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Bank mess up on moving day-left homeless -and Ombudsman useless-warning to others..
Skinter_mouse
Posts: 4 Newbie
Hi Moneysavers,
Posting here partly as a warning to others and partly to rant- sorry!
My parents, who are pensioners, had been trying to sell their home in Blackpool for many years to move closer to myself my two brothers in the Midlands. They finally got a buyer in December 2020 and managed to get contracts through for a moving date of 16/03/2021, just before the stamp duty deadline.
They had lived in their home for almost 30 years and had filled the house with stuff top to bottom, so this was no mean feat.
I had taken a top of mortgage to enable them to buy a home they liked close to us and was at home for the week to help with packing and moving.
On moving day the money from their buyer came through at around 10:30 in the morning and my mum set off to the bank to arrange the CHAPS payment as we had been instructed to do. Mum had actually called the bank the day before to check how to make this payment and was told to bring her passport along- which she did.
She arranged this via Lloyds Bank, with whom she and my father have banked for about 50 years. The mortgage funds were already with the solicitor and mum returned home after 11 having been told she would be called by the staff member when the payment had been made.
Meanwhile my parents possessions were being packed and the house was as frantic and chaotic as any house on moving day, as the movers told us they were full and they prepared to leave where they had lived for most of their lives.
Around 1pm we wondered why the bank hadn't called and called the bank. There was no reply. At this point let me remind you, dear reader that this was March 2021 when Covid Lockdown was still in force and everything was around 100 x harder than normal. mum called the Phonebank number and was told that although they weren't replying and the branch was closed to the public, the staff were still there. the person she spoke with assured her she would send an urgent message to the bank to contact us.
30 minutes passed.
No call.
The solicitor acting on our behalf was calling us repeatedly asking why the funds hadn't been sent to him, and promised to call us as soon as he received them.
We called again. And Again. And again.
Repeated contact with the Phonebank centre but nothing from the branch, and no sign of the CHAPS payment.
By about 3pm the movers had filled their vans and were ready to leave so they set off and agreed to meet us at the new house. They knew they may have to wait a short while.
At around 4pm the new owners arrived. They are a lovely family and of course wanted to take possession of their new home.
We had no choice but to leave and set off, still uncertain of what was going to happen.
My brother took my dad and I took my mum after filling our cars with stuff.
The solicitor called us at 4.30 and said if the money wasn't received by 4.45 he would be closing. He was sympathetic to our predicament and called the estate agent to negate with the seller of the new house to see if we could have the keys to offload my parents stuff into the house and then return them to him.
The sellers declined this.....
We were left driving down the M6 and uncertain what was happening, where we were going to ago or what we should do.
We stopped at a services as the movers had called us saying they had been waiting at the house, and if we didn't have the keys they would have to offload our stuff onto the pavement outside and leave as they had to drive back to Blackpool for another move the next day,,,,,,,,
As I type this I still feel slightly sick recalling the stress, worry and upset of the day.
We started to call storage units around the midlands top see if we could find anywhere to store my parents stuff. Bearing in mind this was the contents of a large 4 bedroom home with parents who don't throw much away. It was almost 6pm and most placed were closed, but by some miracle we found 2 x storage units where our stuff would fit and were available. My brother went ahead to meet the movers at the storage unit. They would not budge from the house until we paid them an extra £800 on a debit card from the car, as they had been waiting, would have to do extra work and would not be getting back to Blackpool until very late.
I took my mum to my house, and one brother took my dad to his. I don't think I can convey how distressed my parents were. and I was worried and scared that they may actually end up without a home.
My brothers both took an unpaid day of leave to help out and take my parents to get some emergency things.
All their possessions had been packed, sardine style into two massive storage units about 25 miles from the new house.
In the morning we ditched the phone and just went to the local Lloyds Bank branch where my panic stricken mum was almost in tears.
At this point the payment was made.
