Help to Buy not answering phone

sunny_money · 30 June 2023 at 10:49AM

marmitesocks said:

ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE
I have gleaned all the advice shared by others into the below. Note I am not an expert, and everyone should do their own research on these. Please let me know if there are any further ideas to add! #helptobuy

Also shared to Twitter: (Removed by Forum Team)

1) Make a formal complaint directly to the company

Help To Buy are administered by Lenvi; Lenvi is a trading name of Equiniti Gateway Limited.
Help To Buy (Lenvi): complaints@myhelptobuyloan.co.uk
Equiniti: eqcs-complaints@equiniti.com

2) Complain to Homes England

The non-departmental public body for new affordable housing in England, Homes England appointed Lenvi to replace Target HCA as the new HTB equity loan administrator.
https://gov.uk/government/organisations/homes-england
Email: enquiries@homesengland.gov.uk
Phone: 0300 1234 500

3) Report them to the regulators

Unclear picture here: conflicting information on who they fall under for regulation. Note, in most cases to raise a formal complaint you will need to evidence that you have first submitted complaint to Lenvi/ Equiniti.

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
Phone: 0800 111 6768 (freephone), 0300 500 8082
The Financial Services Ombudsman
Phone: 0800 023 4567
The Property Ombudsman
Phone: 01722 333306

4) Contact your MP
Make your local MP aware of this situation and ask that they raise this with the Minister of State (Housing and Planning).
Find your MP: https://theyworkforyou.com/mps/
Simple online letter generator: https://writetothem.com

5) Leave a public review
Google: https://goo.gl/maps/tcoCFphM9S4GUKnh9 and https://goo.gl/maps/1Gz5X2pkcqM3rbQRA
TrustPilot: https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/lenvi.com and https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/equiniti.com

6) Address them on their public platforms
Lenvi: https://twitter.com/Lenvi_Tech and https://linkedin.com/company/lenvi
Equiniti: https://twitter.com/equiniti, https://twitter.com/AskEquiniti and https://linkedin.com/company/equiniti
Homes England: https://twitter.com/HomesEngland and https://linkedin.com/company/homes-england

I spoke with the financial ombudsman and property ombudsman but they are not the appropriate bodies to complain to because Homes England is ultimately responsible, so we need to contact the PHSO https://www.ombudsman.org.uk/

sunny_money · 30 June 2023 at 10:59AM

marmitesocks said:

MihaB said:

hannah11111 said:

MihaB said:

Maybe this is a naive thought - but Martin Lewis has a great deal of influence and could maybe help make this widely known and hence taken seriously. Is there a way to ask him to tweet or speak about this? I'm thinking that maybe then the media will actually take a note as well and something can be done before hundreds of other sale chains or remortgages collapse...

I’ve already tweeted so you’re welcome to do it yourself.

everyone needs to be contacting their MPs!

Thank you.
I have tweeted too ( joined Tweeter just for this) and I will also contact our MP this morning. I'm hoping people will start getting a response soon before more of them find themselves in impossible situations.

Second the starting of a petition. I did a quick search and can't see that one exists yet...

We need some form of collective action. Would anyone be happy to set this up?

A collective group is a great idea. I have no experience in this and not sure where to start though! Please share your ideas everyone :-)

marmitesocks · 30 June 2023 at 11:06AM

sunny_money said:

marmitesocks said:

ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE
I have gleaned all the advice shared by others into the below. Note I am not an expert, and everyone should do their own research on these. Please let me know if there are any further ideas to add! #helptobuy

Also shared to Twitter: (Removed by Forum Team)

1) Make a formal complaint directly to the company

Help To Buy are administered by Lenvi; Lenvi is a trading name of Equiniti Gateway Limited.
Help To Buy (Lenvi): complaints@myhelptobuyloan.co.uk
Equiniti: eqcs-complaints@equiniti.com

2) Complain to Homes England

The non-departmental public body for new affordable housing in England, Homes England appointed Lenvi to replace Target HCA as the new HTB equity loan administrator.
https://gov.uk/government/organisations/homes-england
Email: enquiries@homesengland.gov.uk
Phone: 0300 1234 500

3) Report them to the regulators

Unclear picture here: conflicting information on who they fall under for regulation. Note, in most cases to raise a formal complaint you will need to evidence that you have first submitted complaint to Lenvi/ Equiniti.

