Nationwide Interest Rates - The Timing Seems More Than A Co-incidence...

KevinUTO1867

AJ1987 said:

KevinUTO1867 keep us in the loop with how you get on with the ombudsman.

Will do. The auto-reply said to expect a reply within 7 working days. Will post here as and when I get updates.

AJ1987

To add to the frustration, I have just read that nationwide was late to the table of rate cuts in January. Which makes the timing even more suspicious.

ACG

They announced rate rises on the 29th Feb. 

KevinUTO1867

That's the first non-automated correspondence from the Financial Ombudsman. A lengthy email to say that the case has been assigned to a case handler, the next step is for them to reach out to Nationwide for their records, and for me to document all actions and correspondence relating to the complaint. The email goes on to say an investigator will be in touch in 2/3 months - whether that's with a verdict or for my documentation, it isn't clear.

But, it looks like it will be a long process - though a fairly straight forward one, which isn't time-consuming.

AJ1987

I've not heard back from the ombudsman 

KevinUTO1867

AJ1987 said:

I've not heard back from the ombudsman 

Hope you've heard something back by now.

Earlier in the week, we received an email from our investigator - introducing themselves, an overview of our complaint to check/amend/add to, and a timeline of the next set of processes involved. All very quick, efficient, and professional.

KevinUTO1867

Just an update on this one - a couple of twists and signs of positivity…

I received a very lengthy investigation report back from the investigator, which basically sided with Nationwide. However, it was evident from the report that there was some misunderstanding over my complaint; the complaint seemingly registered as us not being able to get out of a non-cancellation period, when infact it was the changing of a product during a non-cancellation period.

I fed this back to the investigator, who has responded today. The investigator has informed us this has now been passed internally and that they are now aware of other issues related to this matter raised by customers.

I would advise that if you have experienced a similar situation from Nationwide’s practices that you raise it with Nationwide and then the Financial Ombudsman as soon as you can. If anyone wants any help relating to the issue I’ve been going through, do feel free to reach out.

AJ1987

KevinUTO1867 said:

Just an update on this one - a couple of twists and signs of positivity…

I received a very lengthy investigation report back from the investigator, which basically sided with Nationwide. However, it was evident from the report that there was some misunderstanding over my complaint; the complaint seemingly registered as us not being able to get out of a non-cancellation period, when infact it was the changing of a product during a non-cancellation period.

I fed this back to the investigator, who has responded today. The investigator has informed us this has now been passed internally and that they are now aware of other issues related to this matter raised by customers.

I would advise that if you have experienced a similar situation from Nationwide’s practices that you raise it with Nationwide and then the Financial Ombudsman as soon as you can. If anyone wants any help relating to the issue I’ve been going through, do feel free to reach out.

I've not heard from the ombudsman so can only presume that my case wasn't strong enough

KevinUTO1867

AJ1987 said:

KevinUTO1867 said:

Just an update on this one - a couple of twists and signs of positivity…

I received a very lengthy investigation report back from the investigator, which basically sided with Nationwide. However, it was evident from the report that there was some misunderstanding over my complaint; the complaint seemingly registered as us not being able to get out of a non-cancellation period, when infact it was the changing of a product during a non-cancellation period.

I fed this back to the investigator, who has responded today. The investigator has informed us this has now been passed internally and that they are now aware of other issues related to this matter raised by customers.

I would advise that if you have experienced a similar situation from Nationwide’s practices that you raise it with Nationwide and then the Financial Ombudsman as soon as you can. If anyone wants any help relating to the issue I’ve been going through, do feel free to reach out.

I've not heard from the ombudsman so can only presume that my case wasn't strong enough

I would look to chase that up - you should at least get a reply from an investigator.

My update is that the investigator came back, and despite the additional information, still side in favour of Nationwide. A final decision now rests with the Ombudsman. I don't expect them to go against the investigators report, but at last I'll be content that I've taken it as far as I could.

I've since learned Nationwide will be taking over Virgin Money, so I'll be needing to move my joint account now too!   

KevinUTO1867

Forgot that I didn't update this.

The Ombudsman did side with Nationwide, as expected. Lesson learned for us - we'll re-mortgage right at the very end of our agreement in future to ensure we aren't victims of this sort of practice again. I'd rather risk paying a slightly higher rate than feel like we've been victims of poor practice again.

Mortgages will be moved from Nationwide at the end of their term and all our banking follows. Will keep the account open mind for the Nationwide Fairer Share payments in future years - which will eventually claw back what we lost during this episode.