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

byebyedebt

mattr1125 wrote: »

Hi

I was wondering whether anyone had any success with an early settlement or Full & Final settlement - loan not got to a DCA or anything but wondering if there is any negotiation or in the T&Cs there was a provision for an early settlement.

Thank you in advance.
Matt

Full and final are easier to obtain once they go to a DCA. However you need to be aware that your credit file will be marked as settled full and final as opposed to satisfied.

rufonzo123

I have recently contacted Santander and also have had my claim rejected by Santander. I then took my complaint to FOS, which I have just received a letter stating that they find no issues with the way Santander have operated in relation to raising the interest rates. Stating that it was after all a flexible loan and that they were within there rights to change the interest rates when they did. They also say that Santander needed to run profitably and that at the rates the loan account was at (5.8%) it was not at an operating profitably.

Quote from FOS letter " Between July 2003 and July 2007 the Bank of England base rate, which is a broad indicator of the money markets rates rose gradually. Cahoot has explained that the changes to the interest rates up to September 2007 were made to reflect this change in the money markets. I consider that this is not unreasonable and these changes were made for a reason which the terms of the flexible loan allowed for.


Does anyone know when the FOS changed its stance and alined itself with Santanders point of view regarding this issue?
Kind Regards
Ruf

Blackcatgirl

Have just escalated my FOS ajudication to the Ombudsman for review. A three page summary letter, followed by 7 pages of 'further details' regarding facts of my case and their response.

OFT is next I presume? Then the hunt for a no-win-no-fee solicitor... and back into the London Courts of appeal when local courts don't find in my favour... all very familiar to me ho hum.

happy_bear12

Hi

I got the clause 13 quoted bt St and when I spoke to the FOS I got well what do you want out of this how about the over payment to start with the guy did not seem very impressed with that statment.
I was wondering what was happening with what Denzia was trying to do. any up date on that please.

Denza

- FOS escalation post Ombudsman Charade... I mean Review

Escalation to Independent Assessor pending return of data as requested under the Freedom of Information Act.

Next step is to request an appearance before a Parliamentary Treasury Select Committee, progress has already been made in this area (purposefully vague due to sensitive nature of the action and the open nature of this forum).

The more consumer dissatisfaction noted - in all areas - the greater the weight of argument.

- OFT escalation

Again the more consumer dissatisfaction noted the greater the weight of argument and chance of case prioritisation.

I am discussing (arguing) the latter point with the OFT and this discussion is pending return of data as requested under the Freedom of Information Act.

- Santander complaint #3 *

Logged, rudely dismissed with irrelevant details and added to OFT case file. Will throw this at the FOS also in the near future.

- Litigation preparation for CCA breach (small claims - initially)

Small claims case detail 90% complete, fortunate to receive some advice at no cost from acquaintances in legal profession. Awaiting funds (from house sale) before this can be issued.

Looking forward to it!

Should the courts rule in favour of Santander (which is not my expectation else I would not bother) then this will be appealed. In the event that the appeal fails it is likely that I will cease to pursue the issue.

No doubt at this time I will also move all my finances back under Santander's competitive, money market aware and prudent management. Ho ho ho.

SimonG_UK

Hi All

After months of trying to get information from Santander relating to my old Cahoot account I finally received it today - It took 4 months !

My statements confirm that I took out an initial loan for approx £10.5k in Sept 2003 and the interest rate was hiked as follows ....

Sep 2003 = 6.35%
March 2004 = 6.50%
June 2004 = 6.77%
July 2004 = 6.97%
Sept 2004 = 7.44%
May 2005 = 8.20%
July 2006 = 8.55%
Dec 2006 = 14.00% *****
Sept 2007 = 14.84%
Aug 2008 = 16.61%
.... 16.61% until Feb 2010 when loan cleared the outstanding £7.9k in a single payment.

As others have experienced, there was a massive hike in interest in Dec 2006 when it increased from 8.55% to 14.00% and I remember querying this with Cahoot at the time but was just told that the account had a variable rate and the initial rate was just an introductory one.
Unfortunately, due to my finances at the time moving to another lender wasn't an option so I reluctantly accepted their explanation.

I had hoped that I'd have a good case to make a claim, but from what I'm reading here I'm now not so sure.

Alshere

I've just had a final decision from the FOS. They state that they consider that everything that Cahoot did was justified and totally whitewashed my complaint. They didn't address any of my issues, just agreed with Santander's case.

Unfortnately it's the end of the road as there is no further appeal.

It does seem like there is a conflict of interest between the FOS and Santander who contribute quite a considerable sum to the FOS for their services.

Alshere

Hi. I think it is highly unlikely that any refunds will now be given.

Just had my declination from the FOS.
Santander have got wise and have come up with a response that satisfies the FOS, even though there isn’t much logic or justification in it. Seems like the FOS is easily convinced. Or maybe the funds that Santander give to the FOS for the service they provide has an influence. I can’t imagine that!

Denza

On the back of their recent success in the Interest Rate Swap product mis-selling cases, I have opened a dialogue with Slater & Gordon regarding our claims.

http://www.slatergordon.co.uk/

Only a rudimentary outline has been provided to them at this stage and the next stage is chargeable (brace yourselves).

However to quote the Practice Group Leader (Group Litigation & Commercial Services); "....[FONT=&quot]if it relates to the standard terms and others are involved it may be worth taking forward"[/FONT]

I believe that we can tick both those boxes.

The quoted fee to look at all the papers*, assess the prospects and advise on how to take the case forward is £1200 though I would hope that there is some scope for revising this down to some extent.

* I can provide these in their overarching form, i.e. non claim specific

Even at full whack this would be twenty four of us in for £50 each.

Please email "flexibleloanactiongroup@gmail.com" to express an interest in this proposal at £50pp and I will see if it is feasible.

PS - Should we gain enough financial support I will ensure full disclosure (using avatars) of interest to ensure that there is no doubt that I will be making off with the proceeds on my Summer holiday.

happy_bunny_2

Quick question.

How does this impact those of us that we're lucky enough to get refunds but the rate remained the same high one on the rest of the balance?

Cheers

HB