Northern rock loan over £25,000

IainHL

gwc1980 wrote: »

Any one with a northern rock loan may be interested to follow the link below, they missold me an unregulated loan and are now shipping us off to who?!

heraldscotland.com/business/company-news/northern-rock-loans-snapped-up-for-400-million.1374668925

Reading it carefully it seems to me this is NRAM selling off the (unsecured) personal loans business (the bit that used to be run out of Rotherham). This is nothing to do with the mortgage business (even though the Together product has an unsecured loan component).

claret_mike

Just thought I would update, I decided that on the back of the stone wall given by FOS, I would write to the head of the FCA.


Dear Mr Wheatley

I am writing to you today to attempt to draw your attention to an issue that I feel as a consumer, I have been let down by a firm you regulate and the Financial Ombudsman Service who have failed to deal satisfactorily with complaints from others of a similar nature.

Having read your comments on Money Marketing (http://www.moneymarketing.co.uk/regulation/martin-wheatley-fca-is-a-very-different-animal/1074019.article), you seem very clear in the fact that you expect those companies to have products that are compliant, ticks every legal box and provides the right outcome for the consumer.

I feel that NRAM are in breach of what you are trying to achieve and would ask if you could review this situation for a growing group of consumers who feel very let down by NRAM and the FOS who do not seem to consider individual complaints or understand what you expect (and arguably what the FSA prior to you) from those firms that you regulate.

The issue at hand is that NRAM have issued incorrect information to it's customers who had their "together" mortgage product. More specifically, I refer to those whose unsecured loan element was in excess of £25k. The paperwork for these loans should have been clear that the loans were unregulated but it seems that the paperwork and subsequent statements (over a number of years) have all indicated that these loans were covered by the Consumer Credit Act 1974, which I understand should not have been the case.

Whilst I am sure that this was an oversight by Northern Rock at the time of being issued, it seems as though there have been irregularities with the paperwork which has now meant that a reported 270k customers are getting interest refunds due to breaches of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 this issue. NRAM have taken the stance that those customers with loans over £25k limit and had the incorrect paperwork, do not get the same afforded protection and everything is OK because technically our loans could never have been covered by this act. This has no consideration to the fact that many consumers would not have known about the differences and additional risks involved of having an unsecured non regulated loan.

What I wanted to get across also is that, as you will be well aware of, the FSA had principals for business and principals 6 & 7 - TCF and making sure that when they communicate, it is fair, clear and not misleading should have been followed. Do you think this has happened here? I do not and know for certain many others do not either

The fact that the FOS seem to bizarrely responding to people without fully addressing the issues satisfactorily and seem to have sided with NRAM (both of which are responsible to government) on the basis that issuing incorrect misleading paperwork is OK.

I have not progressed my complaint to them as I have been waiting for people to see what happened when they challenged the outcomes of their complaints and I have concluded that I do not wish to waste my time or cost of a stamp for them to tell me what they have as a standard response. I am hoping a different approach may be better as I am sure in your pursuit of trying to sort the "wild west" world of financial services, this is a great example of where the industry has failed customers.

I thank you very much for your time in reading this and hope that you can provide some hope for all those customers that have been failed so far.


I did get a response but not directly from Mr Wheatley

Thank you for your recent email marked for the attention of Martin Wheatley at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Your email has been passed to me by Martin and he has asked that I respond directly to you.

I understand you are writing to the FCA in relation to your concerns with Northern Rock Asset Management plc (NRAM) and the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). I am sorry to learn of the problems you are experiencing, and appreciate the concern this situation has caused you.

As I am sure you are aware the FCA are unable to intervene or investigate complaints made by the public against the firms we regulate, this is role that falls under the FOS. I note you feel let down by the FOS as you feel that they have failed to deal satisfactorily with you complaint and others. Therefore, If you are not happy with the way in which the FOS has dealt with your case or with the service they have provided, you can report this to the FOS. The FOS has a special procedure set up to deal with such complaints. You can do this by telephone or in writing.

If you have given the FOS a chance to respond to your claim about its service and you are still not happy, you can contact its Independent Assessor. However, he deals only with complaints about service, and so cannot consider whether the FOS was right to uphold or reject a complaint about a firm. More information on this process is available on the FOS's website https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk.

In relation to the points in your email about your concerns with NRAM, I would like to advise you that we welcome information about the firms we regulate which could highlight wider concerns that could affect our regulatory activities, and any information you provide will be looked at by the relevant department within the FCA..

I have passed the information in your email to the team responsible for the supervision of NRAM. How they follow up information received, whether it comes from consumers, the Ombudsman, consumer bodies or industry sources, will depend upon the risks posed to our objectives, the quality of the evidence and the seriousness of the accusations.

However, please be aware that we do not generally give you any feedback on how we have followed up the information you have given us. This is because the Financial Services and Markets Act imposes restrictions on how we can deal with confidential information that we receive. Also, if we were to tell you about an on-going investigation it might prejudice the investigation itself. We realise this can be frustrating but would reassure you that all information is carefully considered before we decide what action, if any, we take.

I hope you have found my response helpful. If you have any further questions please feel free to contact our Consumer Helpline on 0800 111 6768.

Not sure what to make of it but at least I am satisfied that the regulator is now aware of this!

andy.m_2

Why did you not write that in a letter and put a stamp on it?

Much more effective I would think

downhiller

It still puzzles me that forgetting to put the original loan amount on the statements can trigger mass refunds, yet those of us with completely false and misleading loan agreements are left to rot!

NorthernRockVictim

Look forward to seeing the response.

CrazyAngel_3

We too are having problems with NRAM. We received a letter dated 28 June saying 'yes, you are entitled to redress and you will receive it by 31 July'. As of today it has still not been received.

Phoned NRAM, they have now said that actually, we dont want to give you redress and its with our legal department to see whether you are actually entitled to it. So now, despite admitting it they are trying to wriggle out of it.

We initally had our complaint to FOS not upheld in regard to this issue, but have spoken to them today and they are now straight back on the issue.

I can just see that NRAM will use whatever tactics they have to, to get out of paying us.

NRAM are a joke.

DrAl_2

Does your issue relate to a loan (As part of Together mortgage) over £25,000?

CrazyAngel_3

It was a loan as part of a together mortgage, however was for only £15,000.00.

tinystar2001

What reason did they give for changing their minds? If any!

linniep2000

Hi

I'm a bit late to the party as naively believed the information on NRAMs website that I'm not entitled to anything.

I took a Together Mortgage in 2006 with a £30,000 loan. I still have all the original paperwork that clearly states evertyhing was CCA regulated. I also have a letter from the solicitors (reccommended by Northern Rock) which states:
Please return the Original Agreement to us AS SOON AS POSSIBLE as it is necessary to comply with the requirements of the Credit Consumer Act 1974 within 7 days of it being signed, i.e. Northern Rock must send you the second copy of the Agreement. Until this has been done and the cancellation period of 6 days following this has expired no amount can be drawn down under the Agreement. We must send the Agreement to Northern Rock and if any delay arises in the receipt of this may result in delay or the Agreement becoming invalid and a further Agreement having to be signed.

We note that from Condition 12 of your mortgage offer that you have requested the sum of £30,000.00 to be released under the Together Variable Agreement. Please let us know if this is incorrect.

Just wondered how many others used the solicitors provided by NRAM as this letter clearly shows that legal advice I received at the time stated that my loan was protected.

Anyway I've forwarded copies of all my documentation to NRAM and am awaiting the inevitable response...