Checked for PPI but company says no.

Typhoon1944

I am providing the following information for completeness and to show the type of information and advice I was receiving at the time.


Around March 2006 my then wife and I started applying for a mortgage through Northern Rock. We used a broker but unfortunately I can't remember the name of the company. At the time I was serving in the Royal Air Force and the MOD provided a loan to pay for our deposit which could take up to 6 weeks to come through. We had completed all the paperwork the broker had sent out to us and he advised that all that was left to do was to find a property which we already had. Assuming that everything was in place we made a verbal contract with the seller to complete at the end of May in order to give the deposit plenty of time to arrive. However, after the seller had agreed to our offer, the broker then told us that we still had to apply for the mortgage.


When questioned about what paperwork we had just completed he told us something along the lines of "That was you applying for approval to apply for a mortgage"! If that was the case, why would he advise us to find a property? Things dragged on and we were finally in a position to complete at the end of October 2006 but the seller had decided that he was taking the house off the market (in hindsight I suspect that he had received another offer). I took this at face value and accepted but I later found out that, as this would be under Scottish Law, I could have refused as it was a verbal contract which he is not allowed to pull out of.


During this process I was serving in Northern Ireland and was not around to deal with things so it was left to my wife who was living with her parents. Around mid November she contacted me to advise that "We've just bought a House". I can't remember actually signing anything although I'm sure I must have unless paperwork for the previous house was used. She moved in but not long after our marriage ended for unrelated reasons. She continued to live in the property and assisted with the mortgage payments but eventually moved out. The house was empty for a significant period and Northern Rock advised me that I was unable to let it as I was on the wrong type of mortgage. At some point I remortgaged the house to remove my now ex-wife from the deeds, I can't remember exact dates but it was around the time NR was going under as I was speaking to the same broker that was used previously and I was worried about the consequences. He advised me not to worry as the Government wouldn't allow them to go bust(!). At that time they also provided me with an unsecured personal loan. In December 2008 I was due to deploy to the Falkland Islands and threatened NR or NRAM as they had become by then that I wanted to hand the house back to them. They asked whether I had thought of renting the house out. I was pretty livid and advised them that they had said I wasn't allowed to at which point they told me I could fill out a consent to let form which could have been done several months before.


Fast forward 10 years and the house has had several tenants, all of whom have caused significant damage to the property, despite having had a "management company" supposedly taking the pressure off me. It is now on the market but I am left with a property I'm paying a significant mortgage on which I have never lived in and don't plan to. I am unable to remortgage and it is not classed as a "good" account which can be sold on to another provider despite the fact that I have never missed a payment. It has been on since April and has had one viewing.


Recently, I completed NRAM/UKARs online form for checking whether I had any PPI as I genuinely can't remember completing any paperwork prior to the remortgage in 2008. I probably would have made a point then of saying I didn't want it as the RAF would continue to pay me during any periods of incapacity or illness and I would have received death in service benefits which would have covered the mortgage. I am not convinced that this would have happened when my wife told me we had purchased the property in 2006. They have come back and told me that they have checked with their underwriters and can confirm that there is no PPI on the account.


I'd like to know whether I should take this at face value and accept it or whether I should ask them to go back and recheck. Should I go to the Ombudsman? They have provided 2 account numbers, one is my mortgage account but the other I have no idea about but, assuming accounts are created in numerical order, I suspect this is the unsecured loan as it is a higher number than the mortgage. They have not told me if they only went back to 2008 or whether their decision is based on the whole life of the mortgage. If they haven't checked 2006 do I have to get my ex-wife's permission to get them to check?


Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

[Deleted User]

If they have no trace of any PPI and neither do you, then there is no PPI to complain about.

The Ombudsman won't be able to find a policy.

If you still believe you had a policy, submit a SAR.

[Deleted User]

Typhoon1944 wrote: »

They have come back and told me that they have checked with their underwriters and can confirm that there is no PPI on the account.


I'd like to know whether I should take this at face value and accept it or whether I should ask them to go back and recheck. Should I go to the Ombudsman?

If neither you nor the Bank have any evidence of PPI, then your circumstances at the time are completely irrelevant, since any "complaint" is a non-starter.

The Ombudsman cannot somehow magic up PPI that you didn't pay.

As you refuse to believe them, you could make a formal Subject Access Request (SAR) which will provide you with everything they have on file for you. You can also SAR the underwiters if you wish.

Expect nothing new to emerge and you won't be disappointed.

Typhoon1944

Thanks for the replies. It's not that I refuse to believe them, I just don't know how far they've gone back. I've had some very unreliable information and experienced some questionable practices from Northern Rock and Northern Rock Asset Management/United Kingdom Asset Resolution in the past so forgive me if I'm a little sceptical.

dunstonh

Recently, I completed NRAM/UKARs online form for checking whether I had any PPI as I genuinely can't remember completing any paperwork prior to the remortgage in 2008.

as you used a broker then you wouldn't have PPI with the lender. Brokers wouldnt use the bank insurance product as banks didn't pay the broker.

I'd like to know whether I should take this at face value and accept it or whether I should ask them to go back and recheck.

And how many rechecks would it take to stop you asking for another recheck?

They have not told me if they only went back to 2008 or whether their decision is based on the whole life of the mortgage.

Why would that make any difference?

[Deleted User]

Typhoon1944 wrote: »

They have come back and told me that they have checked with their underwriters and can confirm that there is no PPI on the account.

Typhoon1944 wrote: »

It's not that I refuse to believe them, I just don't know how far they've gone back.

If they state there is no PPI on the account then they are telling you that their records show there has never been PPI on that account.

As before, send them a SAR if you want to be certain, but it's very unlikely you will receive information which contradicts what they've already told you.

Your time might be better suited chasing the broker you used, although that's unlikely to yield anything either.

-taff

Who provided this unsecured personal loan? If it was prior to 2009 it might, and I stress might, have had PPI with it. You can send a SAR to NR to see if there is anything left regarding this loan, but don't hold your hopes out.

Ad as far as the mortgage goes, if you used a broker, it's to him you should be complaining, because he would have set up any PPI. with your wife.

It all depends on who exactly sold you what exactly and when.