Later that day we visited the house, but my parents did not have anything except the clothes on their back.
Again, due to Covid and the stamp duty deadline it was nigh on impossible to get anyone to move their stuff back to the house at short notice, as movers were booked up way in advance.
Eventually about 9 days later, we found a small family firm who were able to do about 3/4 of the move, enabling my parents to actually move in.
We took another day off, went with the new movers to the storage unit and moved in the larger things and some of the others. Over the next few weeks, we made a number of trips with a hired van to empty the units ourselves.
Mum complained to the bank on the day of the move, and although they admitted liability, the complaints Department were hostile and defensive.
Mum eventually complained to the Ombudsman, who has offered us some of our expenses back (those we have receipts for), declined to reimburse any loss of earrings for family taking time off as a direct result of this, said they would not reimburse for any personal possessions they had to buy due to their stuff being impossible to reach and offered a frankly insulting £100 in compensation.......
We have undoubtably as a family been left out of pocket due to the banks mistake, spent hours of our own time moving stuff back in and suffered a massive amount of stress.
The ombudsman called it a 'systems error' which is an utter joke, and seems squarely to side with the bank without understanding the implications of this one mistake...
My message to all who are moving- Check your CHAPS payments....and imho don't expect any justice from the Ombudsman.
Posting here partly as a warning to others and partly to rant- sorry!
My parents, who are pensioners, had been trying to sell their home in Blackpool for many years to move closer to myself my two brothers in the Midlands. They finally got a buyer in December 2020 and managed to get contracts through for a moving date of 16/03/2021, just before the stamp duty deadline.
They had lived in their home for almost 30 years and had filled the house with stuff top to bottom, so this was no mean feat.
I had taken a top of mortgage to enable them to buy a home they liked close to us and was at home for the week to help with packing and moving.
On moving day the money from their buyer came through at around 10:30 in the morning and my mum set off to the bank to arrange the CHAPS payment as we had been instructed to do. Mum had actually called the bank the day before to check how to make this payment and was told to bring her passport along- which she did.
She arranged this via Lloyds Bank, with whom she and my father have banked for about 50 years. The mortgage funds were already with the solicitor and mum returned home after 11 having been told she would be called by the staff member when the payment had been made.
Meanwhile my parents possessions were being packed and the house was as frantic and chaotic as any house on moving day, as the movers told us they were full and they prepared to leave where they had lived for most of their lives.
Around 1pm we wondered why the bank hadn't called and called the bank. There was no reply. At this point let me remind you, dear reader that this was March 2021 when Covid Lockdown was still in force and everything was around 100 x harder than normal. mum called the Phonebank number and was told that although they weren't replying and the branch was closed to the public, the staff were still there. the person she spoke with assured her she would send an urgent message to the bank to contact us.
30 minutes passed.
No call.
The solicitor acting on our behalf was calling us repeatedly asking why the funds hadn't been sent to him, and promised to call us as soon as he received them.
We called again. And Again. And again.
Repeated contact with the Phonebank centre but nothing from the branch, and no sign of the CHAPS payment.
By about 3pm the movers had filled their vans and were ready to leave so they set off and agreed to meet us at the new house. They knew they may have to wait a short while.
At around 4pm the new owners arrived. They are a lovely family and of course wanted to take possession of their new home.
We had no choice but to leave and set off, still uncertain of what was going to happen.
My brother took my dad and I took my mum after filling our cars with stuff.
The solicitor called us at 4.30 and said if the money wasn't received by 4.45 he would be closing. He was sympathetic to our predicament and called the estate agent to negate with the seller of the new house to see if we could have the keys to offload my parents stuff into the house and then return them to him.
The sellers declined this.....
We were left driving down the M6 and uncertain what was happening, where we were going to ago or what we should do.
We stopped at a services as the movers had called us saying they had been waiting at the house, and if we didn't have the keys they would have to offload our stuff onto the pavement outside and leave as they had to drive back to Blackpool for another move the next day,,,,,,,,
As I type this I still feel slightly sick recalling the stress, worry and upset of the day.
