Santander are now refunding interest payments on Cahoot flexible loan's

willsboy

Hi All,

I've done the draft for my FOS complaint -

- Interest was, in my case, increased unfairly from 6.9% to 20% during the period 2006 to 2008, an increase of 29%.

- Facility to draw down additional funds was removed, changing the nature of the product to a fixed rate loan. At this
point the Company continued to show, in credit reference information, customers' credit limits as if they still had the ability to borrow further funds. This was prejudicial to customers, including myself.

- The account type into which it had been transformed did not justify the high interest rates charged.

- The Company did not offer an alternative product. Many customers were trapped in a situation where they could not
move their debt to a more favourable product because of their credit rating. I believe that this was a deliberate strategy on the Company's part. This is unfair.

- The Online facility was withdrawn, making it difficult for customers to access their accounts. This is obstructive.

- As the loan became a Santander loan, customers should have been able to access their accounts via Santander's website.
Surely this should have been done in the interest of basic Customer Care.I believe this to be another example of Santander's obstructive strategy.

- The form of statement issued by Santander is obscure and unhelpful. It does not include a bank giro payment slip
as is usual with credit card or other flexible loan accounts, nor does it give any user-friendy information on payment methods. This is obstructive."

I'm new to all this stuff, and would welcome any comments.

happy_bunny_2

willsboy wrote: »

Hi All,

I've done the draft for my FOS complaint -

- Interest was, in my case, increased unfairly from 6.9% to 20% during the period 2006 to 2008, an increase of 29%.

- Facility to draw down additional funds was removed, changing the nature of the product to a fixed rate loan. At this
point the Company continued to show, in credit reference information, customers' credit limits as if they still had the ability to borrow further funds. This was prejudicial to customers, including myself.

- The account type into which it had been transformed did not justify the high interest rates charged.

- The Company did not offer an alternative product. Many customers were trapped in a situation where they could not
move their debt to a more favourable product because of their credit rating. I believe that this was a deliberate strategy on the Company's part. This is unfair.

- The Online facility was withdrawn, making it difficult for customers to access their accounts. This is obstructive.

- As the loan became a Santander loan, customers should have been able to access their accounts via Santander's website.
Surely this should have been done in the interest of basic Customer Care.I believe this to be another example of Santander's obstructive strategy.

- The form of statement issued by Santander is obscure and unhelpful. It does not include a bank giro payment slip
as is usual with credit card or other flexible loan accounts, nor does it give any user-friendy information on payment methods. This is obstructive."

I'm new to all this stuff, and would welcome any comments.

Did you complain to Santander and have the complaint rejected? this needs to have happened before going to FOS.

tobyt_2

I have just found my T/C booklet from 2002 for my Flexi-Loan, and it is not quite the same as that quoted by "Dont Ask Dont Get," and the wording is interesting. Interest comes under Paras; 7a, 7b and 7c, and read as follows: 7a and 7b are identical as quoted by "Dont Ask Dont Get" but Para; 7c reads as follows. If you are late paying the minimum payment, you will pay us interest on the Flexible Loan Balance until it's actual payment. When interest is charged, it is calculated on a daily basis at the relevant monthly rate set out in the agreement. Interpretations invited.

Logman63

"...
Can you give an idea of what kind of stuff you put in your FOS complaint, and when you submitted it?...".

Hi there!
I submitted my complaint to FOS in December, after initially complaining in September. I got a reply from FOS in January (after 4 weeks) saying it might take up to 12 weeks to investigate ,which it did!

I got a call from FOS last week, saying that the bank had backed off and had agreed to pay me what they owed me.

The content of my complaint to FOS was done via their standard form (a copy of which you'll find links to all overthis thread). In addition to this though, I added details of how much I borrowed, the interest rate I was being charged at the start of the loan and the interest rate I was being charged at the end (when I made the complaint).

The most imoprtant thing is to give them as much useful info. as you can, if you have it. Don't get personal or rude with regard to the bank, no matter how strongly you feel toward them, it doesn't help and FOS are impartial arbitrators who are trained to look at the facts and that only!

At the end of the day, if you have been dealt with unfairly, and it would now seem that the concensus is that everybody has been, FOS will look favourably on your case and they'll try and get the bank to resolve the situation by refunding you what you are due.

I think that ultimately, they can compel the bank to do this, but the very fact that FOS are involved seems to make the bank 'do the right thing' in most cases.

Good luck anyway...as I said, perseverence does seem to pay off, so don't give up! :beer:

paulabryan

I contacted Santander in November regarding my flexi loan and I got a response a few days later rejecting my claim, but as a goodwill gesture I was offered £140 which I accepted as I really wasn't expecting anything.

This week I got my statement and there was a credit of £725 to my account. I contacted Santander as I thought it was just an error but after an investigation I was told that this was in fact a refund. They just didn't tell me I was going to receive it!

In total I got back £865 on a £3000 loan which is more than I expected especiallly as they originally rejected my claim.

Keep on trying.

willsboy

happy_bunny wrote: »

Did you complain to Santander and have the complaint rejected? this needs to have happened before going to FOS.

Yes I sent an email using the format on this thread and got the standard knock back letter, and I'm now trying to work up my complaint ot the FOS

desking

HI,is there anybody out there that could give me a copy of there t/c from 2003,got my knock back letter today, only sent in complaint at the end of march,id like to check if the t/c they sent me are the same as the ones in 2003
many thanks

willsboy

desking wrote: »

HI,is there anybody out there that could give me a copy of there t/c from 2003,got my knock back letter today, only sent in complaint at the end of march,id like to check if the t/c they sent me are the same as the ones in 2003
many thanks

That's an interesting question.

I began my flexi loan account with Cahoot in 2002.

With my rebuttal letter received last week I got two documents:- 1) Cahoot General Conditions dated September 2009; and

2) Cahoot Terms and Conditions dated June 2006.

It has been reported on this thread that the t&c regarding interest rates have all been consistent, albeit in different versions of the document (Clause 13, 14, 15 etc.), but I don't know if any of these pre-date 2006.

oracleman

To find the actual old versions of T&Cs look on the website:
http://wayback.archive.org/web/*/http://www.cahoot.co.uk

This will give you the orginal website back in days gone past

abbo1

Has anyone not made payments to their flexi-loan account while you are disputing the interest payments?

Would this go against you in making a claim?

I to had a flexiloan account took out in 2002. Currently trying to get santy to put me on payment plan to no avail, this may be the answer ive been looking for.....