Northern rock loan over £25,000

dodge1979

I contacted nram yesterday and asked the question "who regulates my 28500 unsecured loan ?" The guy said it is cca regulated lol,

I have contacted the fos and they sending me a complaint pack , they said the more info the better ie offer of loan , agreement .

Shelldon

Hi everyone.

I wrote to the FSA and i would encourage you all to do the same even before the end of the 8 weeks to get the ball rolling. I sent the below (with my account details) to this email address

[EMAIL="complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk"]complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk[/EMAIL]


Dear Sir / Madam,

I write to you as a customer of the bank previously known as Northern Rock. I wish to make a complaint about the company which is now known as NRAM.

In 2005 my husband and I took out a Together mortgage with NROCK. We also had an unsecured loan for £30,000 running alonsgide the loan.

Recently in the press, (Dec 2012) it was identified that there were irregularities with paperwork that NROCK issued, to do with CCA regulated loans under £25,000. Customers are being reimbursed for the administration errors.

As a result of this announcement I reviewed my own paperwork. I felt the need to write to you to make you aware of another potential irregularity with the paperwork that Northern Rock issued and would ask to see whether you are able to have this reviewed?

As I understand from research carried out, there seems to be a number of "together" mortgage clients who hold personal loans inexcess of £25,000 that have had thier loan "passed off" as a CCA 1974 regulated loan. Following the communications issued by NRAM, it has become very clear to a number of us (NRAM customers and taxpayers) that unregulated loans have been written as regulated loans. I am seeking clarification directly from NRAM whether these loans are being treated as regulated or not, but it appears from a messaage on their website that they are not.

From NRAM website:
We are aware that some customers with loans of more than £25,000 have been sent documentation in the past that contained references to the CCA.
If this applies to you, we apologise for any uncertainty this may have caused. These references were wrong and will not appear in future statements.

I believe that these "grey area" loans are another example of an irregularity with the paperwork which has far wider reaching consequences and impact that simply missing a small amount of information off a statement or two. Customers have had this loan believing it was regulated by the CCA and it seems as though, legally it is not. Therefore we have not been afforded the protection a CCA loan would have offered us, when we have been told we were.

I have lodged a complaint with NRAM but of course they have no time frame to update me by, so I therefore lodge my complaint with you also so you are aware. I believe I was misold the load as a regulated one, when in fact it is unregulated and therefore unenforceable.


Now NRAM said to me due to the volume of complaints they have had they couldnt give me the guarenteed 8 week reply - i wasnt happy with that but apparently according to the FSA they HAVE to reply within 8 weeks. In the meantime the FSA will write to them on my behalf to gee them up. Heres the FSA reply to me:
.............................................................................................

Before the Financial Ombudsman Service can investigate your complaint the business concerned must have had up to 8 weeks to investigate and issue their final response, in writing.

Using the information you have provided I can write to the firm on your behalf and ask them to issue their final response letter within the next 8 weeks, however please respond with the relevant account number. If the loan was taken out in joint names I will also require the details of the other person named on the loan.

Once this information is provided I will also be able to send you our complaint form which you should sign and return with a copy of the final response when received or when the 8 week period has elapsed. I will also include some general information about how our service works.

...............................................................................................

So please dont wait for our reply from NRAM to lodge an email complaint with the FSA - Lets all work together on this :-)

claret_mike

Shelldon

When you complain to FOS you need to complete a form and sign and post in as far as I am aware.

http://www.fos.org.uk/consumer/complaints.htm

You just need to fill out the form as this is the information required.

In terms of wording, I will be putting that together at the weekend so will advise when I have done that if anyone is struggling and needs something to work off/improve etc.

Chrisb80

Thanks claret_mike, that would be great, I'm planning to do the same this weekend too. The form looks fairly straight forward but its more the wording (basis of the complaint) that we need to get right I guess. I see the issues as follows:

1. Our original loan documentation states CCA protection and this is wrong. This is the basis of the loan agreement so this needs amending/reviewing moving forward.
2. Contractually NRAM have afforded us CCA protection under the terms of the agreement so the documentation “issue” should apply to us, and thus financial redress should be given in the same way that the <£25k loans have been. If its not then NRAM are in breach of contract.
3. TCF principle 7 has been broken (miss leading paperwork) and as such we feel that they are not complying with principle 6 (TCF) as a result. This needs addressing.

