compensation for hsbc default advice needed

nadsta1

to cut a very long story short, basically hsbc put a default on my credit file which they didnt tell me about. Last year I went to purchase a property and couldnt get mortgage due to my credit checks coming back as "failed". Eventually I bought my credit file and it said "hsbc default £216".

This was made an error, I spoke to hsbc and had it removed thanks to a branch manager and went on to buy the house after fighting to get a mortgage for a month. Since then and before that hsbc got debt colection agencies involved to collect the £216 however i told them the story and they backed off and a new dca got involved each time and it went on.

i wrote to hsbc, and a senior manager rang me this morning saying he will rectify everything and said i mentioned compensation in the letter and asked me to provide a breakdown of what i think i should be compensated.

now i need some advice on how much someone has in the past or what amount is suitable?

please bare in mind:
1) the default would have been on their for 6 years from 2010-16 - not allowing me to obtain credit.
2) i was very stressed as this occured around my birthday (Worst birthday ever!)
3) i spent money on copying,posting, printing and calling premium rate numbers as well fuel and parking
4) wasted enedless hours at mortgage brokers only to be turned down
5) nearly got ripped off to a dodgy mortgage company on the net who said they could give me a mortgage (when funnily enough others couldnt)

i dont want to ask too less, as they might think i am a fool and they got off lightly. The senior manager did say they want to sort this out with me (ultimately because i gave him good evidence - he didnt say this ofcourse) and asked me to give them a figure which they can work around - so basing it on that i am thinking to apply the "if you dont ask you dont get" theory. And was thinking 5 figures would be ultimately ideal for the above reasons and many more... (As banks can charge enormous amounts for customerS but why should banks be let off lightly for nearly disabling someone financially).

Any advice kindly appreciated.

YorkshireBoy

Forget about (1) and (5). You can't put a monetary value on something that "would have" or "nearly" happened.

And am I reading correctly re your figure of £10K plus? If so your claim will be laughed out by both HSBC...and the FOS if it gets that far. Or maybe you were including a decimal point and two zeros after it?

Your claim will consist of:

1) A reasonable estimate of out of pocket expenses
2) Your reasonable time expended, at £10 per hour
3) Something for the 'distress and inconvenience'. Visit the FOS website for more help with this.

peanuts92

I'm dealing with a HSBC complaint as well, but in my case they have lost my ID and wasted a lot of my time. So far to me they have been very tight and at first offered me £3.80 (just for bus fare :mad:), then when i escalated things it rose to £10 and now when i've escalated it again but made clear i want a final letter as i am taking it to the FOS its now shot up to £50. However, i am going to take this further to the FOS, as i should be able to get a bit more than this...

In your case, it might be worth you looking on the FOS website for further information as they have categories on different levels of compensation and it will help you assess where you roughly stand. With the amount for compensation i'd be very surprised if you got a 5 figure sum...but i would advise you to push them to make you an offer if they play hard ball and tell you to make a suggestion. Then i would say start high and then negotiate down to a reasonable amount your happy with. If your unhappy with what your being offered, threaten to take things further with the FOS and they may reconsider their offer immediately...

Good luck

nadsta1

Well, by the looks of things hsbc dont want it get out of hand. FOS dont ask the other party compensate as far as I know.

I think your pretty wrong on point (1) my friend. The point to take note here is it has happened for a period 5 months from Dec 10 - May 11 and would have continued to do so. Because HSBC never told me this. The whole incident happend by coincidence as I was purchasing a property. If for whatever reason i did not purchase a property or applied for any form of credit last year, I would not have known about this unlawful default on my credit file and infact it would have been 16 months with the default on. as a matter of fact, I was going to ditch the whole thing and thought "sod it am nailed for 6 years now I dont want my own house and shall wait til 2016". It all came to light when I decided to purchase the credit file.

Sorry where did you get this £10 per hour figure from exactly?

nadsta1

peanuts92 - thats exactly my point. I dont want to state something low and then they will think drop him lower. If I state a high offer then I got remove for negotiation to my satisfaction.

The senior manager's words were "provide us with a breakdown figure on which we can work on". To my knowledge that means give me a figure, and we will negotiate on that.

I dont know if everyone in the hsbc complaint department is referred to as a "manager" or whether my case is getting priority?!

I have had a look on fos but am finding that site hard to use and finding any similar cases to myself. It might be me but am only getting like a figure of the overall cases on fos?!

YorkshireBoy

nadsta1 wrote: »

I think your pretty wrong on point (1) my friend.

We'll see.

The point to take note here is it has happened for a period 5 months from Dec 10 - May 11 and would have continued to do so.

There you go again! Ring the FOS and ask them if you believe I'm wrong.

Sorry where did you get this £10 per hour figure from exactly?

From my experience of making complaints and having them referred to the FOS.

All the information you need is on the FOS website. Take a look, and tone down your expectations...substantially.

nadsta1

FOS is not the final say in the hurdle. One can pursue the matter to court if one chooses to do so especially when they think they got strong evidence.

Am finding the fos site difficult to find things and navigate on!! Grrr

YorkshireBoy

nadsta1 wrote: »

Am finding the fos site difficult to find things and navigate on!! Grrr

Go to their homepage
Type "£10 per hour" in the search box top right and press enter
Click the first result returned
Look for the words I've already used to you...reasonable...distress & inconvenience...etc.

And on our 'disagreement' on point (1), and therefore persumably point (5) too, see section 13 on that page...

"the impact the information had"

ie, not what might have/could have/would have/nearly happened...simply "HAD" happened.

nadsta1

From reading that things to shed back are: each case is judged on its own merit, distress caused is also judged on its own merit.

Those figures are for what the fos thinks is suitable.

My initial understanding of the fos was correct and I still stick to that after reading more on their site on how "they resolve disputes between consumers and organisations". I think my case is a bit more than a dispute.

I think you've also failed to understand, the default was placed on my record its not about if it had happened, or it would have, the point is it did happen. And I only became aware of it due to purchasing a credit file. Realistically, who purchases a credit file out of the blue? Nobody. (especially the very first time).

nadsta1

unfortunately there are no figures i can obtain on people in similar cases to mine, how much they got. Because something like this doesnt happen everyday.

YorkshireBoy

nadsta1 wrote: »

I think you've also failed to understand, the default was placed on my record its not about if it had happened, or it would have, the point is it did happen.

I understand very clearly what "did happen", ie a default resided on your credit file from Dec 2010 to May 2011...some 6 months.

A default did not reside on your file for 6 years. Yes it might have, but that's not the point...it didn't.

And as I said earlier, you can't claim for something that didn't happen.

And I stand by my advice (that you asked for in your OP by the way), that "nearly" being ripped off by a dodgy mortgage company is not a claimable event either, because, like point (1) that didn't happen either...although again, it 'might' have.

Let us know what the FOS say when you call them.