Barclays won't process our completion

Senseicads

Ok we have a bit of a dilemma.  Apologies this is long story but I REALLY need some advice!

 

We changed mortgages from Barclays to Santander on the 3rd August.  We completed and everything seemed to be ok.  Funds were released and it appeared funds were received.  3rd August was our usual payment day and Barclays took our payment of £1300 as per usual, but we weren’t worried we were told that it would be refunded after 10 days when the balance was worked out.  No problems.

 

My partner was worried about it though and after a couple of days she phoned Barclays where they had assured her they had received the money and it was just waiting to be worked on and would be resolved in 10 days.  No Worries. 

 

10 days pass with no money.  So my partner phones again, where’s our money.  Don’t worry its being worked on and theres a bit of a delay it should be 10 days to get the money back.

 

We wait a further 10 days. Still no money.  At this point we are starting to panic as to all intents and purposes we appear to have two mortgages on the go, we can still see the balance on the app and nothing looks like it has been paid, and on the 3rd September we are due to make our monthly mortgage payments…both of them. So I phone Barclays again.   They say they haven’t received any money and I should chase it up with my solicitors?? Full on panic now.  I phone the solicitors, they say that they have definitely sent the money, and they send me the remittance advice from Lloyds bank where they have sent the money proving that it has been sent!

 

I phone back Barclays.  They say they have located the money by the amount that was sent and the time it was sent.  The problem was that the solicitors have not put a correct reference on the Chaps payment and therefore the money is just sitting in a holding account of Barclays ready to be  processed.  They raise a job for me matching the funds to our account and tell me it will be another 10 days to get this dealt with.  This takes me up to the 2nd September, remembering my regular payment comes out on the 3rd.  I say can you assure me that it will be dealt with and that my payment won’t be taken.  She did, she said she was cancelling the direct debit request for me(which I was a bit wary of) and that it would definitely all be sorted.

 

On the 3rd…direct debit payment taken and nothing sorted.  I phone back Barclays.  Spoke to a chap this time who said he doesn’t know why the request hasn’t been done, he will raise another for a further 10 days, I can’t talk to anyone else as they are back office staff.  He also raised an escalation which meant that we should get a response within 5 days and raised a complaint for us at this point as we were being told we would also have to pay interest on the mortgage from the 3rd August which I wasn’t having!! 

 

So I was then contacted by the complaints person, she assures me it will get done and that we will be put back in the position we were if the mortgage had of been paid properly on the 3rd August.  She will contact me again (yesterday in fact) to let me know the progress.  In yesterday’s call she apologised but she couldn’t take this any further right now.  There is a back log in their mortgage payments team and it could be 2-3 months before they get round to matching our payment with the mortgage.  I couldn’t believe this, I wanted some guaruntees as to who I can talk to about this she said it was just here and refused to put me through to anyone else.  And she would call me back on Saturday with any progress.  I asked about our monthly direct debits.  She basically said on the day it is paid I can get in touch with her banking arm of Barclays and rescind the direct debit payment.  I said that would go against my credit record which at the moment is excellent. And she said they would put a note against it.  This seems risky and I don’t like the idea of it and I don’t trust them to follow up on this and actually do it. 

 

So I now have two mortgages, that I have to pay.  And Barclays have £269k of my money sitting in a holding account somewhere.

 

What do I do now?  I understand I’ve raised a complaint and I can’t go to the FOS for 8 weeks? Do I go back to the solicitors and get them to sort something? Get them to threaten Barclays with Legal action? It is after all their mistake, although Barclays have made a right pigs ear of it? What do I do?? Do I just keep chasing and have to ride it out? This just doesn’t seem to be acceptable and I am at a loss to where to go. I don’t appear to be able to talk to anyone at Barclays and it takes an hour to get through on the phone when I do try!  Its an absolute shambles? They can see my money, they have my money they just won’t give me my money! 

 

Please can anyone help with some advice? I feel like so far I have done everything right, I Just don’t know where I have to go from here?

mortgagetakingages

Firstly i would do a direct debit indemnity claim to get all money back paid so far. Its your right to do this. Demand it under the direct debit guarantee. 

Second I would ensure cancellation of Direct debit so it can not happen again. They need you permission to have a direct debit in place. Take it away immediately. 

Third I would raise a notice of correction on all credit files explaining the situation pending them resolving the situation and removing any markers placed automatically. 

And finally i wouldn't stress it. Let them sort it but DO NOT have an active Direct Debit in place. Any issues with credit file will be resolved and you can demand compensation.

AnotherJoe

Justa lay person here, If it was me would cancel the DD  and then claim against the DD guarantee to get the other payments back (if thats not already happened)

And i would write to them saying that was what i was going to do and stating that legal action will be forthcoming and ask for compensation. I'm not big on compo cuture but this is beyond the pal not many can afford two mortgage payments going out or take the time off work to fix.

 

Senseicads

I am worried that if I cancel the direct debit thought that I would be in default on the mortgage and that it would go against my record, note or no note? 

mortgagetakingages

Senseicads said:

I am worried that if I cancel the direct debit thought that I would be in default on the mortgage and that it would go against my record, note or no note? 

They can't default you because you can prove you have paid. Don't let this worry you and don't let them give you the stress. Tell them to fix it. 

They can't default anything with a complaint raised so you should have zero concern

If there is a late payment mark on your file you can ensure this is removed as part of the complaint but i think its more likely they just won't report anything and your file will show "unknown" which is neither bad or good. Then it will be closed once they sort their mess out. 

Senseicads

Ok that is reassuring, we can't really afford to keep making 2 mortgage payments a month, it's eating into our emergency fund! 

AnotherJoe

Senseicads said:

I am worried that if I cancel the direct debit thought that I would be in default on the mortgage and that it would go against my record, note or no note? 

There isn't a mortgage to default on !
Unless you think that Barclays can arbitrarily force someone to have one. That's the way I'd look at it. 

Ps I'd also post on their twitter and Facebook feeds with a simple statement along the lines of "Barclays refuse to close my mortgage even after it was redeemed, and continue to charge me each month and say it will take months to resolve"