We started to call storage units around the midlands top see if we could find anywhere to store my parents stuff. Bearing in mind this was the contents of a large 4 bedroom home with parents who don't throw much away. It was almost 6pm and most placed were closed, but by some miracle we found 2 x storage units where our stuff would fit and were available. My brother went ahead to meet the movers at the storage unit. They would not budge from the house until we paid them an extra £800 on a debit card from the car, as they had been waiting, would have to do extra work and would not be getting back to Blackpool until very late.
I took my mum to my house, and one brother took my dad to his. I don't think I can convey how distressed my parents were. and I was worried and scared that they may actually end up without a home.
My brothers both took an unpaid day of leave to help out and take my parents to get some emergency things.
All their possessions had been packed, sardine style into two massive storage units about 25 miles from the new house.
In the morning we ditched the phone and just went to the local Lloyds Bank branch where my panic stricken mum was almost in tears.
At this point the payment was made.
Later that day we visited the house, but my parents did not have anything except the clothes on their back.
Again, due to Covid and the stamp duty deadline it was nigh on impossible to get anyone to move their stuff back to the house at short notice, as movers were booked up way in advance.
Eventually about 9 days later, we found a small family firm who were able to do about 3/4 of the move, enabling my parents to actually move in.
We took another day off, went with the new movers to the storage unit and moved in the larger things and some of the others. Over the next few weeks, we made a number of trips with a hired van to empty the units ourselves.
Mum complained to the bank on the day of the move, and although they admitted liability, the complaints Department were hostile and defensive.
Mum eventually complained to the Ombudsman, who has offered us some of our expenses back (those we have receipts for), declined to reimburse any loss of earrings for family taking time off as a direct result of this, said they would not reimburse for any personal possessions they had to buy due to their stuff being impossible to reach and offered a frankly insulting £100 in compensation.......
We have undoubtably as a family been left out of pocket due to the banks mistake, spent hours of our own time moving stuff back in and suffered a massive amount of stress.
The ombudsman called it a 'systems error' which is an utter joke, and seems squarely to side with the bank without understanding the implications of this one mistake...
My message to all who are moving- Check your CHAPS payments....and imho don't expect any justice from the Ombudsman.
0
Comments
-
Why did they chaps the money on the day of moving? Wouldn't they send it to the solicitor in advance, ready for moving day?
I am a little confused by this?
CHAPS isn't instant and can take a whole day to make it to the destination?14 -
I'm baffled. In all my long life, I've never heard of a purchaser making the bank transfer on completion day. The money goes to the solicitors in advance who pass it to the vendors' solicitors.
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Two things strike me.1) why on earth did your parents leave it till the day of Completion to do the CHAPS transfer of their funds? It would be usual to do this a day or several days in advance. And presumaby once the CHAPS funds reached their solicitor he would have to do an onwards CHAPS transfer to the seller. It was always going to be dicey2) Alternatively, if the funds concerned came not from themselves but from teir buyer, why was this not transferred directly to your parents'solicitor?. Again, this is most unusual.It seems to me that either their solicitor was negligent in making the financial raangements for Completion, or, more likely, there is something more to the story than you have said.For example, were your parents managing their sale themselves? A DIY conveyance (with no solicitor)? . If so I'm adraid they have only themselves to blae......9
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Hi, sorry if its confusing- it was a long story!housebuyer143 said:Why did they chaps the money on the day of moving? Wouldn't they send it to the solicitor in advance, ready for moving day?
I am a little confused by this?
CHAPS isn't instant and can take a whole day to make it to the destination?
The smaller amount which was a mortgage was with already the solicitor from the lender- no problem with that bit.
The great majority of the purchase price of the new house was funded by the sale of my parents property.
This amount was paid by CHAPS that morning to my parents from their buyer.
