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

pheonixrising21

bertatswad wrote: »

I have had a Cahoot flexi loan since 2001 with an outstanding balance of £1700. I have refused to pay any payments for over a year and am now being chased by DCA for the outstanding balance which I am refusing to pay until I am refunded overpaid interest. My account is now in dispute. Will Santander pursue me through the courts for the outstanding balance ? :mad:

While it may be a different approach, it is an extremely risky one. Santander will chase you through the courts and trash your credit rating while they do it. TBH, they are quite capable of trashing your credit file even if you do nothing wrong (as they have with me), so giving them a reason to trash it will certianly be taken by them.

However, whether a court will have any more powers to demand repayment of overpaid interest is very much open to debate, I'm not sure anyon will have tried it.

I have a feeling that the OFT is the best course of action for our cases. if we can get them to investigate the unfair terms and unfair application of terms, then we may have a chance of getting something back? Does anyone know what sort of powers the OFT have, i.e. can they actually demand the repayments if they find in our favour. Obviously the FOS can, but can the OFT? What about the FSA (or the new version of it)?

bobdauilda

Glad to see some vigour return! Does anyone know how to get Martin Lewis' attention to this matter? I have tried Viz and twitter but no response.

Denza

pheonixrising21 wrote: »

I have a feeling that the OFT is the best course of action for our cases. if we can get them to investigate the unfair terms and unfair application of terms, then we may have a chance of getting something back? Does anyone know what sort of powers the OFT have, i.e. can they actually demand the repayments if they find in our favour. Obviously the FOS can, but can the OFT? What about the FSA (or the new version of it)?

The OFT can rule that a credit agreement and/or related T&Cs are unfair and mandate changes. They are not concerned with personal grievances.

If that happens in this case however the FOS should be in a position to re-open cases based on new information that was not available at the time of the initial Adjudication.

For example Farmer's disgrace of an Adjudication and Ombudsman ratifiction relied solely on the T&Cs being sound and unimpeachable, which was remarkable in my opinion as they also found time to point out they were open to mis-interpretation (i.e. vague and unqualified) and hence implicitly interpreted at the sole discretion of the lender; both of which points are clear examples of unfair terms in consumer contracts regulations (1999).

Hence if the T&Cs were deemed unfair by the OFT the FOS would have to take that into account.

However as I have pointed out many times the OFT are not going to do anything at all in any meaningful timeframe without the weight of numerous complaints coming to their attention.

So if you haven't done already; get your concerns logged with them ASAP.

Good luck to all.

kenny_straw

Good on you Bobdauilda for stirring up a bit of fight!
I guess it has been a real kick in the teeth to have seen so many refunds one day, then the next stopped and then COMPLAINTS upheld by the FOS.
I have emailed MSE newsdesk as I think a few others have - with not even a reply. Which is disappointing considering as pointed out the refunds only stopped when this was made a news story by MSE.

bobdauilda

Thanks Kenny, I agree that it's disappointing MSE newsdesk don't seem to be involved in this at present and can't understand why to be honest. Whatever happened to their motto 'cutting your costs and fighting your corner'?

Obviously the early complainers got a good outcome, but in the terms of 'fairness' then surely Santander were obliged to let all Cahoot flexi loan holders know from the outset what was happening and give everyone a 'fair chance' of settlement? The fact that they didn't is evidence of prejudice & discrimination against and amongst the customer base. We don't even have access to the secure area any longer which is a joke.

Does anyone know what the T&C's say about fairness and treating their customers equally?

bobdauilda

Just looked at my credit report and the Cahoot Flexi Loan is now listed as

Budget Card / Revolving Credit from Santander Unsecured Loan

I was never informed about this change of title or indeed ever agreed to this so how does this fare with the T&C's?

Not only this but it also states terms of 999 at £120 monthly (£119880!!)with a credit limit of ZERO effectively making it look like I have exceeded my credit limit- I never agreed to this so who authorised it? Can Cahoot just do this? They must have had twice the original loan back in payments from me already, F******

kelr101

kenny_straw wrote: »

I guess it has been a real kick in the teeth to have seen so many refunds one day, then the next stopped and then COMPLAINTS upheld by the FOS.
I have emailed MSE newsdesk as I think a few others have - with not even a reply. Which is disappointing considering as pointed out the refunds only stopped when this was made a news story by MSE.

I must admit, this is what frustrates me. Up until the second week of January 2012 all complaints were being upheld by Santander and refunds / goodwill gestures given. Then, MSE reports the story and a large number of people immediately think "Excellent, I deserve a refund too for this unfairness" and Santander stop paying out.

bobdauilda

Just spoken with Guy Anker, who was very supportive and will take another look at the situation for us! Obviously can't promise anything but it all helps!

UncleDennis

bobdauilda wrote: »

Not only this but it also states terms of 999 at £120 monthly (£119880!!)with a credit limit just above what I owe- I never agreed to this so who authorised it? Can Cahoot just do this? They must have had twice the original loan back in payments from me already, F******

It says exactly the same thing on my credit report. I nearly fell off my chair when I saw it! Unbelievable!

happy_bunny_2

I complained about the 999 months to Santander, they fobbed me off saying that its set to that as its no fixed term as you can over pay.

What?

Will send it to the FOS and see what they say if they say. At least it costs Santander money and in my opinion its just wrong. Could screw over anyone looking for a mortgage I expect