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

johnoflynn

Denza wrote: »

You have as good a case as anyone else on here.

The starting point would be to get an Account Number reference which may or may not be possible by calling Cahoot.

Cahoot : 01274 369 222

If they can't provide you with an Acc Num then you need to ask why and more importantly how you can obtain it.

You have enough evidence (credit report) to show that you have had a Flexi-Loan so you may as well apply for your template rejection letter now to Cahoot via Santander, and by that I mean raise a formal complaint.

With your rejection letter (final response) and Acc Num you have all you need to throw your hat in the FOS ring. I dare say you will be able to determine that outcome of that way before your case is processed on the basis of the existing cases which this thread is updated with.

Good luck to you.

Hi everyone
I first started looking into this 12 months ago. In March this year I wrote to Santander asking for account details and they replied saying they could find no record. I then wrote again in July sending a copy of my credit report with some of the digits missing (as standard on the recors) and they replied yesterday with a copy of the signed agreement dating back to July 2006. (I closed it 2009). What step should I take now, is there a template letter that I should use and where can I find it? There is one early on in the pages buty with 77+ pages its hard to work out whats best. I can't remember if/how much etc I used my account but I'm pretty sure I paid it off eventually with a Credit card balance transfer.
Thanks in anticipation.

youngyam

Hi - I've just discovered this post and felt compelled to ask for a bit of help. Both me & my partner had cahoot loans that were passed onto Santander. We saw interest rates increase rapidly and the payments became unmanageable. They (along with others) were completely wiping us out, leaving us with nothing to live on. In hindsight we were incredibly silly to take out all the credit cards and loans we did, but while the interest rates were low and times were good we could afford to keep up with the repayments. And the lenders were always happy to give us the money...... As a result we defaulted on the loans and we are now being chased by debt companys wanting repayment in full! The outstanding amounts we owe are greater than the loans ever were - even though we advised we were in dire straights and made a small offer of payment we received no help and the interest kept accruing on the account. I do remember that for around a year after the loan was transferred we received statements but no payment demands.
If anyone can help with a template letter and confirm a an email address we would be most greatful. Do we need account numbers and interest rates? We probably have them, but it's finding them....!! Please PM me if you can help.
Thanks in advance

getsatan

Any Cahoot/Santander victims out there want to use Watchdog in their battle? Go to the BBC website - Watchdog - Got a Story... or perhaps R4 You and Yours or Money Box! I took out a loan with Cahoot for 4k on 24.3.05 and I thought it must be nearly paid until I received notice from Santander. As of 3-10-12, I still owe 1,728.29 and I have a direct debit for 50 a month. By my quick calculation, I have paid over 4.5k and I'm just under half way through clearing the balance. In their monthly 'Account Summary Statement' it reads 'please note the balance outstanding may not include any outstanding legal costs' ???!!!??? What could they mean.....

Bleachbird

Hi all,
Just had a phone call from FOS.
Not good news. He explained that the ombudsman not upholding cases now. They have assessed that there was provision made within the terms and conditions to allow interest rate rises. They don't feel that Santander/ cahoot contravened the t &c's in doing this.
We will get a letter to this effect and then can go to the ombudsman ourselves if we wish. He saidthat they had reveiced a v large number of cases about the product.
I asked what had changed from 12 months ago, when I understood that Santander paying out as FOS had upheld previous complaints.
Re: goodwill payments. He said that if Santander had decided this was their internal policy and had changed that it was up to them. There has not been a precedent set as that can only happen in a court.
Re: previous upheld complaints. He said that the FOS had upheld previous complaints due to Santander/ cahoot being reluctant to give them all of the info they needed to investigate fully- so in turn they sided with the complainents and upheld. However, when these started being upheld Santander then came back to the FOS with all of the relvant info they needed- hence where we are now.
So, we are getting letters soon to explain this to us and to give us the option to go to the ombudsman.
I need some advice now really- do we go to the ombudsman? I feel we should exhaust the standard/ formal options before taking stock. Help pls? BTW timescale wise for people- we put in letters to Santander in Jan 2012, rejected in April 2012 and in April 2012 got involved with FOS. This has been my only telephone call from the FOS this morning.

