Coventry Building Society NOT cutting rates!

Thrugelmir

rainmac97 said:

minimike2 said:

rainmac97 said:

 I have put in a complaint as they have let me down big time! The rates have been cut to help the economy but Coventry obviously have other ideas for their flexx for term customers. . 😡

Why have you complained about something which hasn't happened, which isn't part of your product terms?
If you wanted a tracker product, you should have taken a tracker product.

Your claim will not be upheld (should not be upheld) as you have no basis to complain as CBS have not done anything which they should or should not have done as part of the terms of your mortgage.

I have complained because they put the rates up in line with BoE but haven’t reduced. Poor service to loyal customers.  To be fair, I didn’t realise it wasn’t tracking until now as it always has before. That is my misunderstanding, but a reasonable view to have taken. Shame on CBS.

Vote with your feet and switch lender. Customer loyalty disappeared a very long time ago. 

Glover1862

rainmac97 said:

minimike2 said:

rainmac97 said:

 I have put in a complaint as they have let me down big time! The rates have been cut to help the economy but Coventry obviously have other ideas for their flexx for term customers. . 😡

Why have you complained about something which hasn't happened, which isn't part of your product terms?
If you wanted a tracker product, you should have taken a tracker product.

Your claim will not be upheld (should not be upheld) as you have no basis to complain as CBS have not done anything which they should or should not have done as part of the terms of your mortgage.

I have complained because they put the rates up in line with BoE but haven’t reduced. Poor service to loyal customers.  To be fair, I didn’t realise it wasn’t tracking until now as it always has before. That is my misunderstanding, but a reasonable view to have taken. Shame on CBS.

Did you make a formal complaint? You can start the process on the website, you’ll get a phone call first but you can choose to escalate it, if enough of us do it maybe they’ll know it’s not gone unnoticed and lenders hate formal complaints.
I remember 1.59% so it's not a collar that's stopping them passing on the cut.
I appreciate they have not legally done anything wrong,  however they do market themselves as an "ethical" building society, I've had the rate increases, they reduced other variable managed rates (which they didn't have to) and they reduced their saving rates, I don't think it's unreasonable to ask if they think it is fair that the FLEXX rate was excluded and what was the reasoning behind it, not that they need to disclose that. The BOE reduced rates to help borrowers through this difficult time, have they acted in the "spirit" of the BOE rate cut?

I have put a complaint in, I DON'T expect it to get anywhere but at least it will get recorded and they may take more notice than me posting on the internet. I've just questioned the "fairness and spirit" aspect. I know some will say I'm just wasting their time but I'm a long standing customer and I feel what they've done is unfair so I've used the facility, even though what they’ve done is perfectly legal within the terms of the contract, just like they could put the rate to 10% if they wanted to. 

silvercar

As a point of reference my CBS mortgage is linked to the BoE rate (it isn't a flexx product). Today I received a letter reducing the rate again, down to BoE+0.75%, so they are keeping to the T&Cs for mortgages that qualify.

Glover1862

silvercar said:

As a point of reference my CBS mortgage is linked to the BoE rate (it isn't a flexx product). Today I received a letter reducing the rate again, down to BoE+0.75%, so they are keeping to the T&Cs for mortgages that qualify.

Great rate that!! CBS I’ve not got a problem with and I’ve got 3 Mortgages with them, if they had left all the managed variable rates alone then it’s consistent, even though still hurts when you get the increases in line with BOE but not the decreases, no doubt when rates increases they’ll be going up from a higher starting point and I could be close to 3% if not careful.

WherethereisaWill

I beg to disagree that there is no legal comeback.  I would have thought that there is an angle to make a complaint on the basis of  how the product was originally marketed and sold. Being that the Variable Flexx rate offered with this product is sold as a proxy to a tracker.
Let me explain, Godiva demonstrated via their historical actions for this product that the rate moves with BOE etc.
I therefore took a product out as such paying xx/ month having checked these principles with the lender and advisor before accepting the product.
So BOE Rates increased and I now pay more (fair dues)/  BOE rates then fell (and fell below the level when I took out the product) however I am still paying the same rate as if BOE had never reduced rates (not fair dues).  
Therefore it cannot be a justified action from Godiva to indirectly 'fix' the rate on a variable product. How can the product be defended from the lender when a borrower is paying more for their variable mortgage despite rates now being less than when they took out the product? Sure there are reasons for the lender but when their source of variable funding decreases (through the central bank 'BoE')  it should be passed on to the borrowers of those variable products (that's the whole point of matched funding). Instead they are trying to protect deposits and cross subsidising savings accounts which in itself opens another can of worms.
To put some icing on the argument to make sure it sticks, (until lI guess now) when you spoke to Coventry BS/Godiva and mortgage advisor (same message) on taking the product out, the question of when rates rise I should pay more and when rates fall I should pay less has always been what has underpinned the product and representatives at the building society historically have said this as a point of principle.
So there will be a legal angle to this under misselling / mispresentation, and as for that other can of worms of cross subsidisation to protect savers well that can be a part II to follow.
To the Bigwigs at Coventry / Godiva, if you are reading this thread, do the honourable thing and pass on the rate reductions re your variable products and avoid an embarrassing TV expose with Mr Martin Lewis himself otherwise we're coming to shave your hair off!!

