Advice Needed - A&L PPI Reclaim

dannyking

I have just about given up hope, so any help would be greatly appreciated.
I will try to be as brief as possible.
Took out a personal loan with A&L in August 2003 (£348pcm over 60mths). Loan account was settled in January 2006 when I refinanced my mortgage. I distinctly remember being urged to take PPI when I took out the loan as 'it would help the loan to be approved'. This is all in 2 credit reports I have. The third (2014) no longer shows it.
Contacted the bank (now Santander) in November 2011 for bank statements relating to the period Nov 2005-Jan 2006 to establish the loan account number (from my statements, as the full account number not published in the credit reports). Request ignored. Contacted the Ombudsman in December 2011. By the time the Ombudsman finally got around to looking at the complaint (March 2014), the bank had deleted any evidence of the loan accounts (which it is allowed to do). I had checked a few months previously and now bank statement records went back 6yrs online, but did not in Nov 2011, hence the written request to the bank. So the complaint was closed as the bank could not find any evidence of the loan existing, so no case to answer.
I was advised by the Ombudsman to complain again, but this time about the administration of the original complaint (by ignoring my request for 3-4 months, the loan details could be deleted). The result of this complaint has just been advised to me - FOS are not, under the DISP rules of the FCA, allowed to investigate in this area.
I KNOW that there was PPI on this loan, and I am 99.9% sure the bank knew this when I first contacted them, they just sat on the complaint for long enough (3mths) until they could legitimately destroy the records of it.
So is there anything else I could do to identify the loan, and the PPI, and get it refunded?

dunstonh

I was advised by the Ombudsman to complain again, but this time about the administration of the original complaint (by ignoring my request for 3-4 months, the loan details could be deleted). The result of this complaint has just been advised to me - FOS are not, under the DISP rules of the FCA, allowed to investigate in this area.

I'm surprised the FOS handled the original complaint as you have written that you requested information they did not supply and then went to the FOS. The FOS is only meant to start the process after a complaint has been rejected or 8 weeks have passed since the complaint. A request for info is not a complaint.

I KNOW that there was PPI on this loan, and I am 99.9% sure the bank knew this when I first contacted them, they just sat on the complaint for long enough (3mths) until they could legitimately destroy the records of it.

Its no longer about PPI. It only returns to PPI if Santander accept a failure to act on your original request back in 2011. However, they can time bar you as you 3 years to complain about the event in question. So, that expired in 2014 (based on a 2011 request).

i don't think there is anything you can do now. Someone else may.

dannyking

Thankyou for your help. Let down on all sides really, Santander and FOS. Surely I was complaining again in 2014 when the original complaint was rejected by FOS, so that should be upheld? I only got them involved because Santander were ignoring the request, at the time I suspected they were just ignoring it for long enough to be able to remove the records legitimately - I obviously know a bit more about it now, so that was maybe a little naïve. But I have letters from Santander from 2014 saying they are investigating the complaint, but this was passed back to the FOS?
And anyway, shouldn't I have been advised by the FOS right at the beginning of what they can and can't help with? Fact is, Santander have withheld crucial information, and then destroyed it. Why isn't there a mechanism to hold them accountable for that?

dunstonh

Surely I was complaining again in 2014 when the original complaint was rejected by FOS, so that should be upheld?

It was a different complaint. Your complaint was about PPI. Not about them failing to carry out an admin task in 2011.

I only got them involved because Santander were ignoring the request, at the time I suspected they were just ignoring it for long enough to be able to remove the records legitimately - I obviously know a bit more about it now, so that was maybe a little naïve.

Probably as you didnt pay your £10 for the data subject access request. That doesn't excuse them not dealing with your request. They should have written back asking for the £10.

nd anyway, shouldn't I have been advised by the FOS right at the beginning of what they can and can't help with?

One of the problems with the FOS is that they will tell you that they will consider anything. Indeed, you suspect its a scripted phrase as people seem to repeat very similar wording after a phone call to the FOS. However, the initial people are not adjudicators or ombudsman. They wont really know what is or is not within remit. Its only when it gets in front of one of those that they can decide that.

Fact is, Santander have withheld crucial information, and then destroyed it. Why isn't there a mechanism to hold them accountable for that?

The only known fact is that Santander have destroyed information in accordance with the requirements of the data protection act. Your opinion that they did it to avoid paying out is not a fact. It could be right. However, it could just be coincidence that your loan fell around the same date that the destruction was due. The FCA recommend 6 years The destruction would not be carried out daily. They would likely look at it every year or 2 years and destroy old data on bulk. So, its unlikely they paid anyone to go and find your records and destroy only yours. The cost of doing that could easily be more than reviewing your complaint to begin with.

dannyking

Thankyou again dunstonh. I paid them £1 for the bank statements, that was what MSE advised at the time. And as you rightly infer, they never wrote to me and ask for the £10. With respect I wasn't suggesting any of your last paragraph, but I do think I have been badly treated by Santander and mislead by FOS. I have heard that there is a way to get information regarding the loan if you can find out who the underwriters were. FOS have set up a Banking Query complaint for the poor admin complaint. But you think there is nothing more that can be done, is that correct?

dunstonh

Thankyou again dunstonh. I paid them £1 for the bank statements, that was what MSE advised at the time.

That is wrong. The £1 method is not for statements. That is for the credit agreement for debts that are still in force. You only get a copy of the consumer credit agreement with that. You needed the £10 method.

Did Santander take the £1 from your bank account? If they did, then you have them. If they didn't then you don't.

I have heard that there is a way to get information regarding the loan if you can find out who the underwriters were.

Doesn't work with banks. That is a method for certain types of brokers (in certain years).

FOS have set up a Banking Query complaint for the poor admin complaint. But you think there is nothing more that can be done, is that correct?

Unless Santander volunteer to consider that, its dead in the water as they can time bar it as over 3 years ago. Banks do some strange things from time to time and will sometimes volunteer to reopen or review when they dont need to.