Northern Rock exist?

davidmcn

Philippeville said:

DOES ANYONE HAVE A MORTGAGE WITH GRASMERE MORTGAGES LTD IF SO CAN YOU CONTACT ME.

It might make more sense for you to return to your previous thread and explain what your query is.

alexoldham

Sorry if I’ve put this query in the wrong blog, but I am new to this. Could anyone help me please. How do I find out who has the historical details of my Northern Rock mortgage that was paid off in 2003?
I have two endowment policies with Scottish Widows, which I took out to eventually pay the mortgage off. However, I sold the house in 2003 and because the profit was enough to pay off the mortgage I decided to just continue to pay the endowment policies as a form of savings.
One has just matured this month and I’ve sent the form back to Scottish Widows to take the money as a lump sum. However, they are now saying that they have to have a letter from Northern Rock to confirm they have no interest in the policy.
They have confirmed that they have written to Virgin Money three times and had no response. When I asked how many times they try to contact an assignee before they release the money to me they just said they would never release the money (unless they get a letter from the assignee).
I raised a complaint on the phone about them saying they would keep my money indefinitely unless they received this confirmation. Their complaints department have sent me a letter confirming what they’ve told me on the phone, and that they are not breaking any law!
Is this correct? Can they keep my money? I am going to try to contact someone to see if they can send Scottish Widows a letter confirming they don’t have any interest in the policy, but I don’t know if its Virgin Media, NRAM, or Landmark. Should I send the same letter to all three? And does anyone have any relevant addresses I can use?
More importantly, if I don’t get a response from any of these, can Scottish Widows really keep my money forever?
I have paid into this policy for 30 years and am currently paying them for another 25 year policy that matures in Jan 21 (will they keep that money too)?
Feels like they’re stealing my life savings! Really appreciate any help.

davidmcn

alexoldham said:

How do I find out who has the historical details of my Northern Rock mortgage that was paid off in 2003?
I have two endowment policies with Scottish Widows, which I took out to eventually pay the mortgage off. However, I sold the house in 2003 and because the profit was enough to pay off the mortgage I decided to just continue to pay the endowment policies as a form of savings.
One has just matured this month and I’ve sent the form back to Scottish Widows to take the money as a lump sum. However, they are now saying that they have to have a letter from Northern Rock to confirm they have no interest in the policy.
They have confirmed that they have written to Virgin Money three times and had no response. When I asked how many times they try to contact an assignee before they release the money to me they just said they would never release the money (unless they get a letter from the assignee).

If you paid off the mortgage in 2003 then it would have been with the "original" Northern Rock plc at that date. The difficulty with these scenarios is that NR would then have closed your account, and none of the successor companies would have "bought" your mortgage, so they'd have no idea who are you or the legal right to sign anything about your mortgage. So the entity which needs to re-assign the life policies is...whoever ended up with the residual interests of Northern Rock plc. That might have been Virgin Money (and I'm guessing Scottish Widows will be used to this sort of thing). But it isn't Scottish Widows' fault that your mortgage lender and/or their successors went bust and/or are being useless.

Unless anybody else here has better suggestions, try raising a complaint with Virgin Money and see if that gets the attention of somebody with knowledge and authority to sort it out (or at least point you in the direction of somebody who can).

Thrugelmir

I'd suggest NRAM. As this was the organisation created to run down the old Northern Rock mortgage books. Should have access to sufficient records to relinquish any claim. 

alexoldham

Hi. Thanks for this. I've only just begun this process so I'll try both Virgin and NRAM to see if they respond directly to me. I am hoping so as I can't see what else I can do if they don't respond. I don't want to end up losing all the money that I've invested for the last 30 years.

davidmcn

alexoldham said:

Hi. Thanks for this. I've only just begun this process so I'll try both Virgin and NRAM to see if they respond directly to me. I am hoping so as I can't see what else I can do if they don't respond. I don't want to end up losing all the money that I've invested for the last 30 years.

You're not going to lose it, just possibly have to get through some bureaucracy to get it. Really should have been sorted by whoever dealt with the redemption back in 2003 though.

Thrugelmir

alexoldham said:

Hi. Thanks for this. I've only just begun this process so I'll try both Virgin and NRAM to see if they respond directly to me. I am hoping so as I can't see what else I can do if they don't respond. I don't want to end up losing all the money that I've invested for the last 30 years.

Virgin won't be able to help. As only bought a block of  "live" mortgages. Wont hold any historical records. NRAM is based in the old NR offices. 

alexoldham

Right - so Scottish Widows have said they've sent 3 letters to Virgin Money - so that's why Virgin haven't responded. I am trying to root out my documents from back when I sold the house to see if there is anything in there that says they no longer have an interest in the endowment policies. Just hope Scottish Widows don't just close the policy and keep my money. I'll come back and record here how I get on. Thank you for your responses. It's nice to not feel alone when these sorts of things happen.

kingstreet

The solicitor/conveyancer handling the discharge should have finalised the reassignment/discharge and been sent the policy by the lender if physically held as security.

dunstonh

A lot of staff around today are young and do not know about assigned endowment policies.  So, you can often get brushed off or ignored.     If the lender refuses to issue a letter stating they have "no financial interest in the policy", which often happens, then you usually have to go to a complaint to the lender.     The complaints team tend to be more knowledgeable and will then issue the letter.

Just hope Scottish Widows don't just close the policy and keep my money.

That is not possible.   It is just an annoying delay because the work was not done years ago.