The Ambulance Chasers Will Not Stay Parked For Much Longer

The Ambulance Chasers Will Not Stay Parked For Much Longer

14:07 PM, 18th June 2016, About 8 years ago 7

Text Size

Discontent amongst borrowers with BoI (Bristol & West Mortgages), Skipton Building Society (Amber Homeloans) and Manchester Building Society is growing. Whilst all those borrowers with West Brom tracker mortgages are getting a full refund of their over-charged mortgage accounts and their mortgage payments put back to where they should be, those affected by similar rate hikes via other lenders continue to be fleeced with over charges every month.

Until these matters are progressed through the judicial process the decision of the Financial Ombudsman Service in relation to complaints being denied will stand.

I am urging all those affected not to raise further complaints to the FOS over negligent advice from their solicitors and mortgage advisers for failing to alert them to the small print which the lenders have relied on and which the FOS have ruled on. Each complaint would cost a Financial Adviser or solicitor £500 and this money would all go into the coffers of the FOS. Mortgage Brokers in particular know that they get very little sympathy from the FOS (unlike the bigger institutions) so they would be facing a losing battle from day one. Their PI policies would also be at risk and if they get too many claims on those the premiums can go up to a point where it is no longer economical for them to trade. Adverse FOS decisions against them make things far worse.

It wouldn’t be fair to put mortgage brokers through this in my opinion. They couldn’t possibly have second guessed that the mortgage lenders they recommended would act as they have and they certainly wouldn’t have expected the FOS to support the actions of those mortgage lenders. Based on on the FOS perception of fairness though, all such claims against mortgage advisers would probably be upheld if they were professionally submitted. This is because to refute them would jeopardise the FOS decision favouring mortgage lenders.  Wholly unfair in my opinion and that’s why mortgage  advisers trust the FOS about as much as we do!

We must show mortgage lenders they cannot hide behind the bias of the FOS or the protracted and expensive judicial process. We certainly mustn’t allow the lender to spin the blame towards the financial advisers and legal profession either.

I am encouraging all those affected by the rate hikes applied by these unscrupulous mortgage lenders to come together and fight the REAL villians – firstly the mortgage lenders who are in breach of contract, then, when we prove the FOS wrong yet again hopefully they will be closed down too.

We managed to raise the money to defeat the West Brom and we can do it again!

I recently posted the following comment below a highly controversial article published on the Mortgage Strategy website:-

“I think it is very much in the interests of the mortgage industry that Property118 members are prepared to fight for their rights and hold mortgage lenders to account.

The despicable actions of West Brom caused a loss of faith in the mortgage industry, hopefully the win at the Court of Appeal will help to restore that.

Being a retired broker I would also like to point out that many people affected by the tracker rate hikes imposed by West Brom, and previously BoI wanted to sue brokers for not advising them correctly. They would have had a very good case if Property118 hadn’t got the Court of Appeal to overturn the FOS and the High Court rulings.

I persuaded all affected borrowers to focus on the REAL rogues and to my knowledge not a single case of a brokers PI policy being attacked has been reported. Many started initial proceedings on exactly that basis but I talked them out of it and managed to redirect their anger to West Brom.

I hope to be able to do the same with the borrowers affected by similar injustices at the hands of BoI, Skipton BS and Manchester BS. It is very much in brokers interests to support these cases too. If they don’t, and if sufficient money isn’t raised to take those lenders to Court, then the FOS rulings will stand and brokers PI policies will be at risk. The ambulance chasers will not stay parked forever!

Property118 Action Group are crowdfunding in order to raise the money necessary to fight these legal battles – please see http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/property118-action-group


Share This Article


Comments

Anon

14:33 PM, 18th June 2016, About 8 years ago

WOW, should stir up the financial press a bit!

It may also force financial advisers and solicitors to re-think their position again too.

Hopefully their PI insurers will step in to help fund the necessary legal battles against Skippy and BoI etc..

mark simm

11:01 AM, 19th June 2016, About 8 years ago

Congratulations on the west brom case that was clearly right outcome maybe general svr increase was wrong post base rate drop 2009!

Andy Bell

20:55 PM, 19th June 2016, About 8 years ago

Hi Mark

Whilst I understand your reasons for not wanting financial advisers to receive complaints and be reported to the FOS for mis-selling, I can see why it might be very appealing to some borrowers because it costs them nothing.

Just suppose somebody wanted to raise a complaint, what might the basis of such a complaint actually look like?

Mark Alexander - Founder of Property118

21:56 PM, 19th June 2016, About 8 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Andy Bell" at "19/06/2016 - 20:55":

Hi Andy

I'm not a professional at writing such complaints but somebody like Mark Smith is.

The basis of complaint would probably be quite simple. In the first instance a complaint would be sent to the mortgage adviser and his/her network. It would request details of their complaints procedure and an outline of the complaint.

I suspect a complaint might be phrased something like this ...

"I was sold a Bank of England lifetime tracker rate mortgage but the rate I am paying has increased despite the Bank of England interest rate not having changed. I have complained to the FOS who have ruled that my mortgage lender was within its rights to vary my interest rate. On that basis I conclude that I was mislead by my mortgage adviser and that my tracker mortgage was mis-sold because it obviously isn't a tracker mortgage. My lender and the FOS are insistent that the right to vary my interest rate, despite me maintaining my mortgage payments impeccable and the Bank of England base rate not changing, was perfectly legal and contained in the mortgage documentation. I have checked the correspondence sent to me by my mortgage adviser and the recommendations I received and there is no mention of this, however, the box on my KFI has been ticked to confirm that my mortgage was an advised sale. I wish to claim compensation for the amount I have been charged over and above what the KFI said I should be paying. Please provide me with details of your complaints procedure, presumably which will be heard by the FOS if we cannot agree? I enclose a copy of my correspondence with the FOS together with my KFI, mortgage offer letter and mortgage conditions booklet.
.

Ian Baggaley

8:44 AM, 20th June 2016, About 8 years ago

Hi I have amber home loans mortgage and tired to get justice through the FSA back in 2010 with no success..I am also trying again now with the FOS after the court of appeal decision..but no response now from them...I am willing to donate to your current fundraising but after reading your recent emails it seems that I will only be part of the new action if i commit to £600 donation which i cannot afford..if i donate say £50 will i not be part of the new action...can u clarify this situation..i would still donate if it helps others start action but if they are successful why wont other borrowers with amber home loans be due same compensation

Mark Alexander - Founder of Property118

8:54 AM, 20th June 2016, About 8 years ago

Hello Ian

Perhaps the £10 a month subscription membership will be better suited to your circumstances.

Free professional advice will only be available to Property118 Action Group members.

For legal reasons I cannot go into detail as to why the action against BoI will only apply to members. That will be disclosed exclusively and confidentially to members only on or before close of business on Friday 19th August 2016.

In terms of donations, every little helps 🙂

Luke P

13:47 PM, 21st June 2016, About 8 years ago

Does this case include those who were caught up in the selling of part of BoI's mortgage book to TMW?

Whilst none of my BTLs were with BoI, my own home was transferred from there to TMW, where the SVR was 4.79% (up from 2.99%).

Leave Comments

In order to post comments you will need to Sign In or Sign Up for a FREE Membership

or

Don't have an account? Sign Up

Landlord Tax Planning Book Now