Northern Rock End of Mortgaged Deal (Merged Threads)

picardygirl

hi Tony863.....your Northern Rock mortgage you took out in 2007, I'm assuming, is no longer with Northern Rock plc but with Northern Rock Asset Management.

Assuming that is the case they would have written to you in January informing you that were unable to offer their customers additional borrowing or able to offer remortgages etc etc.

20k_of_trouble

Apologies for resurrecting this topic, but thought with the NR Bosses today being fined and banned for basically being useless, I wondered if any of us previous Northern Rock customers had a case for claiming against NR?
My tale of woe involves having a mortgage with NR. I was a couple of months from moving from their introductory rate to their SVR, when the poo started to hit the fan. The letters from NR appeared basically saying you need to shift NOW, or we'll put you on a rate so high, your eyes will pop.
Panicking, I jumped ship to a 5-year fixed deal with Nationwide, around the 6.1% mark, causing my payments to jump from low £700 to £1230.
Then the Government bails everyone out, causing rates to plummet, taking control of Northern Rock, and all is "rosy again".

Now I'm a "good little boy" in most terms. I pay my bills on time, not a black mark against me, but money is getting out of control (as you can tell by my username!) I just feel that when I was sensible, Northern Rock weren't being sensible, and basically shafted me (and most of you guys too, by the looks of it!).

I can't remortgage as my LTV is still pretty high ( I bought a £200K house in January 2007) and of course values have come down since then, so really don't know what my LTV stands at, but would expect it to be still around 85%.

I'm just wondering whether we could claim anything from Northern Rock for doing this to us? The totally priced me out of the market, to get me to shift, and then carried on with their business anyway.
I'm not a money saving expert, so would REALLY appreciate some "what to do's" from you guys. Sorry if its already mentioned in the previous 59 pages.

I just feel the tide is rushing in towards me, and I'm trying to bail out with a small tea-cup.

VIGILANT22

What exactly is it you want to claim for?

MarkyMarkD

You haven't got anything TO claim for. You chose to switch away from a high variable rate to a lower fixed rate, which was in your interests at the time. You are in no different position to millions of people who bought fixes just before BBR fell - NR didn't know that was going to happen any more than any other lender, and they are not responsible for your choice.

20k_of_trouble

MarkyMarkD wrote: »

You haven't got anything TO claim for. You chose to switch away from a high variable rate to a lower fixed rate, which was in your interests at the time. You are in no different position to millions of people who bought fixes just before BBR fell - NR didn't know that was going to happen any more than any other lender, and they are not responsible for your choice.

Thanx, MarkyMarkD and vigilant22 for replying.
I know it sounds like I'm whingeing, but genuinely didn't know if we could "put up a fight" against these establishments, as opposed to the normal British way, of saying "Tsk!" a lot and accepting what they tell us.

The quote about "choosing to switch away", I feel, isn't quite how I felt. The letter came through, and I felt that "Northern Rock are going bust, so I HAVE to get my mortgage from somewhere else". It wasn't a case of trying to beat the system or getting lower rates. I was scared for losing my house. I literally accepted the 5-year fixed rate, because suddenly that was all that was being offered. Mortgages were disappearing at a rate of knots and I was refused a couple. Such was the panic.
Even when BBR fell, NR kept its rate artificially high, to ward off people from staying.
Its like your favourite newsagents on the corner, suddenly deciding "I'm going into business selling motorbikes, so I'll start selling newspapers at £45 instead. If customers want newsapers they can walk 2miles further into town". Then when you walk and get that newspaper in town, your newsagent decides "I'm not going to sell motorbikes after all, I will sell newspapers again at their proper price. Only not to any of my previous customers!"

It would "nark" a few people...and I'm one of those people. I completely accept that "there are Millions in the same boat as me", but just thought whether "all of us" had some sort of a case against the likes of Northern Rock for misbehaving with our accounts, when each and every one of us customers tries to be careful? Not trying to cause "bloodshed in the streets", but didn't also want to come across as "Typical Brit, rolling over, and letting the banks tickle our tummy". I'm angry enough to do something about this, if THERE IS anything I can do about this! Hope this makes sense? Thanx again for listening - I must come across a some sort of romantic revolutionary!

VIGILANT22

At no time do you mention taking financial or mortgage advice...all you write is "i thought"....and it looks like you made a bad decision....and you have to stay with it.....I don't even know what yr blaming NR for?......Where did NR "misbehave with yr account"?

20k_of_trouble

I DID take advice from an IFA, but I was trying to get across what I was feeling at the time. Ultimately, as you say, it was MY decision and I've paid the price by panicking a little, but just thought that NR didn't "play fair in the spirit of things".

If I defaulted on my mortgage payments to a severe degree I would, quite rightly, be fined, have added payments, interest, or have the house taken from me. Those are the rules. That is what you sign up to.

Northern Rock in my eyes didn't play fair. They rose their rates artificially high, in an effort to cancel those contracts, to get themselves out of the deep doo-doo. And their bosses are being fined this week because of mis-behaving with their accounts... They were mis-representing what was going on. It would be nice to hit them with some sort of "personal grievance" as well, to let them know how we, the NR customers, have been treated.

I know what you're saying - "You were moving onto their SVR, It was a Variable rate, so they could have done what they wanted and put it on any rate"....or "You've done this by 'voting with your feet' and moving to another provider.

I suppose, they've been hit with a fine, which will no doubt go into the Government coffers. I just didn't know if there were a means of launching some sort of personal litigation against NR for their part, by those who felt pushed out.

I s'pose I REALLY AM going to have to lie there, and let the banks tickle my tummy, after all, aren't I? !!!!!!! The fire in my belly seems to have been watered down a little....:o

Thanx again, Vigilant22. Its nice to know that someone "with a few more brains" and "a bit more savvy with their money", doesn't mind explaining a few things to me. Appreciated.

VIGILANT22

Quote: I DID take advice from an IFA, but I was trying to get across what I was feeling at the time.
So you felt you wanted the security of a fixed ..& that is what you got...

The NR directors didn't misbehave with "yr account"

Deleriad

20k_of_trouble wrote: »

My tale of woe involves having a mortgage with NR. I was a couple of months from moving from their introductory rate to their SVR, when the poo started to hit the fan. The letters from NR appeared basically saying you need to shift NOW, or we'll put you on a rate so high, your eyes will pop.
Panicking, I jumped ship to a 5-year fixed deal with Nationwide, around the 6.1% mark, causing my payments to jump from low £700 to £1230.
Then the Government bails everyone out, causing rates to plummet, taking control of Northern Rock, and all is "rosy again".

There's nothing to say that you haven't done the right thing. When you fixed, NR's SVR was around 7.5%. You chose to fix at 6.1% which in historical terms for a five year fix with minimal equity is a really good deal. If you had stayed with NR on their SVR then you would have saved money in 2009 but now you would likely be trapped: try getting a re-mortgage with 85-90% LTV these days: very hard.

If rates start going up then you may well find that after 5 years you ended up saving a lot of money. Plus, for five years you know exactly how much you're paying each month. That's the point of a fix. Somehow I suspect you won't be complaining if base rates go back to 5% and you can get savings accounts paying more than 6.1%.

Suziebear_3

Sorry ive not had time to scroll through all the back posts, i have a mortgage with northern rock asset management my fixed term will end next march and i currently pay 5.89%. Can anyone just tell me what the SVR is at the moment, i assume its less than the 5.89% and may be better off??