nationwide mortgage big worry for my mum

thanksfroyourhelp

hi all

hoping you can help if this is in the wrong forum i apologise but i really need some help

The situation

My mother who is disabled (ms progressive) has a mortgage with nationwide with about £12k left on and about 6 or 7 years to run. She pays this monthly via mostly a payment through her ex husband (my dad) My dad rang me mid November to state he would not be able to pay the payment for two months due to lack of work.

My mother who due to ms cant use a phone (or at least not effectively enough to be understood by someone who would not no her) contacted nationwide through the online message system and explained the situation. After various messages were explained and after 13 days she was finally told the only way to apply for a payment holiday was to phone (not an option) or write to a specified address (which she did).

By now the payment due out on December 1st has been missed (as my mum explained via secure message it would be) and a threatening letter has been received and extra charges added (seem very high to me).

My mum sent a letter to the address provided by secure message online on the 4th december by first class recorded delivery basically explaining the situation, a reply was received shortly after stating they were treating it as a complaint and she will hear something before mid Jan!! A further reply was received today which states

"i have investigated this for you and unfortunately i have to confirm that a payment holiday can only be secured by contacting direct on 08457 30 20 10. I apologise if my colleagues did not make this clear"

"i hope you will accept my offer of £25.00 compensation as way of an apology e.t.c e.t.c"

"if you wish to discuss a concession on your mortgage account you will need to speak to our lending control department on 08456005707 who will be happy to talk to you"

Right i have tried ringing the lady who sent the above letter (wont speak to me only mum which is fair enough could not understand mum enough to continue)

Have rung both mortgage numbers provided and same as above! very frustrating i fully understand why they cant discuss it with me but do not understand why they cant reply to a letter about this issue.

My mum will be able to pay the mortgage as usual from feb 1st and has no arrears on the mortgage, she has been with nationwide for 30 years not that matters i suspect

I am now a bit stuck and my mum is frantic

any ideas, advice or help would be very appreciated

thank you

Dave_Ham

It will not help for now, but I would suggest you get Mum to send a letter authorising you to speak on her behalf and why.

I think it is unlikely they will grant a payment holiday now I imagine the mortgage is technically in arrears.

Your honesty is noted, I guarantee many people would have just called them and pretended to be Mum.

I wish you well..

thanksfroyourhelp

thank you dave

i should have mentioned in the opening post my mum is physically very disabled (and slowly getting worse) but is still mentally 100% ok

this is why i dont really like to get involved but unfourtantely on occasion the firms involved dont seem to understand this situation cant believe i am the only one

kingstreet

Is she claiming all the help she can;-

https://www.gov.uk/support-for-mortgage-interest/overview

?

thanksfroyourhelp

thanks king but she does not qualify for that

my dad has never missed a payment and is not messing around he literally could not afford anything for two months

kidmugsy

I'm always struck by how stupid big businesses can be. This sort of case must be common enough that it's rather a scandal that Nationwide had made no intelligent provision for it.

I wish some of the muttonheads who moan about all sorts of trivial or imagined problems in these forums would compare their trivial plights with a real difficulty such as the one that afflicts you and your mother.

Best wishes to you both.

holly_hobby

You & Mum may both also wish to consider effecting a lasting power of attorney (LPA) for her (to be invoked if/when necessary), which means that should it be necessary in the future, you will be able to lawfully act as her legal representative.

In the meantime, ensure that for all her financial and personal affairs, that she has nominated you as an additional representative and therefore under the regs of the Data Protection Act (DPA), the relevant firms will be permitted to discuss her affairs with you.

You have made formal notification of the background to the missed payments, and if this makes it any better, even holiday payments are recorded as missed payment/arrears with the CRAs (as technically they are as they are misssed contractual sums due under the account, albeit with the lenders tacit agreement), so don't fret too much over that.

I would keep all correspondence in respect of this safe, if ever needed, and make the phone call so that your contact is on record regarding this - whether they will be able to discuss with Mum is another thing, but technially and essentially the records will show that she has made contact regarding the matter.

At the same time, as we say, submit the letter of authorisation for you to deal, and then take it from there.

If you are worried over repossession, its normally when there are 3 mths arrears, with no contact, assistance or proposed resolution by the mortgagor that the lender has to consider pursing a possession order .... and even then its not gted that it will be granted ..... and right now you are a long, long way from that !!

Hope this helps

Holly

JimmyTheWig

The only thing I can suggest is try going in to a branch and seeing if they can help. You might need to make an appointment for this.
Chances are the people in the branch won't be able to do what you need, but they may be able to facilitate a phone call.

As to how things can be resolved, I agree that a payment holiday while there are arrears on the account.
Why did it take 13 days to get the answer that she needed to phone or write? It was this delay, to my mind, that meant she couldn't apply for the payment holiday before going into arrears. So if this delay was unreasonable, particularly if it was due to your mum's disability, then I think they should do what they can to rectify the situation.

thanksfroyourhelp

wow very helpful here thanks

thanksfroyourhelp

holly_hobby wrote: »

You & Mum may both also wish to consider effecting a lasting power of attorney (LPA) for her (to be invoked if/when necessary), which means that should it be necessary in the future, you will be able to lawfully act as her legal representative.

In the meantime, ensure that for all her financial and personal affairs, that she has nominated you as an additional representative and therefore under the regs of the Data Protection Act (DPA), the relevant firms will be permitted to discuss her affairs with you.

You have made formal notification of the background to the missed payments, and if this makes it any better, even holiday payments are recorded as missed payment/arrears with the CRAs (as technically they are as they are misssed contractual sums due under the account, albeit with the lenders tacit agreement), so don't fret too much over that.

I would keep all correspondence in respect of this safe, if ever needed, and make the phone call so that your contact is on record regarding this - whether they will be able to discuss with Mum is another thing, but technially and essentially the records will show that she has made contact regarding the matter.

At the same time, as we say, submit the letter of authorisation for you to deal, and then take it from there.

If you are worried over repossession, its normally when there are 3 mths arrears, with no contact, assistance or proposed resolution by the mortgagor that the lender has to consider pursing a possession order .... and even then its not gted that it will be granted ..... and right now you are a long, long way from that !!

Hope this helps

Holly

thanks holly very helpful

silly question but submit the letter of authorisation any ideas on a draft of this i could use? and a good address to send it to

thanks again

thanksfroyourhelp

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

The only thing I can suggest is try going in to a branch and seeing if they can help. You might need to make an appointment for this.
Chances are the people in the branch won't be able to do what you need, but they may be able to facilitate a phone call.

As to how things can be resolved, I agree that a payment holiday while there are arrears on the account.
Why did it take 13 days to get the answer that she needed to phone or write? It was this delay, to my mind, that meant she couldn't apply for the payment holiday before going into arrears. So if this delay was unreasonable, particularly if it was due to your mum's disability, then I think they should do what they can to rectify the situation.

i rang the local branch (or was put through) and they dont have any appointments free until mid jan which is to late really.

"Why did it take 13 days to get the answer that she needed to phone or write?"

this was the total time taken , in a way i did not expect them to provide an acceptance over the internet but then to tell my mum it was ok to write when it clearly is not is not really on