NRAM Loan written off!

mrsvanderkamp_2

I originally posted this on the loans board but thought it might also be useful here, so hope it helps someone.


I entered a DMP in 2008 which NRAM refused to accept in relation to the de-linked unsecured loan element of a Together mortgage, which was in the sum of around £27,500.

Long story short, they took us to Court, obtained a CCJ against us and then secured this by way of a Charging Order on our property.

All of this happened in 2008. NRAM never registered the Default on our credit account and have continued to report either "late payment" or "arrangement to pay" on our credit file. I have had an "arrangement" with them to pay a very small sum each month and this is reviewed every 12 months. Every time I spoke with them they would ask me how I intended to pay the "arrears". Trying to tell them that they had already taken me to Court and I was therefore repaying the judgement debt and strictly there were no "arrears" didn't seem to be a situation that they could quite understand. I must admit that I let the credit file situation rumble on as it wasn't making much difference in the scheme of things, but last year other accounts began to drop off and the credit file was beginning to look healthier, but NRAM was a fly in the ointment so I contacted them, by telephone, to complain that they should have registered a default 7 years ago and because they had not, I was now being financially disadvantaged.

It has taken them 4 months, but yesterday I received a letter in resolution of my complaint. It states the usual bits about standards etc and then says:

"I agree that we should have registered a default on your account in 2008. We should also have charged off the account upon redemption of the secured loan and then pursued you for the remaining balance. As a result of us not doing so, your credit file has been affected and arrears have continued to accrue. Due to these findings I am happy to uphold your complaint. As per guidance by the Information Commissioners Office, unsecured accounts that fall over 6 months in arrears should be charged off and as such, we propose to write off the full outstanding balance and we will no longer pursue you for this debt. We will report the account as settled to the Credit reference agencies. We would also like to offer you £100 compensation in recognition of the trouble and upset caused by our error"

Now, whilst I am over the moon that they are writing off the debt, it makes no sense to me when they say they "should have pursued you for the balance" - they did, that's why I had a CCJ and then a charging order! Although very interestingly that CCJ never appeared on my credit file and when I searched the registry trust it was not registered there either... I also have no idea what they mean by "charging off". My only concern now is how I get the charging order removed - I used to be a conveyancer so know I need to submit an RX1 (or they do) to the Land Registry, but I am not sure if LR will accept this letter as evidence that the charge should be removed and I am slightly loathe to discuss it NRAM in case it opens a further can of worms.... I do however need to speak to them about marking the account as settled, as my understanding is that if they do this as of this month, the account will close but the history will still be evident on my file, whereas if they backdated the default it then the account would actually have fallen off the file altogether in 2014.

So, whilst I have a couple of questions and if anyone can shed any light that would be great, but ultimately, if anyone is in this position (and I think a lot of people are) it would seem that a quick letter (or phone call) of complaint to NRAM could be extremely worthwhile!

Thanks for reading such a long post! Mrs V :-) x

sourcrates

Can't help with any of the points you raise, but well done for getting the balance wiped, that must be a Hugh relief for you, well done !!

mrsvanderkamp_2

sourcrates wrote: »

Can't help with any of the points you raise, but well done for getting the balance wiped, that must be a Hugh relief for you, well done !!

I only ever wanted them to register the default so that it cleared up my credit file I never for one minute expected the response I got. I know there are other people with these nram loans and they are a nightmare so I would urge anyone in a similar position to contact them, you never know what the response might be, as my experience has shown.

dancingfairy

It reads to me like they are saying 'when we got the charge we should have taken that amount off the balance and then pursued you for the remainder as it is unsecured'. ?
They say they will write off the debt but it's unclear if they are talking about the unsecured debt or the secured debt (or both).
Does full outstanding balance cover the unsecured element or both?
I know there is a land registry rep who lurks around on some of the boards so might be worth pm'ing them and asking them to advise how they remove a charge.
Df

dancingfairy

You *might* need to apply to the court for some sort of certificate of satisfaction to prove the ccj has been settled/ wiped before you can apply to land registry. I'm not sure.
Good luck though, would be great to hear how you get it resolved.
Df

mrsvanderkamp_2

dancingfairy wrote: »

It reads to me like they are saying 'when we got the charge we should have taken that amount off the balance and then pursued you for the remainder as it is unsecured'. ?
They say they will write off the debt but it's unclear if they are talking about the unsecured debt or the secured debt (or both).
Does full outstanding balance cover the unsecured element or both?
I know there is a land registry rep who lurks around on some of the boards so might be worth pm'ing them and asking them to advise how they remove a charge.
Df

The amount of the CCJ/charge was (is) for the outstanding unsecured element as the original secured element was redeemed in full. They send statements annually which whilst show arrears also shows a small reduction in the outstanding balance based in the small payments that we make....they must be aware that we are making such payments so it does confuse that they say they should have pursued the unsecured element, as it makes it sound as though they didn't, but they did (are still are). We would like to move in a couple of years so will need to get the charge sorted, I may ring the LR on Monday and see what they say. As regards a certificate of satisfaction from the court, that would probably do it I would have thought, but it is curious that that CCJ never showed up on my credit report or the registry trust. I will have to try and dig out the notice advising me of the judgement and perhaps ring the court also. I really can't fathom why they have made this decision to write the whole thing off but obviously I'm not complaining!