Standard Life haven't removed the charge

Baggieboy123

Hello everyone,

First time here and desperate for advice. We paid our mortgage off 14 years ago. We are now about to sell the house, but it turns out that the lender (Standard Life) never removed the charge on the property. I've been asking them for 10 weeks to sort this out but feel I'm getting nowhere. Part vent, part looking for advice. Thank you in anticipation.

Brie

Have you lodged this as an official complaint? That gives them a set period to sort and if they don't you escalate it to the financial ombudsman.

Baggieboy123

Hi Brie. Thank you so much for your reply. I'm aware of the 8 week rule, but they've been working on it (they say) all this time. Should I now lodge an official complaint in order to instigate the 8 week rule? Thank you again.

Brie

Yes - unless you can convince them that your initial communication 10 weeks back was you complaining and that they have messed up by not marking it as such.

With a complaint I always go for the calm organised approach - state the problem, tell them what you expect them to do and by when, and then state what the consequences might be if they don't pull their finger out. A nice polite query about what penalty might they pay if their tardiness means you lose out on a house sale. Likely I'm stating the obvious but that's just the way I swing.

Baggieboy123

Thanks Brie -Just good to hear someone talking some sense! I'll keep you posted! I need a beer!

user1977

I would also recommend a complaint as a way of getting it onto the desk of somebody who understands the problem and knows what to do about it. Unfortunately the first line of customer service tends to be baffled if you're ask something about a long-closed account.

Your solicitor should be used to this sort of stuff too, rather than leaving it all to you to sort out!

silvercar

Standard life sold endowment policies that were linked to mortgage lending. The lender was usually a mortgage company. I know Halifax had links with SL for this. Are you sure the lender was SL?

Baggieboy123

Hi guys - thank you for your replies. To be fair, our solicitor is also chasing SL. SL were the lenders and I have their letter from 14 years ago confirming that the mortgage was paid. Thanks again for your input.

Baggieboy123

Small update: SL have said that the requisite documents will be sent to the Land Registry tomorrow afternoon, so fingers crossed.

Land_Registry

Good to read that you have managed to get them to send the required documents. Unsure if it's a legal charge or some other charge that they have and therefore whether they are discharging it electronically or in some other way with us.

If you have a confirmed buyer, and therefore an urgency, DM me the title number or postal address and I can check for you - the type of charge and application will both impact on how quickly it can be removed from the register at our end.

If you, your conveyancer or SL are already being proactive with us then no need to DM the details.

Baggieboy123

Thank you so much for this. I will DM the details to you