Stenwold

WherethereisaWill said:

I beg to disagree that there is no legal comeback.  I would have thought that there is an angle to make a complaint on the basis of  how the product was originally marketed and sold. Being that the Variable Flexx rate offered with this product is sold as a proxy to a tracker.
Let me explain, Godiva demonstrated via their historical actions for this product that the rate moves with BOE etc.
I therefore took a product out as such paying xx/ month having checked these principles with the lender and advisor before accepting the product.
So BOE Rates increased and I now pay more (fair dues)/  BOE rates then fell (and fell below the level when I took out the product) however I am still paying the same rate as if BOE had never reduced rates (not fair dues).  
Therefore it cannot be a justified action from Godiva to indirectly 'fix' the rate on a variable product. How can the product be defended from the lender when a borrower is paying more for their variable mortgage despite rates now being less than when they took out the product? Sure there are reasons for the lender but when their source of variable funding decreases (through the central bank 'BoE')  it should be passed on to the borrowers of those variable products (that's the whole point of matched funding). Instead they are trying to protect deposits and cross subsidising savings accounts which in itself opens another can of worms.
To put some icing on the argument to make sure it sticks, (until lI guess now) when you spoke to Coventry BS/Godiva and mortgage advisor (same message) on taking the product out, the question of when rates rise I should pay more and when rates fall I should pay less has always been what has underpinned the product and representatives at the building society historically have said this as a point of principle.
So there will be a legal angle to this under misselling / mispresentation, and as for that other can of worms of cross subsidisation to protect savers well that can be a part II to follow.
To the Bigwigs at Coventry / Godiva, if you are reading this thread, do the honourable thing and pass on the rate reductions re your variable products and avoid an embarrassing TV expose with Mr Martin Lewis himself otherwise we're coming to shave your hair off!!

1) Do you have any paperwork or documentation which clearly states your mortgage is tracked by the BBR? If not, then regardless of any historical actions, it wasn't marketed as such.

2) If it's not a tracker, then Godiva are absolutely able to 'fix' their variable products as it's their prerogative to do so. Whether you agree with it morally is a different story.

3) You must have very long arms if you can shave peoples hair off whilst socially distancing. 

Glover1862

WherethereisaWill said:

I beg to disagree that there is no legal comeback.  I would have thought that there is an angle to make a complaint on the basis of  how the product was originally marketed and sold. Being that the Variable Flexx rate offered with this product is sold as a proxy to a tracker.
Let me explain, Godiva demonstrated via their historical actions for this product that the rate moves with BOE etc.
I therefore took a product out as such paying xx/ month having checked these principles with the lender and advisor before accepting the product.
So BOE Rates increased and I now pay more (fair dues)/  BOE rates then fell (and fell below the level when I took out the product) however I am still paying the same rate as if BOE had never reduced rates (not fair dues).  
Therefore it cannot be a justified action from Godiva to indirectly 'fix' the rate on a variable product. How can the product be defended from the lender when a borrower is paying more for their variable mortgage despite rates now being less than when they took out the product? Sure there are reasons for the lender but when their source of variable funding decreases (through the central bank 'BoE')  it should be passed on to the borrowers of those variable products (that's the whole point of matched funding). Instead they are trying to protect deposits and cross subsidising savings accounts which in itself opens another can of worms.
To put some icing on the argument to make sure it sticks, (until lI guess now) when you spoke to Coventry BS/Godiva and mortgage advisor (same message) on taking the product out, the question of when rates rise I should pay more and when rates fall I should pay less has always been what has underpinned the product and representatives at the building society historically have said this as a point of principle.
So there will be a legal angle to this under misselling / mispresentation, and as for that other can of worms of cross subsidisation to protect savers well that can be a part II to follow.
To the Bigwigs at Coventry / Godiva, if you are reading this thread, do the honourable thing and pass on the rate reductions re your variable products and avoid an embarrassing TV expose with Mr Martin Lewis himself otherwise we're coming to shave your hair off!!

Have you made an official complaint, if so, would you mind sharing the response? I've only had the initial phone call where they tried to get me to drop the complaint, however I asked for a more detailed written response. I'll be honest and say I was aware that this product was not officially linked to the BOE rate but due to it having no ERC, CBS having a large number of clients on it and historically moved with it moving with BOE rate, I "expected" that to continue, I should have known better. 

I'm no legal expert but I would think threating them is not going to help, getting a large number of official complaints and some negative exposure might be more productive, however I expect them to partly blame this on Covid-19 and the need to keep the society stable for all members, they'll spout something about the situation being constantly under review. I'm just looking for a decent alternative and I'll just move or as mine is an offset product I'll just have to move more funds into the linked saving account to mitigate any increase they may have lined up, seems fairly clear they just don't want our custom, how that sits "ethically" with them I'm not sure.        

bluh74

I agree with all these comments as I took out a flex for term on the basis it's a pseudo tracker. As the product has so far tracked BBR Coventry will need some strong evidence why they are not reducing it now. Complaining is the way to go and if Martin gets on the case I'd like to think CBS will have another look at their stance. 

How do we bring this to Martin's attention? He know's the right folk in these organisations

dunstonh

I agree with all these comments as I took out a flex for term on the basis it's a pseudo tracker. As the product has so far tracked BBR Coventry will need some strong evidence why they are not reducing it now.

You took the mortgage out on an assumption.   One that worked most of the time but not all of the time.  So, no wrongdoing there.

The product is not a BR tracker and is not advertised as such and the contract does not say it is.  So, not wrong doing there.

How do we bring this to Martin's attention?

Not sure he would be interested as there is no breach of contract and no wrongdoing.   Its not unfair either.    Those are his areas of interest and you dont fall within it.

bluh74

OK Dunstonh so why then do lenders amend their SVRs when BBR changes. It's because the FCA and BoE took a very dim view of lenders not passing on the drop in 2008-09 when rates went from 5% to 0.5%. Now with Flex the rates (at least mine) followed BBR down in 2016 and then up in 2017 and again 2018. The FCA will clearly see this as a breech of TCF as they have set precedents and are now misleading consumers (I wouldn't mind if my rate never changed but it has so precedent created). Doesn't matter what the T&Cs say the FCA will look at how they have treated consumers and will not be impressed by this current stance.