Getting Direct Debit payment back?

Topazmine

Our mortgage is (unfortunately) through NRAM.

Last month I arranged a two month mortgage payment holiday to cover July & August.

At a little past 1am this morning I checked the accounts and NRAM has taken out the July mortgage payment from the other bank where we keep our daily accounts. :mad:

As it's paid by Direct Debit is there any way for me to claw the money back from them for this month? And if so what are the best procedures to use?

Topaz.

dunstonh

If it is going through today then your bank can recall that payment if you ask them to.

Topazmine

Thanks dunstonoh.

Took your advice and Smile stopped the DD for us, although we'll have to start it up again when we want it to go back through.

Unbelievably, when I rang NRAM to get an explanation and tell them the DD had been cancelled, they told me that the mortgage payment holiday had not been processed and that unless we paid up this month it would count as a default!

I then had just over an hour-long (!) phone call with them in which they kept repeating the party line that all they could do at this point was apologise and file an official complaint.

When I asked what they were going to do to correct the problem they kept telling me there is nothing they can do!

Pointing out that bills that had been arranged weren't going to get paid if they took out the money didn't help.

They apparently have:

no procedures to fix this problem (despite their acknowledgment that this has happened before),

no way to prevent it from being listed as a default,

no way to prevent it from turning up on our credit rating

No intention of emailing any customers because they "dont have any secure way to email customers"

Nothing they can do apart from apologise and file a formal complaint

At this point our choice is to default on the bills, or to default on the mortgage payment for this month which NRAM will then apparently list with credit ratings agencies! They won't even do us the courtesy of stopping that from automatically going through.

To say I was angry was an understatement. I admit that at the end of the 75 min call I dropped the 'F-bomb' which they then used as an excuse to cut me off. Because it's apparently okay for them to default on a contract with us, refuse to correct the problem, and give us a bad credit rating all due to their own incompetence, but it's not okay for us to swear about the situation :mad:

I talked through the problem at length approaching it from all different angles with one of their 'customer service managers' (whom I was first told wouldn't be able to call me back for 24 hours!), but his job was very clearly to stonewall me.

It will be 5 working days before I get written confirmation that a complaint has been filed and up to 8 weeks before I get the bank's official verdict on my complaint!

I am beyond appalled and frustrated. The only times we have ever had problems with the mortgage payments have been caused by NRAM themselves. We have always paid on time and in full.

Anyone have any advice as to what to do now?

roonaldo

Did they formally agree the payment holiday? as just because you applied for one doesnt mean they have agreed to.

Unless they did, I dont think you have a leg to stand on. I would imagine if they do agree to now it they wont ask for July payment.

Topazmine

roonaldo wrote: »

Did they formally agree the payment holiday? as just because you applied for one doesnt mean they have agreed to.

Unless they did, I dont think you have a leg to stand on. I would imagine if they do agree to now it they wont ask for July payment.

If you mean did they send us paperwork, then no. But the paperwork was not due to arrive till the day after the DD was taken so I had no way of knowing they hadn't finished up the paperwork.

If you mean did they agree to the payment holiday, then yes they absolutely did. There were three conversations over the phone about it, and during the last one, on the 19th, they said yes, everything is fine, you can have the payment holiday, that'll be set up for you and the DDs will be suspended.