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Couple in bank fight to stay put, for now
A COUPLE caught up in a scam set up by a "rogue" banker have been saved from eviction from their home - for six months - and look set to be £65,000 better off.
Paul and Nikki Turner, as reported in the News on Friday, faced eviction this week when they returned to Cambridge County Court for a further hearing relating to attempts by their bank, HBOS, to get them evicted from their home at Linton.
The couple, who have a music promotion business, Zenith, fought off eviction six months ago when Judge Pelly told the bank to sort things out, but the couple say HBOS ignored this and six months later made another attempt to get them out, again failing.
The Turners say they do not owe the bank anything because they claim HBOS misappropriated funds protected under a Small Firms Loan Guarantee issued by the Government. The Turners claim HBOS used these funds to clear their overdraft, which is against the rules of the scheme.
This led to a domino-effect of financial difficulties for the couple, who fell into the hands of a rogue banker who has subsequently been dismissed, but whose modus operandi was to insist on customers such as the Turners using the services of an expensive consultancy if they wanted more cash.
The consultancy has been shown to be run by fraudsters and to have cost the bank hundreds of millions of pounds.
Judge Pelly said the Turners could not now be expected to pay their mortgage because the bank had put them out of business, not least for wrongfully freezing the couple's account, which prevented them from trading.
The house repossession connection is because the Turners' mortgage is with Birmingham Midshires, part of Halifax, which is the "H" in HBOS.
Judge Pelly this week ordered HBOS to unfreeze the Turners' business account and refund the £65,000 in fees they had to pay to the consultancy.
Nikki Turner said: "It is an interesting precedent, if you cannot earn your living because of the actions of a bank, then you cannot reasonably be expected to pay your mortgage.
"Sadly, the lower court does not make precedent, but hopefully other judges faced with evicting people from their homes will use the same ethical logic."
HBOS says it has not breached any rules, but, like any other bank, never comments on specific individuals, companies or consultancies, although the spokesman did confirm that a colleague had left the bank some months ago and that a consultancy that behaved as alleged would not be used in future.
"We strongly believe we have acted throughout in a fair and responsible way," the spokesman said.
What happens next is in the hands of HBOS.
Print page
Couple in bank fight to stay put, for now
A COUPLE caught up in a scam set up by a "rogue" banker have been saved from eviction from their home - for six months - and look set to be £65,000 better off.
Paul and Nikki Turner, as reported in the News on Friday, faced eviction this week when they returned to Cambridge County Court for a further hearing relating to attempts by their bank, HBOS, to get them evicted from their home at Linton.
The couple, who have a music promotion business, Zenith, fought off eviction six months ago when Judge Pelly told the bank to sort things out, but the couple say HBOS ignored this and six months later made another attempt to get them out, again failing.
The Turners say they do not owe the bank anything because they claim HBOS misappropriated funds protected under a Small Firms Loan Guarantee issued by the Government. The Turners claim HBOS used these funds to clear their overdraft, which is against the rules of the scheme.
This led to a domino-effect of financial difficulties for the couple, who fell into the hands of a rogue banker who has subsequently been dismissed, but whose modus operandi was to insist on customers such as the Turners using the services of an expensive consultancy if they wanted more cash.
The consultancy has been shown to be run by fraudsters and to have cost the bank hundreds of millions of pounds.
Judge Pelly said the Turners could not now be expected to pay their mortgage because the bank had put them out of business, not least for wrongfully freezing the couple's account, which prevented them from trading.
The house repossession connection is because the Turners' mortgage is with Birmingham Midshires, part of Halifax, which is the "H" in HBOS.
Judge Pelly this week ordered HBOS to unfreeze the Turners' business account and refund the £65,000 in fees they had to pay to the consultancy.
Nikki Turner said: "It is an interesting precedent, if you cannot earn your living because of the actions of a bank, then you cannot reasonably be expected to pay your mortgage.
"Sadly, the lower court does not make precedent, but hopefully other judges faced with evicting people from their homes will use the same ethical logic."
HBOS says it has not breached any rules, but, like any other bank, never comments on specific individuals, companies or consultancies, although the spokesman did confirm that a colleague had left the bank some months ago and that a consultancy that behaved as alleged would not be used in future.
"We strongly believe we have acted throughout in a fair and responsible way," the spokesman said.
What happens next is in the hands of HBOS.
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