West Bromwich Building Society Tracker Margins Legal Action
Are you affected by the West Brom Tracker Rate Hike?
If your mortgage account number begins with the number 8 you are highly likely to be one of the unlucky 41% of the mortgage customers of the West Bromwich building Society with a West Bromwich Mortgage Company account affected by the 1.9% increase in your tracker margin rate. However, if you arranged your mortgage directly with West Bromwich Building Society (i.e. not via a broker) or before 2006 the chances are that your account number will begin with the number 9 and you are not affected – YET!!! West Brom will give no assurances that mortgages with account numbers beginning with the number 9 will not be affected at some point in the future.
OUR INTENDED CLASS ACTION LITIGATION OVERVIEW
The reasons we started this campaign are very simple:-
1) We believe the actions of West Brom are immoral
2) We believe the actions of West Brom are unlawful, i.e. they have no legal grounds to increase their tracker rate margins
3) We have no wish to subsidise other areas of the West Bromwich Building Society business model
4) We are fearful of other lenders following suit if West Brom are allowed to get away with this
Mark Smith (Barrister-At-Law) said …
“Representative actions, where one person starts a case representing many others, who all want the answer to a legal question from a court such as ‘is this contract enforceable against me?’ but are not seeking damages. All those who sign up to the action will get the benefit of the win, but they do not have to start their own cases, as they are ‘represented’ by the lead claimant.
The only people who will definitely benefit from success in the case are those who have signed up. There will be no free rides. Any others will have to fight their own corners individually, either alone or with legal help (which will inevitably cost significantly more than the group case).”
We will NOT settle on any basis.
We have a moral duty to do what is right for those who support the values upon which this campaign was started. Our promise to all who support these values is that we will not sell out on you at any price. We will continue to fight this injustice and we will fight any other lender who tries to follow suit.
Are you with us?
This discussion thread is now closed – we’re off to Court!
To link to the new discussion please CLICK HERE
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Comments: 359
7:03 PM, 21st November 2013, About 12 years ago
Reply to the comment left by “Mark Alexander” at “21/11/2013 – 09:57“:
we have had the ‘thinly veiled’ threat in both notifcations – so for the one for our joint tracker and for the one in my name only
Member Since September 2013 - Comments: 80
7:12 PM, 21st November 2013, About 12 years ago
Reply to the comment left by “Dean ” at “21/11/2013 – 16:15“:
Hi Dean, you seem like a man good with numbers & concepts etc., so would you mind helping me develop a train of thought to cause some ‘trouble at the mill’ for the WBBS board and whoever is the ‘ultimate’ owner of our Life Time Tracker Mortgages.
Please can you read the link below and then look through this email ?
The following is a link issued by Reuters called “Fitch: No rating actions expected on Hawthorn buy to let rmbs following West Brom margin hike”
Now The Rating Agency has not factored in Legal Action or a NON Acceptance of this Rate Hike from the affected customers – the link is below.
However, I think we can cause some trouble for The WBBS through alerting Fitch to potential RISKS that they have not factored in with regards to their ‘Rating’.
Stay with me – they quote “Finally, while in some instances an increase in rates might encourage borrowers to refinance elsewhere, Fitch does not believe prepayment rates will be materially affected in this situation”. Well, Prepayments (i.e. people paying back their mortgage and can be extended in concept to include Repossessions) would be seriously affected if WBBS decide to call the loans in. I hope you are still with me ?
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/10/08/fitch-no-rating-actions-expected-on-hawt-idUKFit67127620131008
Comments: 359
7:16 PM, 21st November 2013, About 12 years ago
still getting 2 posts per comment! 🙁
Member Since October 2013 - Comments: 1020 - Articles: 47
7:24 PM, 21st November 2013, About 12 years ago
Reply to the comment left by “stuart marshall” at “21/11/2013 – 15:46“:
Hi Stuart
Thanks for the insights. Could you please ask your contact let us know what rate of interest WB Mortgage Company would need to pay now, and what it would have paid 6 years ago?
