MSE News: Thousands of Santander mortgage holders could get payouts after blunder

almond

Two_steps_forward... wrote: »

Hello there, what is your position now? Did you refer it to FOS?

hi
ashamed to admit it but have done nothing, long story but been busy and now I intend to get back on track. I will write to Santander over weekend with copies of my contract then take it to fos

TParty

Hi
I've just received my first letter from Santander basically saying that my payments were higher than they would have been had they not increased the Cap Margin but then going on to say they don't think I would have got a better mortgage blah blah blah. I've been trying to read all the threads on this but have got a bit lost! Has anyone had any successs with Santander yet? The reference on my letter is M027.
Many thanks.

TParty

Thanks for responding. Will be lodging my complaint with Santander on Monday and will keep you posted. I'm just a bit confused as to why they seem to have enclosed a questionnaire with the letters sent to people with the M013 ref but haven't with mine if, as you say, the higher the refs the more likely it seems that they are going to have to pay out but perhaps they're just trying to confuse the issue!

ThrobsBlackHat

So what we have learned thus far:

1) Santander are doing this through gritted teeth with the sole aim of reducing liability

2) People's questionnaires are being misconstrued to the level whereby many think it is a deliberate misrepresentation in order to achieve a favourable result for the company. In short - you have to be pretty clever to try and act that thick.

3) The FOS will be the only outlet for many. Santander's own research and complaint handling is a paper pushing sham to satisfy the needs of the authorities and their own management rather than those making the complaints.

Santander, you have shot yourselves in the foot. I have been with you since 2002. I renegotiate every 2 years. I have never missed a payment. I am moving house next year. You had my brand loyalty, with a known advisor at my local Abbey National (Karen, Shrewsbury branch, excellent service) looking after me and my family's needs.

Sure, it may have been cheaper elsewhere for me by a few hundred quid here and there but you took the risk on me when I was younger and other's wouldn't, so I was your customer. Yours to look after, or sadly yours to lose.

None of this is about me, or us, but you're now putting the spotlight on us and telling us what we may or may not have done and how we may or may not have acted.

The truth is we will never know - because we did not have the facts, the facts you did not give us, so don't you dare have the audacity to tell us what we would or would not have done in a situation you created.

You probably could have won my silence with a couple of hundred quid and a pat on the head. Now you have lost me forever. You have lost me for my mortgage when I move house next year. You have lost me for my current accounts in the future. You have lost me for ever considering you for insurance, travel money, credit cards. You name it, I won't take it. Santander is like a swear word in my house.

So that's it then. I won't have anything more to do with such a resolutely devious organisation. You can offer me however much now but it won't make the slightest difference. I cannot trust you. I cannot rely on you to take your customer's welfare seriously.

You were in the wrong.

You are now in the wrong about how you are dealing with being in the wrong.

Shame on you Santander, shame.

TheMightySwordfish

So much truth in your post.......you won't be alone in your actions.

ThrobsBlackHat

and as if by magic!

Their next letter arrived today.

"I feel the the original case handler mis-interpreted your comments from your original complaint questionnaire"

Darn right they did!

Anyway - instead of saying I was owed nothing because I would have only taken a 5 year tracker of bank of England plus 4.09%, they now admit I would have taken a 28 month tracker of bank of England plus 1.89%

So my offer has grown from zero to £225, which includes 8% compound interest.

But then I read that the claim is only for the time period between when I would have changed (Jan 09) to when I did change with Santander (Dec 09).

But surely I can also claim the difference between the rest of the 28 month 1.89% + BOE tracker they have admitted I would have got, and the 3.79% 2 year fixed rate I ended up taking up with them in December 09, which by the nature of having changed I would not have then then taken up?

The BOE has sat at 0.5% ever since then, so I would have been paying 2.39% until May 2011.

The 3.79% was never that uncompetitive at the time I took it or I would not have taken it, so the market had changed between January and December.

What do people think? Are they right to cut off the liability at the point that I took a new product? Is that standard practice? Or is that them putting another invisible hurdle in front of me that has no legal merit?

ThrobsBlackHat

Oops, double post

peterod1

Has anyone had any success in obtaining copies of the SMC's which were relevant at the time eg 2006, 2007 etc.

I requested a copy and they sent me the 2012 stating these were the current set applicable to my mortgage.

If so, does anyone one have a pdf set of the 2006 they can send me.

System

Hi i have just received my letter (M001) after reading ALL 32 pages i am wondering weather to continue with this claim. Well i have rang Santander and am waiting for the questionnaire to come.

Jon

TParty

I've lodged my complaint with Santander and they're sending me the questionnaire. The person I spoke to admitted that they hadn't sent any letters out to customers in 2008 advising of the change so it's not a case of them not providing sufficient information but that they didn't provide any information. When I asked if they could send me details of the interest rates being offered by other lenders at the time he said they had them but couldn't send them out. I don't see why I need to jump through hoops justifying my financial situation so has anyone just sent a blank questionnaire back asking them to justify their actions.