Santander loan incompetence

bkeenan

Hi, so I have an issue with Santander and wanted to voice it in case others are in the same predicament and might not be as lucky.

I took out a loan with Santander in 2022, it was a 2 year agreement but I paid it off early (2023). At the time I rang Santander to confirm I had cleared the loan. They said no, I owed them money still, which I queried with as I had cleared the entire amount listed on my account. They checked it and apologised and said that I was actually due a refund, after doing MORE checking they said on the phone that no actually, I was right that the loan was cleared and all was well... I thought at the time it that they didn't know their *** from their elbow but whatever its done.

Fast forward 7 months later and I get a letter from them saying I was in arrears for £16, I was like !!!!!! is this, it isn't a huge amount but it was more the hassle of having to find time to ring up, wait in a que, go through security and speaking to multiple people to fix one issue, as is always the case. 

Well imagine my horror when I ring and they say that its not £16 but £187 I owed them. I argued with the woman on the phone saying no, I had cleared the loan and had called at the time to confirm. She actually argued back and said, if you cleared it then why were you still making payments (current month). I was obviously confused with this and replied "no, I've not made any payments since I cleared it" I quickly checked my banking app and confirmed this. She said oh, not sure whats going on there, I asked did someone potentially get the loan in my name? Becoming a little sus of my family 👀 or something. To which she replied no, thats not the case as none of the details have changed, I said well there obviously something wrong I cleared it and now your telling me I owe you nearly £200, she said well did you contact us when you cleared it, I said yes and you guys were all over the place then as well. She said sorry but theres nothing they could do about this, its the outstanding balance, at most she could send me a settlement request in the post and I could use that to close the amount. I was fed up at this point and said to send it out so I could see exactly whats been paid and whats outstanding. 


Then then plot thickens, I get a call from Santander the following day. The guy on the phone said he was calling in relation to my loan, that it had been flagged up for monitoring, (probably from me suspecting fraud, my poor family). He then went on to tell me that after he had looked at the account that the loan should have been settled and because it had not been marked as closed the account continue to accrue interest, hence the amount owed. So he was sending the appropriate people notice that the account is settled. 

I don't know whats going on at Santander but Geezus. I'll be putting in a complaint with them, if my account hadn't been flagged then Id have got a bill sent for £187 and I'd be in hot water if I refused to pay it. 

retiredbanker1

'' I queried with as I had cleared the entire amount listed on my account.''

Did you just pay the balance owing on your App/statement?
Did you take into account interest from your last repayment to the date you paid it off - also was there an Early settlement fee?

Was/is the loan still showing as an active account? If so it was never paid off.

I agree that once you phoned them it should have been a very simple process to formally close off the loan.

Aran76

This is a strange one, from what you have written it seems that you just paid off the balance at the time, that is not settlement of the loan.

To settle the loan you should have requested a full and final settlement figure, this would have included any early repayment charges, interest refunds etc. the lender would then have given you a set period of time to settle at that amount. You then pay the amount and the lender will confirm this in writing that the account is settled and closed.