Denza

Bleachbird wrote: »

Hi all,
Just had a phone call from FOS.
Not good news. He explained that the ombudsman not upholding cases now. They have assessed that there was provision made within the terms and conditions to allow interest rate rises. They don't feel that Santander/ cahoot contravened the t &c's in doing this.
We will get a letter to this effect and then can go to the ombudsman ourselves if we wish. He saidthat they had reveiced a v large number of cases about the product.
I asked what had changed from 12 months ago, when I understood that Santander paying out as FOS had upheld previous complaints.
Re: goodwill payments. He said that if Santander had decided this was their internal policy and had changed that it was up to them. There has not been a precedent set as that can only happen in a court.
Re: previous upheld complaints. He said that the FOS had upheld previous complaints due to Santander/ cahoot being reluctant to give them all of the info they needed to investigate fully- so in turn they sided with the complainents and upheld. However, when these started being upheld Santander then came back to the FOS with all of the relvant info they needed- hence where we are now.
So, we are getting letters soon to explain this to us and to give us the option to go to the ombudsman.
I need some advice now really- do we go to the ombudsman? I feel we should exhaust the standard/ formal options before taking stock. Help pls? BTW timescale wise for people- we put in letters to Santander in Jan 2012, rejected in April 2012 and in April 2012 got involved with FOS. This has been my only telephone call from the FOS this morning.

It's funny, or rather not, to note the inconsistancy from the FOS who keep stating that each case will be taken on it's own merits whilst in the same breath informing claimants that a "lead case" must be considered before others are reviewed and now your update above which implies that all cases are subsequently doomed to failure on the basis of an across the board decision.

Farmer's escalation to the Ombudsman was a joke, they merely ratified the Ajudicators decision without troubling themselves to seek any tangible detail from Santander in much the same apathetic way the Adjudicator didn't.

For example Santander claim that the competitive clause justifies increases circa December 2006 however to date they have been required to produce absolutely zero supporting evidence that I am aware of to qualify this action with this clause. Semantically the clause is all over the place; "to maintain competitiveness" and "in line with competitors" are not interchangeable.

The "prudence" clause is similarly flawed however the "money market" clause is true and just right up until the rate moved against the lender at which point, apparently, this clause became surplus to requirements. Sitting on the other side of the credit agreement it would be nice if we too could turn clauses off and on to suit our mood (profitability).

The relevant T&Cs are awash with breaches of OFT guidelines however the FOS don't care to trouble themselves with this taking Santander's word as gospel. The T&Cs also state that interest rates can vary "for any other reason that is valid" and presumably the FOS will simply take this as read without actually bothering to try and understand if that validity holds water.

Anyway in answer to your question I would say yes this should be escalated to the Ombudsman who will, I believe, then ratify the decision, offering zero added value or effort in the process (as per Farmer's experience).

It will however draw a line under the FOS' involvement before we regroup.

Let's hope all at the FOS enjoy their corporate tickets to the British Grand Prix next year.

Ho ho ho!

PS - As per previous however I urge everyone to raise this issue with the OFT, specifically if you feel that the T&Cs - and their application - are unfair.

courtleigh

An adjudicator introduced herself- very pleasant- and said she had written to Santander for more information.
The issue here is that I took my loan in 2001- Santander, had given me, when I complained ,T & C for 2006, which are different to 2001 conditions
according to previous posts- maybe that has some bearing on it-- but at the end of the day, one cannot ignore the fact that if Santander wanted to push up interest rates even higher, there appears to be nothing stopping them, except for us.
Will be very happy to complain to OFT if I get a rejection.

Cell

For what it's worth I have had an update e-mail today (from The FOS) stating that they are 'still not in a position to advise when an opinion will be issued on your complaint as the matter is still be investigating (sic)as a whole by the service. As soon as I have more information I will let you know'.

To give a bit of context my original complaint to Santander was in February and the FOS acknowledged in May.

Curious.

Denza

courtleigh wrote: »

Will be very happy to complain to OFT if I get a rejection.

Please do not delay a complaint to the OFT.

My dialogue with them indicates that the more complaints received the more chance and/or increased speed of formal review.

Cheers, Denza

kenny_straw

I had a missed call from mine the other day but have been away with work and haven't had time to call back....and to be honest I know what's coming so don't really want too!

tlh858

getsatan wrote: »

I took out a loan with Cahoot for 4k on 24.3.05 and I thought it must be nearly paid until I received notice from Santander. As of 3-10-12, I still owe 1,728.29 and I have a direct debit for 50 a month. .

For whatever reasons, as well as cranking the interest rates sky high, the minimum payment per month is virtually the same as the interest added, so paying the minimum will take decades to clear the loan.

This is exactly the same problem as credit card minimum payments, only in this case you have none of the facilities of a credit card, yet still have all of the disadvantages.