help! bank lost deeds and documents

ronaldmacdonald

It seems my dumb bank "purged" all the deeds/documents they held and in the process "lost" ours. Apparently they say they cannot even tell if they had them.

I have a letter from them saying they had received them from our solicitors so although the dozy call centre robotically deny everything there is evidence to the contrary. Apparently they then decided that they didnt want to hold any deeds any more and sent them back to the solicitor who never received them :eek:

Its going to cost a fair bit for getting certified copies of all deeds and associated documents, would I have ground to claim this cost from the bank for not taking adequate care of these documents?

Peed. Off.

silvercar

I would try, ask them to pay.

bunnydrumming

I would suggest setting up an appointment with the bank manager to argue your case - not on phone as you will get someone new everytime. Face to face means you will deal with that one person and be able to build good relationship so they get on your side

find your letter which says they have the documents and also find anything that says there policies about looking after deeds. Maybe ask your solicitor if he has any communication regarding the bank looking after your documents so you can take them to the bank with you

i would argue that such valuable documents should have been sent recorded delivery and not through regular post.

I think they should pay your costs as they should have contacted you about the purge and they lost items that had been left with them

Good luck

takoo

Hi Ronaldmacdonald

If the bank sent the deeds by registered post or courier the mail service etc should be able to confirm situation etc. Insurance would be involved etc if the post lost them. If the solicitor's office did in fact receive the deeds the solution to liability probably lies elsewhere (ie not the bank or the post offfice).

If they did not send them by registered post or by hand I would ask for information about their complaints procedure. If that does not satisfy you may find a remedy with the a determination by the Financial Service Ombudsman.

Good luck

Takoo

wriggly

You should also check whether the bank may have actually dematerialised the deeds. If this is the case, then although the original deeds no longer exist, the entry at the Land Registry is adequate evidence of your ownership. If this is the case, you should have received a document from the Land Registry in the last few years with the details of your title.

ronaldmacdonald

wriggly wrote: »

You should also check whether the bank may have actually dematerialised the deeds. If this is the case, then although the original deeds no longer exist, the entry at the Land Registry is adequate evidence of your ownership. If this is the case, you should have received a document from the Land Registry in the last few years with the details of your title.

Hello thankyou for your replies, wriggly - that is interesting. It may not be so much the title deeds but apparently there are additional documents that go along with them that are required. In addition our nhbc/basebuild certificate has gone "missing" (this was with the deeds). The additional documents are £10 a pop from the land registry and I have no idea how many of these there may be :eek:

In all honesty, to keep things moving, I will have to get copies of everything at cost and chase the bank/solicitor for compensation in due course.