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

emmapurple

I went to the FOS at the end of march and contacted them about a month ago as had heard nothing was told it would be put to an adjudicator soon and was going in month order of complaints recieved. Still nothing, am going to email them again today and will hopefully get some sort of response, so for those only just going to FOS it may well take some time!!

Ali_UK

Update from me:

Just had a call from a lady at FOS who has been assigned to my complaint. She just reiterated that due to bulk of complaints it was taking longer than usual and they couldn't give a timescale.

She also sad there was a lead case going in for ajudication very soon, so they are waiting for the outcome of that before they move on with the outstanding complaints. She said it was unlikely to be upheld, but also that each complaint was individual etc.

So bascially no real new news, but to give others an idea of timescale I wrote to FOS back in April :whistle:

Just wish I had more of the paperwork to back this up....

trsisko

What do you mean unlikely to be up held? So it's likley we will all lose?

julie170779

I also had a call off my adjudicator yesterday and she said the cases have been bulked together. I added to my complaint that santander had changed my credit file to show my loan is now a fixed rate loan and with a £0 credit limit, I have forwarded evidence of this on to her today. So fingers crossed. However she did say they are awaiting a decision of a case that had been referred, so i'm guessing this is farmers. Good luck to all

bankbasher2000

does anyone else get the feeling we're about to get screwed over?

kenny_straw

I also was told of the upcoming verdict on the 'control' case , (sometime within the next month)...
Don't like the sound of Ali_Uk's comments about the case not likely to be upheld.
Surely if the FOS is to have any integrity it will stand by its earlier decisions?

Lets keep the faith and hope justice will prevail against these greedy thugs.

Denza

Ali_UK wrote: »

She also sad there was a lead case going in for ajudication very soon, so they are waiting for the outcome of that before they move on with the outstanding complaints. She said it was unlikely to be upheld, but also that each complaint was individual etc.

Quite surprised that an Adjudicator at the FOS would volunteer an opinion to an external contact on any other cases which had yet to resolve for better or worse.

The commonality between cases are the product Terms & Conditions and specifically the "Variation in Charges and Interest Rates" clauses.

Though the verdict was biased in favour of the lender, Farmer's adjudication has already stated that they are open to mis-interpretation on either side of the credit agreement and personally I do not see how an independant body can therefore rule that the lender is wholly justified in the application of exhorbitant APR increases on that basis. Though that is essentially what happened.

The individuality of each case rests upon the relative strength of arguments that are put forward by each party; yourself and Santander.

It's still very much in the balance as far as I am concerned, probably hinging on the validity of the T&Cs as applied or ignored which I trust Farmer is re-questioning with the FOS with respect to his adjudication.

I also hope everyone has taken the time to raise an issue with the OFT regarding perceived unfair terms in consumer contracts.

Good luck to all.

cokey123

I also got an adjudicator allocated yesterday.

She also told me that a lead case had been ruled in the favour of Santander but it was with an Ombudsman and that the outcome of that would form a precedent. HOWEVER she did say that each and every case would be looked at individually and it was highly possible that some could be upheld and some not.

I raised the issue that others who had been to the FOS previously had won their case and she said they were aware of that and that is why it is being looked at so seriously by the Ombudsman.

I also reminded her that Santander have not always kept us informed and actually declined us for an alternative loan so we could escape the new terms.

All in all, if they were to have acted fairly, they should have automatically offer all customers a new fixed rate loan at a fair rate. Not trapping us into an altogether different loan to the one who signed up for.

trsisko

Yes, I agree with Cockey's statement. It's the unfairness of not being able to switch and them apparently sneaking in the updated terms and conditions in an email and not providing us with the overall picture. If I had been given a communication that was reasonable with the opportunity to switch I would have!

Devonian_Devorah

Denza wrote: »

I also hope everyone has taken the time to raise an issue with the OFT regarding perceived unfair terms in consumer contracts.

Complaint to FOS - completed
Complaint to ICO - completed
Complaint to OFT - completed