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

Denza

Todge wrote: »

Did anyone else try applying for a loan with Santander to pay off the Flexi loan

Yes, numerous times!

The last was this January which was once again unconditionally rejected. In fact this was the basis for my finding this thread.

It seems that I am a safe risk to Santander at 21.9% APR but a poor risk at anything lower. Got to love those risk models!

RE : The Terms and Conditions.

I posted them recently on here and have always intended to question them on this as per OllyB when - as I expect to be - I am required to escalate to the FOS.

No reasons for the rise was ever given and I would be interested and I dare say amused to see what Santander can come up with retrospectively.

I also have no recollection of ever been offered or advised to switch to another product and would need to see evidence to suggest this. Unless this is in the form of a guaranteed acceptance to an alternative fixed term product then it is meaningless anyway.

The knockbacks as reported are so lightweight and predictable that they should not deter anyone from engaging the FOS as and when they get the final response.

Good luck to all.

Cell

Although it's kind of fruitless induging in 'what are they up to' speculation it's interesting to note that farmer's initial contact was just about the same date as mine and he (she?) has received a phone call AND the letter whereas I have nothing.

I rang on Friday and was advised that my outcome was not yet decided but that they anticipated responding by the end of this week (the eight weeks), or would at least be providing an update by then.

Denza

Too right Cell, this 'will she - won't she' speculation will be the death of me.

It's the hope that kills you.

Renton29

Hi Guys,

Just an update, I received last week a gesture of goodwill for my claim, however the amount was about 4k short of what I was asking!

They denied any wrong doing, but as a gesture of good will offered me 1.5k to be recalculated onto my loan, but the interest rate will remain the same.

This barely touches the sides....what they offered me equates to £17 a month from when the interest rate hiked to what it is now.

I went back to them asking if they can clarify how these calculations were done, and that my figure was close to 6k, not 1.5k.

I was told I would receive another letter as I emailed them my follow up complaint in regards to the letter offering a gesture of goodwill, and was emailed back to say expect another letter,....however this has yet to come so I contacted them this morning, and they emailed me back saying that there offer will not be changing.

So I asked them to send me a cheque instead then for 1.5k as it does not help me in regards to this loan....I need the money not just to pay them back!

However very unlikely they will do this, my account is behind as I cancelled my DD, and now they have sent me a separate letter saying that I am £250 behind on payments and that my account will shortly be passed over to a collections department to deal with, my credit will be effected and so on....

I find this to be rather harsh, as I originally advised them in my first letter that I was struggling financially, and could not maintain payments at this rate.

I asked for a full break down of my account, interest rates and payments, so I could send this to the FOS to investigate further.

Does anyone know if I was to accept the 1.5k, can I still chase up with the FOS for the rest of the Interest and charges applied to my flexi loan account?

At minimum they still owe me 2.5k, so although it was nice to be offered an amount, the amount is way off what I was expecting.

Kind Regards

Rents

Renton29

By the way, for those still waiting for a response, I actually hounded them almost everyday from emails to phone calls, asking for an update most dates, which caused a bit of a stir but I don't care, I wanted to know it was being dealt with and that I was not just going to sit and wait.

Cell

That's very interesting (pardon the pun) because looking at your posting history you put your claim in after 16 February, so your turnaround is far quicker than many.

And, of course, a different result to the last two reported cases, all be it that you haven't got what you asked for.

Renton29

Yes Cell, it was rather quick, however I am guessing it was because of the following:

I sent a long letter, not a template, as I had to address more concerns with them, advising of my financial hardship, and also my unrest about the hiked interest on my account.

I highlighted that the interest went from 6.9% to 29.9% (which they came back saying that I was wrong, the interest was at 9.98%...which I believe is wrong, as that rate was the rate it first got hiked to)

I also copied in the complaints department, and every email address I could find that people have mentioned on this site.

Once I sent my email, I then waited a day, and sent another email to the complaints department asking if this has been passed on yet and dealt with.

Sadly, they are now refusing to make any counter offer, and also it doesn't look likely they will send me a cheque, and also they are still phoning me to collect payment for my last missed payment on this account.

They have yet to send me a breakdown of how they calculated the interest owed back, and basically send go to the FOS, we don't care (not in those exact words but that's what it sounded like).

I am going to fill out the FOS form and send it off later, with copies of all my emails with them and the letter of goodwill...

But can anyone advise that If they have made an offer, does it mean anything? Does it mean I should continue to chase this to the end...until they payback everything rather than just 20% of what it should have been?

Regards

Rents

Cell

It's hard to advise what to do in individual circumstances.

I'm tempted to say that judging by recent events receiving any offer whatsoever appears to be encouraging and shouldn't be turned down lightly. That said we have no idea of the thought processes that are going on in Santander Towers, and bearing in mind that if rejected many of us will not hesitate to go to the FOS it may be that holding on is the best policy.

But what if the FOS finds against some, or all of us?

The lack of clear information and open dialogue is frustrating.

Renton29

This is very true Cell.

I will send everything I have to the FOS and see what they come back with, I feel that this will now be a very long waiting game!

I still don't know how they calculated my rebate, as I don't think anyone with one of these loans would be paying only £17 a month as interest....I was paying around £200 a month for years...so If they think that only £17 from £200 was additional interest, they must be having a laugh!

I have emailed them for the 3rd time today, re-instating what I was looking for, and pushing for a counter offer.

We shall see what happens!

Denza

Hi Renton29,

I'm wondering whether because you qualified your complaint with the information that you were struggling financially they felt more confident making a lowball offer.

Cynical maybe but some people are employed to make just these types of decisions I'll wager.

The fact remains that many on this thread including the originator got a realistic settlement as a result of an FOS ruling so if you are sure their calculations are way off and you have the luxury of time then this seems the best course of action.

It is certainly true that they are consistantly unconsistant in their responses and it's now impossible to gauge what decision they will come to for any remaining cases... though the safe money would not be on a full settlement!

Good luck.