As far as I know CHAPS is used for same day payments for house deposits/purchases.
Just looked up the CHAPS website and this is the header
"CHAPS is a sterling same-day system that is used to settle high-value wholesale payments as well as time-critical, lower-value payments like buying or paying a deposit on a property."
0 -
Why?
Any deposit needed by the buyer should have been with their solicitor before completion, and each solicitor would draw down any mortgage in advance.
All the other funds should have been going directly from the buyer's solicitor to your parents' solicitor, and onward to the vendor's solicitor.
If you've have not made a mistake, you've made nothing6 -
CHAPS was done on the day- as this was the day the buyer of my parents house paid the solicitor.canaldumidi said:Two things strike me.1) why on earth did your parents leav it till the day of Completion to dothe CHAPS transfer? It would be usual to dothis a day or several days in advane. And presumaby once the CHAPS funds reached their solcitor he would have todo an owards CHAPS transfer tothe seller. It was always goingto be dicey2) From what you say, it appears their buyer transferred their money directly to your parents. Again, this is most unusual. Why was the money not sent directly toy our parents solicitor?It seems to me that either their solicitor was negligent in making the financial raangements for Completion, or, more likely, there is something more to the story than you have said.For example, were your parents managing their sale themselves? A DIY conveyance (with no solicitor)? . If so I'm adraid they have only themselves to blae......
We were assured this would not be an issue, both by solicitor and by the bank when we checked with them the day before.
The issue was the CHAPS payment was not put through by the bank- it was missed- bank admitted liability for this.
0 -
Why was the buyer's money paid to your parents? Did they not have a solicitor acting on the sale?4
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Still does not explain why your parents' buyer transferred money to your parents. Should have gone direct to their solicior.Your parents should have had no responsibility for any of this on the day.8
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Why didn't the solicitor from the sale send the money straight to the solicitor for the purchase? Why was it sent to them?Skinter_mouse said:
Hi, sorry if its confusing- it was a long story!housebuyer143 said:Why did they chaps the money on the day of moving? Wouldn't they send it to the solicitor in advance, ready for moving day?
I am a little confused by this?
CHAPS isn't instant and can take a whole day to make it to the destination?
The smaller amount which was a mortgage was with already the solicitor from the lender- no problem with that bit.
The great majority of the purchase price of the new house was funded by the sale of my parents property.
This amount was paid by CHAPS that morning to my parents from their buyer.
As far as I know CHAPS is used for same day payments for house deposits/purchases.
Just looked up the CHAPS website and this is the header
"CHAPS is a sterling same-day system that is used to settle high-value wholesale payments as well as time-critical, lower-value payments like buying or paying a deposit on a property."
Was a different solicitor used for both purchase and sale?
Chaps is same day, but it could take all day. My solicitor sent mine to my seller at 9:30am. It got to the other side at 4pm.
If I had not transferred it to the solicitor in advance there was no way the money would have got from me to them and then to the other solicitor in one day. I was very lucky there was no onward chain for the same reason.
Admittedly the bank didn't do the transfer on the day, but even if they did I don't see how you didn't forsee the money not making it over in time. From you to the solicitor maybe, but then from your solicitor to the sellers, highly unlikely. Seems whoever advised you was highly optimistic.3 -
Why were their buyers sending funds directly to your parents, rather than going via the solicitors? If the money had gone directly to the solicitors (and assuming the same solicitors act in the purchase) none of this would have happened. Not that that's an excuse for the bank c0cking up the transfer, but same-day sales and purchases are risky enough, without sending the funds via some convoluted route.Skinter_mouse said:
This amount was paid by CHAPS that morning to my parents from their buyer.housebuyer143 said:Why did they chaps the money on the day of moving? Wouldn't they send it to the solicitor in advance, ready for moving day?
I am a little confused by this?
CHAPS isn't instant and can take a whole day to make it to the destination?5
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