NRAM & Whistletree fiasco

dunstonh

But I still feel that they should have given me warning that my mortgage was going to be sold beforehand - at which point I would have told them "It's of little value to sell because I'm about to redeem it anyway". That would potentially have saved me from additional agro and worry, as well as a possible botched completion date.

Your mortgage is not being sold. It is a collection of mortgages. Known as a mortgage book. And you are being told. That is why they wrote to you.

I also think it would have been far more professional if the new company had been visibly up and running before sending out the letters - it does not inspire confidence that the whole process is being managed effectively at all. Which is not what you want to hear when you are in the process of moving house - there is enough stress and worry attached to that as it is.

Its not a trading company for new business. It doesnt need to set up to attract customers or have a visible profile.

You are over stressing for no viable reason. This is a nothing issue.

Scotts74

Does anyone know if Whistletree can apply a different svr to Nram?

silvercar

Scotts74 wrote: »

Does anyone know if Whistletree can apply a different svr to Nram?

Your mortgage will be governed by the same terms and conditions as when you took it out with NRAM.

Elfin_Marvel

hmm. I didn't take my mortgage out with NRAM - I took it out with Northern Rock, and then through no fault of my own, have been an interest rate prisoner with NRAM since forever.

I was hoping that the sale of this book to TSB might mean that we can finally get a better interest rate on our mortgage. NRAM wasn't allowed to offer a competitive rate, but TSB shouldn't fall under the same restrictions?

Just looking for a little bit of light at the end of what has been a long and very expensive tunnel?....

dunstonh

hmm. I didn't take my mortgage out with NRAM - I took it out with Northern Rock, and then through no fault of my own, have been an interest rate prisoner with NRAM since forever.

hmm. You took out a mortgage and the terms you agreed to at the start have been adhered to as they should be. There is no fault here. You got what you agreed to. Had they changed the terms then that would be a different matter.

I was hoping that the sale of this book to TSB might mean that we can finally get a better interest rate on our mortgage. NRAM wasn't allowed to offer a competitive rate, but TSB shouldn't fall under the same restrictions?

One of the reasons it has a different name is that the old NRAM book doesnt get mixed in with the cleaner TSB book. If you meet the criteria to remortgage to the TSB deals then that option is available to you just as it would be with any other lender.

Elfin_Marvel

Yes they have, but it is not my fault that Northern Rock financed my mortgage using the american sub-prime market, and therefore I could have had no way of knowing that 4 years into my mortgage, I would never be able to get a fixed rate again, but would be stuck on a rubbish variable interest rate for the rest of my mortgage. You cannot know how many times I wish we had taken one of the other mortgage deals that was on offer to us when we first took out our mortgage. We never borrowed more than the value of our house - alright it was a 95% mortgage, but it wasn't the only one on offer to us. Still hindsight is 20/20.

I just get fed up that everyone assumes that if you are with NRAM, then you must have done something wrong or irresponsible. Calling it a 'bad bank' gives the impression that all the people it lent money to were reckless.

The book itself is now financed by TSB, and all I wondered was if I would finally get some hope that I would no longer be on a crippling interest rate in comparison to the rest of the market, but could call myself 'an existing TSB customer'.

It doesn't look like that is the case, and my glimmer of hope is looking smaller by the day.

Since taking out the mortgage, our circumstances have changed, and even though we have over 66% equity in our house, no one will lend to us on the affordability problem - even though a new mortgage would give us more disposable income.

I'm not looking for sympathy. But we have been forgotten about in the government's desperation to claw back money for the tax payer. Money that is coming from people like me, who are working 2 jobs, trying to make ends meet.

Still. 13 years of my mortgage to go. And no better deal in sight. Here's hoping interest rates stay ridiculously low.

Thrugelmir

Scotts74 wrote: »

Does anyone know if Whistletree can apply a different svr to Nram?

As they can set a different SVR rate then yes. Though unlikely until there's a general upward shift. The deal to acquire the mortgage book will be attractive to them on current interest rate terms.

Thrugelmir

Elfin_Marvel wrote: »

Yes they have, but it is not my fault that Northern Rock financed my mortgage using the american sub-prime market,

It didn't.

Northern Rock operated an unsustainable business model. Thank the former Chancellor (Brown) for light touch regulation of the financial services sector and ignoring all the warning signs. In the process allowing NR to grow too big too fast.

Elfin_Marvel

Article from the FT Advisor today - for anyone interested:

TSB has completed the legal transfer of 27,000 former Northern Rock mortgages and loans from UK Asset Resolution.
TSB has created a new brand called Whistletree, which has been purpose-built to manage the mortgage accounts.
Padraig Carton, customer service operations director at TSB, said, “We are delighted to welcome these customers to Whistletree from today (18 July).
“Whistletree will provide a secure, long-term home for these mortgages and loans based in the UK.
“Supporting hardworking people and helping local communities right across Britain to thrive is absolutely at the heart of what TSB was set up to do. Whistletree is a natural extension of this.”
Some 27,000 mortgages and loans will transfer to Whistletree, a reduction from the anticipated 34,000 mortgages which is due to homeowners naturally redeeming their mortgage or switching lender.
The mortgages, which were originally owned by Northern Rock and acquired by the government during the financial crisis, were sold to private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management by the state-owned limited company UK Asset Resolution.
The sale, authorised by then-chancellor George Osborne in November, was the largest ever financial asset sale by a government in Europe, with UKAR selling the portfolio for £280m more than their book value.
TSB has not disclosed the monetary value of the mortgages, or how much it has paid for them, but speaking in Parliament last year then-economic secretary to the Treasury Harriett Baldwin said the company had agreed to buy £3.3bn of the loans, which numbered 125,000 in total.
The terms and conditions of the existing loan agreements will remain unchanged.
Customers transferring to Whistletree are being informed by letter this week with full details of what action, if any, they need to take.
Adviser View
Kevin Dunn, senior partner at Leicester-based Furnley House, said: “I wouldn’t say borrowers should be concerned if their mortgage has been sold, particularly if it is to a reputable provider like TSB.
“They will probably have more choice now because they can choose from TSB products without further underwriting.”

zoomsta

Interestingly, the sale of my mortgage and associated loan has caused serious damage to my credit score. I have been putting a lot of effort over the last year into increasing it but because this counts as opening two new loan accounts my clearscore credit score has decreased from 438 to 371. Given that I had no choice about this matter and it should be a transfer why do I have to suffer the negative impact on my credit score. Anyone else had this problem?