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
Phone: 0800 111 6768 (freephone), 0300 500 8082
The Financial Services Ombudsman
Phone: 0800 023 4567
The Property Ombudsman
Phone: 01722 333306

4) Contact your MP
Make your local MP aware of this situation and ask that they raise this with the Minister of State (Housing and Planning).
Find your MP: https://theyworkforyou.com/mps/
Simple online letter generator: https://writetothem.com

5) Leave a public review
Google: https://goo.gl/maps/tcoCFphM9S4GUKnh9 and https://goo.gl/maps/1Gz5X2pkcqM3rbQRA
TrustPilot: https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/lenvi.com and https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/equiniti.com

6) Address them on their public platforms
Lenvi: https://twitter.com/Lenvi_Tech and https://linkedin.com/company/lenvi
Equiniti: https://twitter.com/equiniti, https://twitter.com/AskEquiniti and https://linkedin.com/company/equiniti
Homes England: https://twitter.com/HomesEngland and https://linkedin.com/company/homes-england

I spoke with the financial ombudsman and property ombudsman but they are not the appropriate bodies to complain to because Homes England is ultimately responsible, so we need to contact the PHSO https://www.ombudsman.org.uk/

Thanks @sunny_money, I will correct the original post accordingly.

sunny_money · 30 June 2023 at 1:32PM

https://www.housingtoday.co.uk/news/homes-england-put-under-government-review/5123871.article

Interesting…

flopsaver · 30 June 2023 at 3:38PM

Is this the same company? It's being closed down.

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/08676596

flopsaver · 30 June 2023 at 3:40PM

So they're not answering the phone, not responding to emails, what are people meant to do in this position? If the company is not operating how are we meant to continue with sales?

MihaB · 30 June 2023 at 3:47PM

flopsaver said:

So they're not answering the phone, not responding to emails, what are people meant to do in this position? If the company is not operating how are we meant to continue with sales?

Everything is at a standstill - it looks like people have been missing their completion dates and sales fell through because of this, and likely others will experience the same in the coming days.

catdad · 30 June 2023 at 4:37PM

I received a reply from the House of Commons just in case anyone else is in my boat and can't write to their MP because they don't have one. I imagine there will be hundreds of people currently affected who are in Uxbridge, Somerton or Selby constituencies and so without representation, we can;

1) Contact an MP from a neighbouring constituency, as any MP can take casework even from outside their constituency at their discretion

2) Contact a member of the House of Lords, who aren't geographically confined in who they can represent. She advised using the Lords website to find members listing Housing as an interest.

3) Contact the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Homes England's parent department) directly at correspondence@levellingup.gov.uk

sunny_money · 30 June 2023 at 4:38PM

Check out Lenvi’s replies to the trust pilot reviews.

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/lenvi.com

They are misrepresenting their role making it sound like it’s all Home Englands fault. Which it ultimately is but Lenvi is clearly in self preservation mode. I have reported this to Homes England who seemed concerned by this. Maybe their contract will be terminated on a technicality haha

sunny_money · 30 June 2023 at 4:43PM

catdad said:

I received a reply from the House of Commons just in case anyone else is in my boat and can't write to their MP because they don't have one. I imagine there will be hundreds of people currently affected who are in Uxbridge, Somerton or Selby constituencies and so without representation, we can;

1) Contact an MP from a neighbouring constituency, as any MP can take casework even from outside their constituency at their discretion

2) Contact a member of the House of Lords, who aren't geographically confined in who they can represent. She advised using the Lords website to find members listing Housing as an interest.

3) Contact the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Homes England's parent department) directly at correspondence@levellingup.gov.uk

Glad you know your options.

I think contacting the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is a good bet considering Homes England is silent on the issue.

Help to Buy not answering phone

Comments

ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE

1) Make a formal complaint directly to the company

2) Complain to Homes England

3) Report them to the regulators

4) Contact your MP

5) Leave a public review

6) Address them on their public platforms

ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE

1) Make a formal complaint directly to the company

2) Complain to Homes England

3) Report them to the regulators

4) Contact your MP

5) Leave a public review

6) Address them on their public platforms

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