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

toofy

Hi, was wondering if anyone could advise me if I should be challenging Santander - I was an abbey customer, purchased my house in October 2006 on a 2 yr discounted rate mortgage, then moved onto a 5 yr fixed rate.
As soon as we had done this we knew we'd been shafted, as the rates were plummeting. When I have phoned Santander they have said I'm not entitled to any redress as there is nothing on file to say a letter was being sent out. When I asked what the criteria was for redress they were evasive and just repeated that as I didn't receive a letter..any advice appreciated.. Thanks

frazell

Mac24, we were on a fixed rate mortgage with Abbey commencing around the end of 2007 which moved over to Santander. House value at the time was around £300k with an outstanding mortgage of £136k.


My initial complaint to Santander was based on them breaking the terms of the mortgage by not telling me about the cap margin increase.


They responded upholding my complaint with an offer of £3600 as said that I would have moved mortgage but they decided for me that it would be on a fixed rate product at 2.29%.


I complained again saying that I would have not chosen a fixed rate but would have gone for a variable tracker. I advised that the best rate (that I would be able to prove) was the HSBC +0.99% above base rate tracker. Again they upheld my complaint and offered £4800.


Last night I went through everything with a fine tooth comb. I am currently drafting a letter which states that they need to tell me what the best rate that was available at the time, as I believe it could be as low as +0.5% above base rate with the Woolwich. You will note further back in this thread Edtheduck complained on that basis but he hasn't followed up to say if it was upheld or not (I've PM'd him).


Also, having gone through Santanders calculation they are using a start date for the compensation of July 2010, whereas they have agreed that I would have changed my product in Nov 2008.


So they have missed 21months compensation (conveniently). A quick calc revealed that I believe I am actually owed almost £14k based on the Woolwich product and using the correct dates, plus missing interest.


This whole thing is like nailing jelly to a wall. They wriggle and squirm and twist the information to suit themselves. I'm sure we can all agree that if any of us were to break the terms of our mortgages that they would come down on us like a tonne of bricks and exercise full force. Makes my blood absolutely boil.

frazell

Toofy - write to them.

mac24

Frazell.Cheers.Did you get my PM?

frazell

Mac, I just replied.

Micko48

It seems to me that Santander (through FOS, sometimes) are paying various amounts at various rates depending on how much you argue !
I was paid out on the basis that I could have got a mortgage at 0.99% above the BoE base rate. I got paid out for 1 year from Jan'09 to Jan'10, plus my ERC and £250 compensation.
I went back to them and said that I was losing out past that date as well and they then agreed to pay me until Jan '12 (plus interest) as a compromise. They actually left me short as they only paid me a difference of 1% in the interest rate whereas I was on a higher rate of 1.5% difference for around 6 months of that time but I was fed up arguing so just took the offer.

frazell

My letter went "signed for" today so I'll update as soon as I get a response.

frazell

I should probably also add. Santander didn't send me a letter either, so I wrote to them and suggested that I might have been affected and they sent me the questionnaire.

frazell

Fishing Mad - Exactly my point back to them in my letter!!


I am due 33months redress and not 12months. My payout amount is therefore almost 3times their original offer, plus uplift in interest.


Just a warning to everyone involved in this to check the dates they are using carefully.


You will note in Micko48's post above he says that they paid him for only a year also and his compensation start date was Jan 09.


Similar point in that all claims should start from the point where they failed to advise of the cap margin increase..... NOV 08 until your eventual redemption date.

Micko48

I left Abbey/Santander in January 2010 which is why they originally agreed to pay me out until then.
In my complaint though I mentioned being compensated from December 2008 (though it should really have been November 2008, when they should have advised us about the cap margin increase) but they only agreed to pay me from January 2009.
Part of me says I should be greatful that they paid me out until Jan 2012 but the other part of me says that I am still losing out due to their incompetence (or worse?).