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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Member Since August 2013 - Comments: 126
11:16 PM, 7th October 2013, About 13 years ago
Reply to the comment left by “Annette Stone” at “06/10/2013 – 18:16“:
Withdrawl of deposits may have unintended consequences. A number of Building Societies have already merged / been taken over in recent years. Once taken over the new “owner” would be within their rights to take what ever action was required to maintain solvency and comply with regulatory capital requirements.
Member Since September 2013 - Comments: 28
11:17 PM, 7th October 2013, About 13 years ago
Sent my pack and cheque to Justin yesterday.
Have received the expected knock back from WB and will now send the complaint to Financial Ombudsman. Are we to send the Ombudsman copy of our mortgage offer etc?
Member Since January 2011 - Comments: 12209 - Articles: 1410
11:25 PM, 7th October 2013, About 13 years ago
Reply to the comment left by “Jon Bourne” at “07/10/2013 – 23:17“:
Hi Jon – AND ALL
Your initial complaint letter to WBBS should have been cc’d to the Financial Ombudsman to put him on notice of a possible complaint. You should then receive an acknowledgement letter and a number.
REMEMBER – Justin will be preparing a complaint template for us to send to the Financial Ombudsman once he’s received the barristers opinion. I suggest we do nothing further with the Financial Ombudsman until we receive the complaint template containing the barristers legal arguments via Justin..
Member Since February 2011 - Comments: 3454 - Articles: 286
11:37 PM, 7th October 2013, About 13 years ago
Reply to the comment left by “Colin Childs” at “07/10/2013 – 23:16“:
An excellent word of Caution Colin.
Member Since October 2013 - Comments: 386
7:29 AM, 8th October 2013, About 13 years ago
Reply to the comment left by “Andy Bell” at “07/10/2013 – 22:56“:
Hi Andy. I remember those letters. I wast sure it was west brom though. But it just shows what morals they have. As soon as they saw the possible problem for themselves they tried to worm out if it.
It would certain suggest even they didn’t know about their tucked away terms and conditions.
One point I haven’t seen made yet is the fact that these letter have all come out within 6 months of the last of their fixed 5 year deals expiring. So many mortgages borrowers have not really benefitted on the low rates for much more than 6 months. So as for west brom needing to protect its business. ! It’s hardly had a bad time on many of its mortgages.
I think it would be useful if you sent a copy of that letter in to Justin though in case no one else kept it.
Dean
Member Since September 2013 - Comments: 43
9:00 AM, 8th October 2013, About 13 years ago
Reply to the comment left by “Justin Selig” at “07/10/2013 – 18:17“:
Justin, first of all I’d like to thank you for your fantastic work here – very well done.
Letter to WB: would it be a good idea to raise with them the issue of Credit Check and if they can prove that they are relying on the original search and have not initiated a new search, which I think would be illegal without the right consent…
Client account: Is this account specifically for WB case – if not can a new dedicated account be set up for this case?
On a different matter, I know many people already appreciate this, but to put WB action in the nutshell, they are costing me £4400 this year and £66,000 for the course of the mortgage. This is entirely irrelevant of the Bank of England Base Rate. Now I for one think this sum is worth fighting for.
Member Since September 2013 - Comments: 28
9:01 AM, 8th October 2013, About 13 years ago
Thanks Mark
I sent my complaint letter in to WB before your template and recommendation to copy in to Ombudsman came out. I’m happy to wait for Justin’s template based on counsel’s opinion to send to Ombudsman rather than my ramblings!!
Mark – have you had any response from the big landlord associations as I have received nothing back from RLA or NLA from my emails to them?
Jon
Member Since October 2013 - Comments: 139
9:06 AM, 8th October 2013, About 13 years ago
Reply to the comment left by “ ” at “08/10/2013 – 07:29“:
Great minds etc. I’ve sent a full set of all the rate change notifications including that one, just in case there is something to be gleaned from the wording. It certainly goes to prove they never thought of / mentioned any possibility of the current tactic before.
Member Since January 2011 - Comments: 12209 - Articles: 1410
9:14 AM, 8th October 2013, About 13 years ago
Reply to the comment left by “Jon Bourne” at “08/10/2013 – 09:01“:
Hi Jon
The landlords associations are always slow to respond and chose not to get involved with the fight against BoI either, so far nothing!
All it would take is for them to let their members know about the existence of the Class Actions but they are not doing it.
Very disappointing isn’t it? Makes me wonder sometimes why I pay them my fees every year.
.
Member Since January 2011 - Comments: 12209 - Articles: 1410
10:28 AM, 8th October 2013, About 13 years ago
Reply to the comment left by “Concerned Landlord” at “08/10/2013 – 09:00“:
I have a lot of experience in both marketing and lending and that’s why I am relatively certain that the credit check issue is a red herring.
Good marketeers know they can rent business and consumer data on pretty much any criteria based on your lifestyle. For example, if I wanted to get hold of a database of people who drive a Ford Focus and own a Labrador it would be possible. If I wanted to purchase a database of people with credit problems in the last three years that would also be possible. What I wouldn’t be able to get for example is their bank balances but I would be able to select by the Council Tax band they were in.
I’ve still not been able to talk to Equifax yet but I’m 99% certain I will be able to purchase a list of all people with three or more properties. I am less confident that I will be able to narrow the search down to those with a West Brom mortgage but West Brom already have that information. Therefore, I can see how West Brom could very easily have target us with even needing to do a credit check.
It is also highly likely that mortgage lenders have the right to perform credit checks on you at any time. Not all credit checks leave a footprint on your credit file either.
.