CO-OP Bank Letter Not Acting in accordance with Credit Act (compensation?)

dunstonh

speed_ie wrote: »

Go to the FOS. Co-op know what they need to do, they are just taking their time doing it.

The FOS will get them to pay out.

No they will not as this is a bulk issue where the outcome has yet to be decided. Stop misleading people.

speed_ie

dunstonh wrote: »

No they will not as this is a bulk issue where the outcome has yet to be decided. Stop misleading people.

It has.

My complaint was regarding the same issue, and the redress was only relating to this issue.

Co-op know what they need to do, and it's a very simple formula.

If I'm wrong, worse case, the FOS will tell the complainant, that they will have to wait longer.

dunstonh

My complaint was regarding the same issue, and the redress was only relating to this issue.

You explained your complaint and it is different to the one that is being looked at with this thread.
You said in #72 "I was quoted a settlement figure, which was knowingly overstated." You also said in other posts that this error led to hardship as you paid the wrong amount.

That is not what this thread is about. This is about an error in the consumer credit agreement which may lead to Co-op having to refund interest for part of the loan. This is not money people have paid extra. It is a documentation error by Co-Op which will lead to a windfall refund.

speed_ie

dunstonh wrote: »

You explained your complaint and it is different to the one that is being looked at with this thread.
You said in #72 "I was quoted a settlement figure, which was knowingly overstated." You also said in other posts that this error led to hardship as you paid the wrong amount.

That is not what this thread is about. This is about an error in the consumer credit agreement which may lead to Co-op having to refund interest for part of the loan. This is not money people have paid extra. It is a documentation error by Co-Op which will lead to a windfall refund.

Everything I have referred to, stems from the statements issue.

The hardship stemmed from Co-op dragging this out.

Co-op know what needs to be done, but won't do it, without FOS pressure.

Nasqueron

speed_ie wrote: »

Everything I have referred to, stems from the statements issue.

The hardship stemmed from Co-op dragging this out.

Co-op know what needs to be done, but won't do it, without FOS pressure.

There is no hardship.
No-one has paid more than they would have done had this issue not come to light.

As Dunstonh has repeatedly pointed out, your issue is not related to this.

This topic is about a period where people who had loans and were paying them back and due to an admin error, will get some interest back as the co-op was technically not allowed to charge it during that period.

Again, no-one has paid anything they should not have done were this not picked up - they borrowed money, they had to pay it back as always happens when you have a loan, just some people will get a bonus payout.

magpiecottage

The normal stance of an Ombudsman who has upheld a complaint is to tell the firm that has been complained about to the complainant into the position that, but for the firm's error, he would have been in.

If the firm had not made the error, then the complainant would have paid the interest that he has paid.

So, if an Ombudsman, as opposed to an adjudicator, found against the bank they could, at least in theory, say they awarded nothing.

The other thing to recognise is that it is only the interest that cannot be charged. You still owe the full amount. The bank can either refund the interest or treat the interest payments as repayments of capital (other banks have done this).

If they do treat it as repayments of capital then you will get no cash in hand although the loan will be repaid sooner.

speed_ie

Nasqueron wrote: »

There is no hardship.
No-one has paid more than they would have done had this issue not come to light.

As Dunstonh has repeatedly pointed out, your issue is not related to this.

This topic is about a period where people who had loans and were paying them back and due to an admin error, will get some interest back as the co-op was technically not allowed to charge it during that period.

Again, no-one has paid anything they should not have done were this not picked up - they borrowed money, they had to pay it back as always happens when you have a loan, just some people will get a bonus payout.

I know what my issue was, and as I've repeatedly pointed out, it related to the charging of interest, as you described above.

In my instance, and where I paid more than I shouldve, the loan was settled after the issue was known.

At that point, I should not have been forced to pay, an amount of interest, that the bank would then repay(at a distant point in the future)

My complaint to the FOS, centred only on the CCA breach, as this was the situation when I complained to Co-op.

Co-op did not dispute anything with FOS, and agreed to pay almost instantly.

magpiecottage

You were out of pocket simply because you paid more to settle the loan than the bank was legally entitled to demand.

Most borrowers are not settling but simply continuing to pay the amount they agreed to pay - unless and until they settle (or, I suppose, until the loan becomes so small that it would have been paid off if the matter had been resolved) they are not in a worse of position than they would have been if the matter had been resolved sooner.

StirlingDave

It's always impossible to comment on people's exact circumstances if you are unaware of them. There are numerous ways in which people could be worst of as a result not only of this mistake, but also of how it is being handled.

Receiving a delayed letter isn't usually going to make a huge difference to people, but receiving incorrect information can. The statements weren't merely late, they covered a period of longer than one year. This is a major reason of why this situation is unfair for the customer - it made it impossible for us to calculate what we believed the outstanding figure was from our contracts and from our annual statements. Following the assumption of calculating from annual statements would suggest more money is outstanding than there actually was. This might be a minor amount, but without knowing if someone was calculating what they owed based on these figures it's impossible to say they weren't disadvantaged by it. Personally, I do manually from time to time check how much is outstanding on loans, and if I tried in this event would have arrived at the wrong figure, through no fault of my own.

In terms of material disadvantage, this is potentially affecting me now. If they refund me the interest during the year I suspect they will, I will have £1k outstanding instead of £3k. It's true it makes no difference to me in terms of my payments at the moment, so I'd still have to pay the monthly payments I do. But, it makes a big difference to my affordability when applying for other loans. For instance, I would quite like to upgrade my car and take out a new car loan, but believe the interest rates might be lower once my Co-op loan is sorted out. If they are delaying purely to keep it off their balance sheets until the time for repayments ends, then they are delaying when it becomes best for me to apply for other (affordable) credit. Add to this the uncertainty of whether my loan terminates in September 15 (best case scenerio) or February 16 (as it will if there is no refund due) and you can easily see how delaying a decision is affecting my ability to make a long-term financial plan. I'm currently in limbo a little, being told to hold off making financial decisions since I'm uncertain of where I am, but without having any guidance on when I can receive that information.

Gusboll

Update re my complaint to the Ombudsman; they have upheld it and suggested that compensation should be paid, due to me having to wait so long to hear from the bank.
The Ombudsman worked speedily (unlike the Co-Op) and kept me informed of their progress.
Aside from responses to my questions or complaints, the bank have not communicated with me about the matter since 30th December 2013 and the Ombudsman has confirmed that this is not acceptable. So ignore the people on here who say that you have no grounds for complaint; if you feel that you have not been treated properly you can legitimately complain to the Ombudsman and they may well uphold your complaint and write to the bank to recommend how the case should be settled. Good luck.