MISSOLD My Choice HomeBuy Equity Loan - Help, Martin!

Learning_Curve

From the FCA rules:

MCOB 2.5A The customer's best interests

MCOB 2.5A.1 R 21/03/2016 RP

A firm must act honestly, fairly and professionally in accordance with the best interests of its customer.

[Note: article 7(1) of the MCD]

MCOB 3A.2 The fair, clear and not misleading rules

Fair, clear and not misleading communications

MCOB 3A.2.1 R 21/03/2016 RP

1. (1) 

   When a firm communicates information to a customer, it must take reasonable steps to do so in a way that is fair, clear and not misleading.

2. (2) 

   A firm must be able to show that it has taken reasonable steps to ensure that any illustration or ESIS is fair, clear and not misleading.

MCOB 3A.2.2 G 21/03/2016 RP

The purpose of MCOB 3A.2.1 R is to restate, in a slightly amended form and as a separate rule, the part of Principle 7 (Communications with clients) that relates to communication of information.

Advised sales: suitability

MCOB 4.10.5A R 26/04/2014 RP

If a firm gives advice to a particular customer to enter into a home purchase plan, or to vary an existing home purchase plan, it must take reasonable steps to ensure that the home purchase plan is, or after the variation will be, suitable for that customer.

I don't really understand these FCA rules because of the terminology (and it's very long with multiple chapters), but there are more sections than the above, which may apply and the lender didn't that I recall ask us if we had any disability or impairment of understanding or anything. This was not a lender that was local to us.

Learning_Curve

Here are some more, see especially the last part:

https://www.handbook.fca.org.uk/handbook/MCOB/2/?view=chapter

MCOB 2.5 Reliance on others

Purpose

MCOB 2.5.1G06/04/2007RP

MCOB 2.5A The customer's best interests

MCOB 2.5A.1R21/03/2016RP

MCOB 2.6 Exclusion of liability

Limits on the exclusion of liability

MCOB 2.6.2R31/10/2004RP

MCOB 2.6A Protecting customer’s interests: regulated mortgage contracts, home purchase plans, home reversion plans and regulated sale and rent back agreements

Protecting customer’s interests: home purchase plans, home reversion plans and regulated sale and rent back agreements

MCOB 2.6A.1R01/07/2009RP

Protecting customer’s interests: home purchase plans, home reversion plans and regulated sale and rent back agreements

MCOB 2.6A.1R01/07/2009RP

Protecting customers' interests: additional material for home purchase plans

MCOB 2.6A.7G06/04/2007RP

MCOB 2.8 Record keeping

Purpose

MCOB 2.8.1G31/10/2004RP

In a mis-sold mortgage claim, you will need to prove:

• That you were sold a mortgage by the broker/lender/advisor that you are claiming against.
• That they breached one or more of their obligations under the FCA’s rules. Typically, this will be that they did not provide you with all the information they should have done, or did not advise you fully in relation to your mortgage, or failed to take appropriate account of your circumstances.
• That this breach, or breaches, of the rules caused you a loss.

Nearlyold

The fact that you misunderstood how the loan worked is not in itself proof that the loan was somehow miss sold, the expectation  is that "When a firm communicates information to a customer, it must take reasonable steps to do so in a way that is fair, clear and not misleading".  In other words the information provided to the customer must be provided in such a way that an "average" person with no specialist financial knowledge would reasonably be able to understand how the product worked.

Learning_Curve

Nearlyold said:

The fact that you misunderstood how the loan worked is not in itself proof that the loan was somehow miss sold, the expectation  is that "When a firm communicates information to a customer, it must take reasonable steps to do so in a way that is fair, clear and not misleading".  In other words the information provided to the customer must be provided in such a way that an "average" person with no specialist financial knowledge would reasonably be able to understand how the product worked.

Thanks, that doesn't quite fit with what I read in the FCA rule book. They have a duty to those they lend to that they understand what they are signing for. Otherwise there would be a lot of cases of misunderstanding. Please see what I posted in my previous two posts on this thread. Everyone is different.

Learning_Curve

E.g. best interests of the customer. Because a financial product might be suitable for one person but not the other and we have to sign individually for the product we have.

