Halifax Cashback Mortgage Complaint and Financial Ombudsman Advice

jegger95

When I took out my mortgage there was 1% cashback offer which I was advised by Halifax I would be best to pay off to the mortgage, to balance the security fee they charged.

I arranged  this transfer in branch shortly after starting payments and received confirmation in writing from Halifax Customer Services.

Down the line several years I realised after complaining to Halifax that the cashback had not been paid to the mortgage at the outset. I complained, Halifax claimed to have no record of it. i went to the FOS, who said it was outside of jurisdiction on the 6 year and 3 year rule. At this time I could not locate the original paperwork, which confirmed the transfer of the cashback, and I asked Halifax / FOS to obtain all the original documentation, to no avail.

Subsequently when going through some old boxes I found the letter which confirmed the cashback 'has been paid to your account'. Went back to the FOS, they said contact Halifax, Halifax said 'OK, yep we did pay the cashback, however, the account number on the letter belongs to your father, and it was sent to him as a result of your complaint to customer services.' . He is named on the mortgage account. He disputes ever receiving this and I believe him. At the time he was telling me to make sure I'd arranged the transfer with Halifax.

We have tried to get information via DSARs but Halifax will not comply with them. We only want copies of his bank statements. He has stage 4 cancer and obviously could do without this stress.

The FOS have taken 11 months before looking at it this time and it has been assigned to an investigator. The investigator said it was still outside jurisdiction. It seemed to me that the 6 year / 3 year has a clause when a complaint is raised within timescales and we did complain within them, and Halifax had confirmed a complaint had been raised shortly after taking the mortgage out. The investigator believed Halifax had simply made an error by saying it was a complaint and wants to dismiss on the grounds that dealing with the same complaint again will bring the FOS into disrepute. She also refers to documents I have never seen which confirm a transfer to my father's account. (which I don't believe exist)

So, obviously I have the option to not accept the investigator's so called findings and refer to an Ombudsman, but it seems the writing is on the wall. Their 'What to expect' page talks about weighing up the facts, fairly and impartially, so what I don't understand is why they wont just obtain my father's bank statements which would show the transaction and therefore the facts could be established, instead they want to leave these unsubstantiated allegations against my father unresolved? I don't understand how this could possibly be fair or impartial. I have been dealing with the FOS for 3 and a half years now (it is a long story and it has been absolutely excruciating, and they thoroughly deserve their incredibly low Trustpilot ratings)

So I think I'm posting here to sound off and see if there are some other resources I could look at other than the FOS. I don't really think I have done much wrong and have lost a significant amount of money as a result.

born_again

Given you have not said when this was from & FOS have said past timescales. You are out of time & no other options.

While you believe your father, given his condition. Can he remember that far back?

No need for a SAR just for bank accounts. But if you are over 6 years ago. They may not have them.

jegger95

It is 2004 so it is a long time ago.

However, the 6 year rule has an exception where a complaint is made to the business or the ombudsman within the 6 year period.

I made the complaint in 2004 and Halifax complaint response says.

Dear Mr x & Mr x ,

I refer to your recently completed mortgage.

I can confirm that your cash back of £1010 and valuation fee of £250 has been credited to your account (acct no).

The account number is different to my mortgage account number, but this was not apparent to me at the time.

After previously claiming that there was no such agreement to have the cashback transferred when I previously made the complaint, Halifax, when they saw this document they changed what they had said completely and instead claimed that the account number was my father's current account, and provided some extremely dubious cut & paste of 2 separate accounts showing the transaction being paid into an account that they said was my father's.

As a result we asked for the full statements and Halifax have not provided them.

I don't believe it was ever paid and neither of us believe the account number belongs to my father.

The FOS investigator's findings are that

'Halifax sent them a letter on 2 August 2004, outlining that the cashback had been credited to Mr X’s account.'

 
However, they do not have any evidence that this account does belong to my father.

They have also said

'In addition, the letter in 2004 indicates that the cashback was not paid to the mortgage account'

Whereas to me, the wording in the letter is clear that it was paid to our account, and so that it what I thought had happened.