Have I missed anything?

I’m not sure that there’s any merit in going down the miss sold route although I’m sure that the FOS will look at this if needs be. My only concern is that we have not actually suffered any financial hardship as a result of this mistake, we are just wanting to be treated the same as the <£25k loan customers so it comes down to whether to FOS can or will make a ruling based on a contractual issue or breach. Can or are they allowed to do this?

shellyk6666

Doesn't the fact that people with loans under £25K are getting redress for the missing information on their statements in itself show that we are now suffering financial loss? I.e. they are getting their interest refunded, whereas we are not? Surely that's a financial loss??

claret_mike

I have had a chance to draft something out...

You have 2 boxes -

What is your complaint & What do you want the firm to do.

Box 1 - What is my complaint??

My complaint is that I have asked NRAM to afford me the protection of the CCA 1974 due to all paperwork including offer/initial agreements confirming that this existed, they have implied that it's not worth the paper it's written on. I feel that my secured loan has been mis-sold as a result.

Following an announcement by HM Treasury, I believe that had my loan been covered by the t&c's stated in my paperwork, I would have been entitled to a rebate of £000's as a result.

However, it seems as though because my loan exceeds £25k, NRAM can simply ignore the agreements that are in place which clearly gives the impression that I am provided the protection of the CCA 1974.

This to me is breaching FSA principals 6 & 7 for business, which state that they should treat me fairly and any communications are clear, fair and not be misleading. Clearly this has not happened.

What would you like the firm to do

My initial request was to be given protection of CCA and provided with any rebates due. However, their final response indicates that our contract is meaningless, which should mean all repayments returned in full with statutory interest.

I am not sure about the last bit on the basis that clearly I am being tongue in cheek that if NRAM want to say that our contract means nothing then why should we accept that there is a valid contract either.

Any thoughts?

NikkeiPositivity

Hi All

I just stumbled upon this thread this morning and after reading through my paperwork have found myself in the same boat. All of my paperwork states that I have an unsecured loan of £28,000 that is protected by the consumer credit act 1974. What I am struggling to fathom is why if this is not the case and I have no redress, why the lovely people at NRAM after knowing their contracts are wrong, their statements are wrong have failed to inform me thusly, if it is no big deal??? I have to say I despise the whole compensation culture we have adopted as a country, however I don't think we can tar this situation with the same brush. NRAM have signed contracts to state that the agreement is conducted in compliance with cca1974, this has not happened for everyone that signed these contracts. NRAM is therefore responsible for resolution for All of these customers. What gives NRAM the right to then say well actually we got it wrong but no harm no foul? With PPI it was an optional item, everyone that took out these loans were told they were covered by the cca1974 period. Way to go NRAM, once more you have outdone yourself, outstanding ethics!

downhiller

Got my rejection letter from NRAM last week. Along the lines of "we haven't done anything wrong, you weren't mis-led, sorry for any confusion"

Still drafting my complaint to the FOS.

An important note for everyone else in the same boat. Do not under any circumstances sign any new loan papers they send you. Keep making all your payments but don't accept anything from them until we have a final answer to all this and we've exhausted every option.

Lippyx

Hi,
I have just come across this thread and hoping this could be the answer to my very big problem!
I got one of these NR Together mortgages, with an unsecured loan of 30k. I got this with my now ex partner in 2004 and we split in 2007.
Long story very short, he has stopped paying his share and has left me with the debt, even though he told me it was paid off when he remortgaged!

So what do I do? I know the agreement stated the CCA 1974 for up to £25k. I was thinking of phoning them, emailing them and writing them a letter, but do I have to get my ex involved or can I make this claim off my own back?

Also, has anyone been successful? Also, who is FOC?

Thanks

ajm173

My Husband and I are also waiting for a final response from NRAM and will be putting together our complaint to the FOS asap. I am currently watching Panorama and the investigation in to the "horse meat" scandal and find it shares some links to this whole issue with NRAM and our loans. People purchased what was very clearly labelled "beef" but it has turned out to be "horse" therefore customers have been severely mis-lead and are obviously outraged. We as customers of NRAM have signed up to loan agreements which have very clearly stated at severall points / places throughout that our loan is covered by the CCA 1974 - and as they are over £25,000 it now turns out they aren't therefore leaving us mis-lead!

Come on NRAM take some responsibility for your HUGE mistake!