need advice on what to do next

pcyam

my parents package ended december 07, so we tried to contact the mortgage company what offers were available to them. We were on hold for ages and a lady said she was queue cutting so took our details and said we weould get a call back. Nothing came of it so rang back beginning of jan 08 again had the same story and again no call back. so called again mid jan 08 and was told that as it was an old mortgage only a small team could change the package and that there was no-one available so at this point we mentioned we were told this previously and would want to make a formal complaint as we were overpaying as we were on the SVR also were losing interest on the amounts we were overpaying too. complaint was logged and was told that they could only backdate the rate and would pay back onto the mortgage and not able to send a cheque and people who had previously gone to the ombudsman had lost, so we accepted what they had offered and waited for the paperwork.

But they had sent the paperwork out 3 times and and on each occassion they had either the wrong package or the wrong details resulting in high fees, and also on one occassion quoting it on the wrong loan!!! and on the 3rd time we wrote a further complaint letter as we were getting no where and said that they would only backdate the interest, and if we would accept this or not, if not then we can take it further.

As this had been going on for 6months we thought to take it to the ombudsman, as we feel that the loss of interest is unfair and also having to call so many times just to chase up for paperwork. But if we dont accept their offer and take it to the ombudman and they agree with the bank are we able to take the offer of the backdated interest or will we lose this and do we sign the paperwork to change the package now or wait??

Thanks in advanced for any advice given.

homer_j_3

Generally speaking, the lender should seek to put you back in the position that you would have been should the mistake not have occurred.

If what you are saying is that they have offered to do this then maybe the ombudsman would just say that they are happy with the offer made and that they (the lender) should do what they have promised.

By going to the ombudsman, they will not look to offer compensation for loss of time etc.

pcyam

homer_j wrote: »

By going to the ombudsman, they will not look to offer compensation for loss of time etc.

do they offer loss of interest on the over payments which they have been to pay for since Jan 08?? Also, if we do go to the ombudsman will the offer of backdated interest be taken away??

homer_j_3

I do not think so. I am not the FOS.

If the lender has stated that they will look to put the mortgage onto the new rate and back date it then that is putting you back in the same position with regards you should have been on that product.

With regards to the overpayments as a result of paying the increased repayment amount of the SVR, I would say that they should either offer these back as a refund or rework the account and apply the overpayments as just that and reduce the debt accordingly.

For you to say that you want £x plus £x for lost interest on that account is wrong - the right thing would be to apply the overpayments to the mortgage or offer the money back without interest.

What does seem strange though is that the interest amount earned over the period of time would be less than the fee that they would have to pay for the case going to the ombudsman.