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Northern. Rock unsecured loan

Hi. I wonder if anyone could advise?
Myself and my husband had a Northern Rock mortgage from 2005 till 2008. When taking out a mortgage, an IFA advised us to consolidate our debts and borrow extra on the mortgage which we did - £28000 over the term of the mortgage, 28yrs. When we sold the house in 2008, we were not able to pay off the loan aswell as the mortgage and were advised that the only way we could keep the low interest rate would be to take out another mortgage. We tried but the catch 22 was that at the time they were not offering any new mortgages being that they had just been nationalised. As we couldn't refinance the loan (I'd just been made redundant and we had a 6mth old baby) we had to accept the converted loan and an interest rate of 8% above the BOE base rate. We've been paying NRAM now for over 8 years and the capital amount has not gone down. The annual statements show that of the £320 monthly payment, only £10 goes towards paying off the loan. We're still not in a position to pay the loan off and we are seriously thinking of offering them reduced payments as we're struggling like everyone else. Do we have a case to go to the FSA or anyone like that? Had we been able to take another mortgage out, we may not be in this mess now? Thanks

Comments

  • Apples2
    Apples2 Posts: 6,442 Forumite
    If you hadn't spent nearly thirty thousand pounds more than you earned you wouldn't be in this mess you mean?

    You can't complain that you weren't offered a great mortgage by any mortgage company!!
  • CLAPTON
    CLAPTON Posts: 41,865 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    if you are saying that you are paying 8.5% APR then that is a very reasonable level

    might be worth checking what level you are actually paying as it doesn't seem right that you are only paying only 10 off out of 320 pm

    I can't see on what basis you would be making a complaint to the FSA.

    without knowing your circumstances (income, spending etc) it's difficult to advice.
  • No, you have no case for saying you were missold this loan. After all 8.5% is almost certainly less than you were paying on the debts you consolidated!

    Now it is just any old unsecured loan. If you can't manage the repayments or if you have other unsecured debts, then you should consider talking to StepChange see http://www.stepchange.org/Howwecanhelpyou/DMPDebtmanagementplan.aspx. This will wreck your credit ratings, but if you don't have enough money for the minimum debt repayments, that is what has to happen.
  • Have you missed payments on this loan. I think the best thing you can do, is move over to the Debt Free Wanna Be Board, they will help you to reduce your outgoings so that you can concentrate on reducing your debts quickly. Reduced payments will put you in even more deep water than you already are. Have a look at your budget and reduce will be your best bet.

    All the best.

    AMD
    Debt Free!!!
  • Apples2 wrote: »
    If you hadn't spent nearly thirty thousand pounds more than you earned you wouldn't be in this mess you mean?

    You can't complain that you weren't offered a great mortgage by any mortgage company!!

    The reason people come onto this Site is for help, not be be beaten about the head with their mistakes, which we are all guilty of making, hence the reason behind this Site.

    It's attitudes like this that's put many more people off, trying to sort themselves out, we are here to give helpful advice, could we try and do this for a change.

    AMD
    Debt Free!!!
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