Learning_Curve

Like I just looked up definition of missold loan and found this link: https://www.pfca.org.uk/financial-claims/types/mis-sold-fixed-rate-business-loans.html

"The mis-selling of FRBLs shares many similarities with those of standalone IRHPs, such as:

• Failure to ensure the customer/s fully understood the risk
• Failure to fully inform the customer/s of the associated exit costs
• Allowing “over-hedging” to occur, i.e. when the amounts and/or duration did not marry up with the underlying loans
• Allowing non-advised sales processes to turn into advice being given to the customer/s
• Allowing the rewards/incentives to be a key driver in the above ‘failing’ sales practices."

See point 1 for instance. And this: https://www.pfca.org.uk/financial-claims/types/mis-sold-mortgages.html
"Mortgages have been mis-sold in a number of ways which include:

• The adviser mis-understood or ignored the needs and circumstances of the customer and, therefore, recommended the wrong product.
• An interest-only mortgage was recommended when a repayment mortgage should have been sold.
• An interest-only mortgage was recommended and the customer has no means of repaying the loan at the end of the term.
• The loan extended beyond a customer retirement age and affordability in retirement was not assessed correctly.
• A self-certification mortgage was arranged when the customer could prove income
• A person was advised to remortgage unsecured short term loans into a long term secured loan when the circumstances were not appropriate.
• Fees were added to a mortgage which could have been paid at the time of sale"

Again, see point 1 and also point 4, just as similar examples.

Salemicus

People have given you their views, you have contradicted or ignored them. It doesn't seem like you want anyone else's advice or opinions - so why are you posting here?

If you are so convinced that you have been miss-sold, go get a lawyer. But, for the record, none of your "three separate proofs" remotely establish that you were miss-sold.

monetxchange

Agree, the proof you claim to have is just your assertion that you didn't understand the terms. But then you signed the terms and conditions to say you understood and were happy to proceed, so what's the lender supposed to do? Research every area of your life? Lack of capacity is very hard to prove and you're sounding much more legal savvy now than I think would denote an inability to understand anything. I'm afraid claiming you didn't understand it in 2011, two years after you signed to say you did understand, isn't proof of mis selling. If that was enough, everyone could claim they didn't get it two years into a mortgage or loan and get out of it.

The lenders Ts and C's will be legally watertight so that they don't have a barrage of "I didn't understand" claims against them. The examples you gave relate to business loans and mortgages, not the equity loan you have so aren't applicable. The law works on the premise of what the law is in statue, not how you read it or think it applies. Any judge you come before will be following established legal precedent, not if they have sympathy for you.

I'm aware of the government schemes, am in one myself. It's a little naive to think they're designed to help you out getting on the ladder - they're packaged as that but at their heart they're to make money for them too. A very quick Google would have shown this at the time of taking it out.

You signed to say you understood, I really do feel money would be wasted on solicitors chasing this (work in a legal field). What's the reality of your financial situation now? Isn't it better to get this nailed down and work out how to budget your way out of the bind?

Learning_Curve

Salemicus said:

People have given you their views, you have contradicted or ignored them. It doesn't seem like you want anyone else's advice or opinions - so why are you posting here?

If you are so convinced that you have been miss-sold, go get a lawyer. But, for the record, none of your "three separate proofs" remotely establish that you were miss-sold.

I don't know why you are saying that. If I didn't want anyone else to reply I wouldn't have posted. I can only respond wit hthe information I have ascertained. I already said I contacted solicitors. Why are you being so hostile? There's no need for such a comment at all.

csgohan4

OP if you didn't understand the terms, why did you sign it anyway? Did you ask a solicitor? if not why not?
Asking a lender about your mortgage is akin to asking a monkey rote reading the T+Cs to you. They cannot deviate from what's written in your offer. 

OP it appears your clutching at straws. By all means make a complaint, but your biggest defence is also your biggest weakness. Saying you didn't understand will likely be frowned upon by the ombudsman. 

Finally OP, we're not here to give you what you want to hear and ignoring sound advice already given and copying and pasting text from Mr Google is not going to get you anywhere