Santander Mortgage Arrears fees letter - Need help

Jam555s

Hi there.

A few years ago i had a serious gambling addiction, in which i fell behind in my mortgage with Santander (amongst other accounts)

After some professional help, i now no longer gamble, and have worked hard to clear my mortgage arrears

I plan to write to santander to claim back arrears fees and legal charges relating to that period, as i feel i was a vulnerable customer, yet bank did not try and help me, but made a lot of money out of me while i was in arrears

i have a rough letter, please can you all look over the letter and give me your advice, or even a better letter,

Thanks Team


F.A.O -Mortgage complaints department
Complaints, Santander UK PLC,
PO Box 1125,
Bradford
BD1 9PG



Mortgage number- *****************
Mortgage Address - ************************* ****

I would like to make a formal complaint in relation to my mortgage with Santander and how I felt I was treated during my time within you’re collections department and my spell of financial difficulty.

In September 2011, I fell behind with my mortgage due to a severe gambling addiction which I notified you at the time. I feel you were very unsympathetic with my personal situation and did work with me to put appropriate arrangements in place.

I completed several I&E during my time within the collections department however as discussed on one of my calls to your department I am the sole contributor to the bills and the mortgage so these would all show as unaffordable to pay my contractual monthly payment + an additional amount to the arrears . The other name on the mortgage, Mrs ********(my mother) did not live with me nor contributeicon to the mortgage. I was never asked any questions related to my situation, or discuss my I&E and felt pressured in to maintaining arrangement’s which were unaffordable and caused me to borrow additional funds from payday lendersicon which resulted in me falling further into difficulty and thus incurring more charges for broken arrangement’s.

I believe Santander did not treat me fairly while my account had fallen behind, I firstly fell they were too quick to pursue legal action without considering all other options which resulted in me incurring legal charges from yourself, as well as solicitor charges from you’re solicitors and having to pay a solicitor of my own to help causing my to fall even further behind and in a worse off position.

I fell the £40 per month charge is excessive and does not truly reflect the work involved in monitoring my account while I was behind.
I believe these charges are a penalty charge and legally unfair in terms of the 1999 Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations (SI. 1999/2083). I believe this because:
• charges have been imposed on my default, namely because I incurred mortgage arrears;
• default charges at common law must reflect actual costs and the penalties you have imposed far exceed any actual additional administrative costs that my default has incurred; and
• imposing fixed monthly charges because I am in arrears with my mortgage requires me to pay a disproportionately high sum in compensation to you, particularly as during most months I am in arrears you have little or no contact with me; and therefore these charges are legally unenforceable under reference to para 1(e) of schedule 2 to the 1999 Regulations.
Your mortgage default charges are very similar to credit card default charges.
On 5 April 2006 the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) announced that credit card default charges which are set at more than £12 will be presumed to be unfair and unenforceable in terms of the 1999 Regulations. Charges above this sum will be subject to legal action by the OFT (press release 68/06 - online here: http://www.oft.gov.uk/News/Press+rel...2006/68-06.htm).

The OFT stated that a charge is not fair simply because it is below this sum, and I believe that a reasonable charge would be no more than your loss of base rate interest on the sums I have failed to pay. For example, if I was in arrears of £500 for one month your loss would be:

(Base rate interest) x (level of arrears) x (length of time in arrears)
5.75% x 500 x 1/12 = £2.39

As a resolution for my complaint I would ask for all fees including legal fees/solicitor fees refunded as well as a payment for the distress and inconvenience I have incurred.
Please feel free to contact me on the number below if you need any further information,
Many thanks,

James **********

silvercar

Let us know how you get on.

IMHO you stand more chance on the "unreasonable charges" angle than the "vunerable person" stand.

Jam555s

Thanks, what do you think of the letter?

Thrugelmir

Banks are not in a position to offer charitable support to it's customers. There's a multitude of reasons why someone maybe "vulnerable" at some point in their lives. You were in breach of contractual terms. The consequences are clearly laid out of doing so. So it's not possible to turn round now and say that they are unfair.

DevCoder

My advice would be to not copy template letters off the internet

http://www.govanlc.com/mortgagestep1letter.htm

You need to fully understand the reasons you are stating and the legal requirement on both parties when constructing such a letter.

maninthestreet

If I were a betting man, I wouldn't be putting any money on the OP in this situation.

silvercar

Jam555s wrote: »

Thanks, what do you think of the letter?

Too long. Second para should say "didn't" not "did". I would concentrate on the unfairness of some of the charges and only mention that your circumstances were difficult at the time.

maninthestreet wrote: »

If I were a betting man, I wouldn't be putting any money on the OP in this situation.

Nor would I, but there is a chance that the lender will throw something to OP to conclude the matter swiftly.

Jam555s

What's op?

mrsbigz

OP means original poster

dunstonh

It is an overly wordy letter which contains a number of legal opinions offered by someone who has no knowledge of the law. The complaints handler at the bank is likely to take one look at that and lose any sympathy for the op and be forced to deal with it on a strictly legal basis and respond in kind by passing it to their solicitors who do know the law. Even the FOS say that its best to do this as it prevents them looking at the fairness angle.

You conveniently mention credit cards but forget the banks won he court case on bank charges and since then, unfair charge complaint success have fallen. Although neither are mortgage charges.

Goldiegirl

As it is a joint mortgage, your mother is also responsible for the mortgage - why didn't she pay for the mortgage, or at least contribute why you were going through the this situation.

It sounds like the bank did try to help by making arrangements for payment - it's not their fault that you didn't keep to the arrangements.

You don't say how much your property is worth, how much the total balance of the mortgage is and how much the arrears were, so it's difficult to judge whether they started legal action too quickly..... But looking at it from their point of view, payments have stopped, arrangements have been broken, they are getting worried that, if they let the situation carry on like this, they are going to lose their money. Hence the need for legal action to protect their security.

All fees are clearly set out, and you are advised of fees each year, usually with your statement, so it was clear what would happen if you didn't pay your mortgage.

When Santander get your letter, they may make you a goodwill payment, but don't hold your breath. They haven't actually done anything wrong.