Member Since October 2013 - Comments: 1020 - Articles: 47
7:26 PM, 21st November 2013, About 12 years ago
Reply to the comment left by “stuart marshall” at “21/11/2013 – 15:46“:
If I had money in an account with WB Building Society, and I read in the Telegraph or the Mail or saw on TV that WBMC was the first lender ever to call in loans that were not in arrears, I would immediately go to their nearest branch and join the queue of people waiting to take their money out. I would not be deterred by any PR claim that they were doing it because of market conditions.
Member Since October 2013 - Comments: 1020 - Articles: 47
7:28 PM, 21st November 2013, About 12 years ago
The letter rejecting our protests says “Under the terms and conditions of your mortgages, any future increase in Bank Base Rate would result in an equivalent increase in the rate charged. However, we will continue to monitor market conditions and assess the rate we charge above Bank Base Rate”.
In other words, we still have tracker mortgages, except that the WB Mortgage Company can charge whatever it wants whenever it likes! Complete nonsense.
I don’t think these people are Titans of Wall Street, masters of the universe, or devilishly clever. Quite the reverse.
Member Since January 2011 - Comments: 12193 - Articles: 1395
7:28 PM, 21st November 2013, About 12 years ago
Denise, please try the following. Unsubscribe from both notifications then lease one new comment or sign us to receive updates, don’t do both.
Comments: 359
7:38 PM, 21st November 2013, About 12 years ago
ok really embarrassed now … where do I unsubscribe then?
Comments: 359
7:43 PM, 21st November 2013, About 12 years ago
Right, I have now read and internalised the d/d guarantee information below – so a letter received today informing me of the amount my d/d will rise by is clearly outside the 10 days notice required asDec 1st is now only 6 working days away – but I have a question: does the letter they originally sent stating they would let us know the exact amount of the rise at a later date (which arrived some weeks ago now) fulfil the requirement for them to give us 10 days notice??
Direct Debit Guarantee
Your rights
Organisations using the Direct Debit Scheme go through a careful vetting process before they’re authorised, and are closely monitored by the banking industry. The efficiency and security of Direct Debit is monitored and protected by your own bank or building society.
The Direct Debit Guarantee applies to all Direct Debits. It protects you in the rare event that there is an error in the payment of your Direct Debit.
Direct Debit Guarantee
The Guarantee is offered by all banks and building societies that accept instructions to pay Direct Debits
If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your Direct Debit the organisation will notify you (normally 10 working days) in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed. If you request the organisation to collect a payment, confirmation of the amount and date will be given to you at the time of the request
If an error is made in the payment of your Direct Debit, by the organisation or your bank or building society, you are entitled to a full and immediate refund of the amount paid from your bank or building society
If you receive a refund you are not entitled to, you must pay it back when the organisation asks you to
You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by simply contacting your bank or building society. Written confirmation may be required. Please also notify the organisation.
Take a look at our handy Direct Debit Guarantee leaflet which summarises the benefits of Direct Debit and gives details of the Guarantee.
Member Since October 2013 - Comments: 1020 - Articles: 47
8:01 PM, 21st November 2013, About 12 years ago
Reply to the comment left by “stuart marshall” at “21/11/2013 – 19:12“:
I wonder if Fitch factored in a decline in new business. I wonder what WB’s sales trend has been since September.
I have sent the following email to my broker, entitled “WB discrimination”:
Hi (Name withheld!)
I don’t know whether you have arranged any mortgages with the West Bromwich since they showed at the end of September that they cannot be trusted to honour a contract.
However, I thought you should know that they are only increasing the tracker premiums for customers who used an independent broker, like yourself. The accounts of these customers start with an 8.
The people who arranged mortgages direct with WB or through WB’s own broking company have account numbers starting with 9. They are unaffected.
This has been revealed on Property118’s forum, and confirmed by an unaffected borrower at https://www.property118.com/west-bromwich-building-society-mortgage-company-increase-tracker-margins-legal-action/43657/comment-page-152/#comments
Regards
Would you please all copy this to your broker(s). They need to know. I think some reverse discrimination is in order.