Reclaim Repossion fees

Janejh

Hi All,

In April 2017 I came home from work to find my house had been repossessed by Santander and the locks had been changed. I made an application to the court to have it set aside and was granted a hearing in June 2017 which I subsequently won. I finally moved back in early July.
It has now been a year since that happened and I have just recently looked at my mortgage statement to see how much Santander added to the account in charges/litigation fees. The amount comes to nearly £4,000, £1,300 of which was added after the hearing and I never had any notice or explanation of, which they have added to the mortgage balance. I’m a bit annoyed at this fact as when I spoke to them last year about the arrears - £700 I asked if they would add this to the mortgage balance to,allow me a fresh start. They refused and this is what annoys me, they are happy to add nearly £4K of their fees and charge interest on it but they wouldn’t add £700 to help me keep my home. My house was valued, by Santander at repossession, at £180,000 and my mortgage was £88,000 (now £92,000 with their fees and charges) so there was plenty of equity available for a new arrangement but they refused. They put a repossession marker on my credit report but have now removed it which I’m guessing they had too because the repossession failed.
I’d like to try and claim these charges back but not quite sure how or where to start. Does anyone have a template letter I could use?
TIA jx

Nasqueron

Template letters are never a good idea as the banks will have seen them before and chances are there will be stuff in there that doesn't apply to you. Just write a complaint to them and see what they say, stick to factual things not emotional - equity in the house doesn't mean it was affordable for example. Why did they get to the point of repossession? These things don't go from one day fine to next day bank changing the locks, it would follow many months of missed payments, not working with the arrears department etc so you'd need to explain more about this. Perhaps even worth asking someone like a debt charity for advice.


Also do remember you aren't "reclaiming" anything, you are complaining something was done incorrectly

Janejh

Repossession was due to arrears. I explained reasons to judge - unemployment, relationship breakdown, poor health (depression) due to 2.5 years of harassment and intimidation from partners ex - she was obsessed with him and in her eyes I was stopping my partner from being with her. All recorded in my medical records and police report.
It wore me down in the end and I fell to pieces.
Judge ruled in my favour almost immediately because Santander hadn!!!8217;t dealt with it correctly and also said they had been unreasonable in not considering my final off r to clear arrears and pay 6 months mortgage payments up front.
He also said if I!!!8217;d been at the
Original hearing the court would have ruled in my favour then too.
I!!!8217;m looking to reclaim litigation/third party charges (no idea what these are for) at very least. They added arrears fees too of £40 a month which I!!!8217;d like to try and reclaim too as I think £40 is a bit excessive for printing !!!8220;unpaid!!!8221; on my mortgage statement.
I had to pay accommodation charges, furniture storage fees and get a gas plumber in to to reconnect water and recommission gas boiler.
Just wondering what everyone else thinks?

dunstonh

Does anyone have a template letter I could use?

Template letters have a lower success rate than personalised letters. Usually, as templates are written badly and include all sorts of fake reasons which reduce credibility.

It is also unlikely that a template letter exists that matches your unusual scenario.

Why not write to them saying what you have here? It is that simple to do.

Janejh

Happy to compose my own letter just wondering how far to go with what to claim.
J

Nasqueron

Again you are not claiming, you are complaining about wrongdoing. This is important as nobody is entitled to anything, what you want is to be in the position you should be in, were it not for the charges

Put in detail with timeline the problems you have had and the costs you have incurred and see what they say. If they reject your complaint you can go to the FOS (ombudsman) to consider.

Remember you want the staff to be sympathetic and so approach it nicely not accusatory and explain what you want in terms of refund and then see what they say. Keep a copy of the letter and obtain free proof of postage from the PO. Make sure you have evidence of your payments/bills etc

Janejh

Thanks nasqueron,
I will just draft my letter along the lines of what I!!!8217;ve said on here. The other expense which i have remembered is the court fee to have judgement set aside £255.
I think I will just list everything and see what they come back with.
Thank you for your input it!!!8217;s much appreciated.
J