B to hand over documents when the firm refuses to do so?

marcone

Although the Bradford and the Bingley building societies merged in 1964 both societies were established in 1851 and the firm effectively had a 157 year history prior to 2008. I find it inconceivable that the firm does not keep records of mortgage lending policies given the longevity of the application of such policies in respect of mortgages and insurance.

Bradford & Bingley did outsource the management of its entire microfilm archive of 65 million records to a firm called Capita TDS (unable to insert link to web page). I would like B&B to supply me with a copy of the receipt issued by them on redemption of the mortgage following my fathers death. All I want is for them to confirm the date of redemption.

When I recently collected my father's estate papers from the original solicitor there was no receipt for the mortgage and it appears my mother was robbed of money and property by the solicitor at the worst possible time in her life. Having the receipt and mortgage terms and conditions is all part of an evidence gathering excercise.

dunstonh

I find it inconceivable that the firm does not keep records of mortgage lending policies given the longevity of the application of such policies in respect of mortgages and insurance.

They are typically kept for about 6 years after the society had no charge on the property.

Have you looked at the bank statements for the current account for that period? That would show any life assurance premium being paid if there was one.

Whilst endowment assurance was a mandatory and was nearly always assigned up to around the early to mid 90s, life assurance on repayment mortgages was often not. Some lenders insisted on it being taken out but did not require it to be assigned. Also, the building societies of that period did not typically have their own in house advisers. They would tell you to go to a local broker. So, chances are that the B&B documentation, even if it did still exist, would not be of much use to you as they wouldnt have arranged the insurance, if any insurance was arranged at all.

opinions4u

I suspect you're embarking on a wild goose chase.

With them being 100% state owned, is the Freedom of Information Act something you can use.

Once you have the documents that you're after, what then?

Thrugelmir

marcone wrote: »

I need to check that a mortgage loaned to my parents in 1966 had a Life Assurance policy assigned to it

Do you know who the Life Assurance Company was?

marcone

Thanks for the info dunstonh,

In the course of my investigations I have been astonished at how much information is still retained by some organisations. The Data Protection Act doesn't prescribe a time limit for keeping records but most organisations appear to adopt a disposal schedule prescribing a minimum period in which records must be retained, usually 6 years. There is however no policy prescribing a maximum retention period. In my enquiries I have found that no policy exists prescribing a maximum retention period, therfore some organisations retain documents once the obligatory minimum time period has elapsed. This is a loophole in which firms can fob you off by saying they don't have records when in fact they do. In addition to this the Data Protection Act section 33(3) permits organisations to keep records indefinitely for 'research purposes' which includes historical purposes. I assume 'historical purpose' means for the purpose of keeping archived records, though I'm not certain.

One case in point is that Barclays bank told me they can recover my father's old bank account, but that they need his account number to retrieve this. I dont have the number. The point is the records still exist after 40 years.

I did provide Bradford & Bingley with my father's mortgage account number. They say they dont have records and don't belive them. It's a long story but B&B have been very inconsistent and contradictory in the manner in which they handled my inquiries.

holly_hobby

What is the purpose of your enqs to B&B and complaint to FOS ?

From reading, it appears that you think you father has/had a life policy that you can't trace, is this correct ?

If we know what you are trying to achieve, we may be able to be a bit more specific.

H