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Here is a letter I am thinking of sending to my bank... ANy help appreciated, thanks! 
I recently received a letter from Pinkie Tak, a Customer Care Manager within Bank Of Scotland.
My response to this letter is as follows:
Your letter dated 15 July 2010 states the following: "I would like to begin by saying how sorry I am that you have found cause for complaint about the service you have received in connection with your mortgage account. We pride ourselves on offering customer service of the highest standard and it is always disappointing when we fail to achieve this."
My response to this:
However, the main problem has now been sorted out. Within an hour of informing a local branch manager of my intentions of standing outside the Halifax giving out leaflets highlighting HBOS customer service standard - I had someone who immediately agreed that he would send me a letter stating that there would not be a problem in me selling the property in the future. (This goes against my solicitors letter from 2005) However, as it has taken around 5 years for Bank Of Scotland to answer my complaint, there is now the matter of the duration of the time it has taken you to answer the complaint. There now exists numerous other complaints that have arisen since 2005 in relation to my mortgage dispute.
Your letter dated 15 July 2010 states the following: "You have referred to a problem regarding your Title Deeds; having liaised with our Deeds Team I can confirm that we do not hold your Title Deeds as they are dematerialised. This means your Title Deeds are held with the Land Registry, therefore you would need to address any concerns you have relating to this with the Land Registry."
My response: I informed you that my solicitor had told me in phone and letter that there is a problem with the Bank Of Scotland mortgage and I would have problems selling the property in the future. Therefore, it is easy to deduce from this fact that my concerns should be addressed to the Bank Of Scotland and not the Land Registry. From my understanding, Bank Of Scotland do not have the Title Deeds, as was informed by my solicitor. From my understanding from Bank Of Scotland Mortgage Deeds Chase Department, if my problem existed, Bank Of Scotland have no rights to my house and I would not have to pay Bank Of Scotland. This is unacceptable since I want to be able to pay the mortgage and have the property as for its intention, an investment property.
Furthermore, in a recent court case of trespass, upon speaking with the Banks representative solicitor within the Court, it transpires that the title deeds of the property are correct. However, this same solicitor told both myself and my own solicitor that I was bankrupt. Upon myself asking for paperwork in relation to this, it was said it could not be provided. Within the court room, my solicitor said I did not realise that I was bankrupt. The Banks solicitor then said that an error had been made and I was not necessarily bankrupt. (OH JOY, yet more errors upon errors)
That highlights just some of the errors I have experienced and the Banks slapdash way in its treatment of customers who have a valid concern and dispute with a mortgage account. As it can clearly be seen that the Banks solicitor does not know what he or she is doing, then I required clarification from HBOS in relation to my mortgage. My request of a letter clarifying my dispute has now placed my mortgage account out of dispute, I no longer consider I have a dispute with HBOS concerning the title deeds and errors in the Bank Of Scotland mortgage.
Your letter dated 15 July 2010 states the following: "Having liaised with the Receivers Team, I can confirm the Trespassing Order was against any tenants residing in the property and not yourself. Upon review of their notes, I have been informed that they hold no record of would
<//retrieve text from letter> have been in breach of your mortgage terms. They have also confirmed that they are no longer acting on this case."
My response: If you liaise with your representative solicitor, or my own solicitor, or the Judge in court on that day, then you will be aware of the facts that in court, it was discussed that I would live in the property and contact the Bank Of Scotland again in reference to my many complaints against them, as well as the fact that I would offer full and immediate payment of arrears. The Judge asked if I understood this, to which I replied 'YES'.
However, personally, I wouldn't rely on information that you may receive from your own solicitor. The Banks own solicitors are in my opinion incompetent in their roles. An example of this solicitor saying to both myself and my solicitor that I am bankrupt, then appeared to change his decision when this was brought to the Courts attention. This is indicative of the performance of Banks solicitors in my experience, please refer to other complaint against a Banks solicitor.
You see, such errors can be conveniently ignored by yourselves, yet you fail to realise the impact your poor level of customer service has in the lives of your customers.
I requested last year that the receivers no longer act on the case, and pointed out to them that the mortgage was under dispute. I also explained the reasons why it was under dispute. They replied that they would carry on since they have powers under the Property Law Act 1925. I again said that the mortgage is under dispute, as is their jurisdiction over the property. I also said that I have just googled and could not see anywhere in the Property Law Act 1925 where it allows LPA Receivers the right to harass people. I then proceeded to give my definition of harassment and to state that their actions of writing letters, sending people to the property to constantly knock on the door, sending people to the property to ask neighbours and local shop staff questions as to who resides in the property, sending people to tape notices on the outside of the premises as well as take photos of the premises is in my opinion harassment. I then said it is my opinion that their actions are not covered in the Property Law Act 1925, and that it was my opinion that they are not abiding to a more modern act, ie the Protection From Harassment Act 1977.
Your letter dated 15 July 2010 states: "Your case has now been passed to our Secured Collections Unit who have informed me of an arrangement you have discussed with them. In reference to your telephone call on 13 July2010, I understand you have discussed a monthly payment arrangement of £310.16. Should this payment arrangement be consistent, the Collections Litigation Team will then be able to review your account and may possibly capitalise the remaining arrears balance at a later stage"
This offer was made upon condition that HBOS write me a letter stating that there is not a problem in the Bank Of Scotland mortgage and that I can sell the property in the future, or have tenants in the property.
It is interesting to learn that this offer was made to me within one hour of my notification to a branch manager of the fact that I would stand outside his branch to highlight my complaint, giving out leaflets to people!
It is unfortunate that no such offer was made in 2005, as this would have avoided a lot of unnecessary expense and financial loss!
It is unfortunate that you had been personally informed that my situation was time critical and my offer to pay the full arrears was not accepted by yourself, this again causing further financial loss.
Your letter dated 15 July 2010 states: "Furthermore, you queried why we had cancelled repossession on your property in January 2009. The Secured Collections Unit has advised me of an arrangement that had been made by yourself, in which you agreed to make a payment of £800.00 in order to stop the repossession. As this payment was made we did not take any legal action against your property.
My response: I can not remember this as there are so many times I have had to make disputed payments.
However, what I do remember is the last court case for repossession, I had had enough stress and depression and simply decided to let the Bank Of Scotland repossess the house. I did not make any offers of payment and did not contact anyone since I wanted the bank to repossess at this point, for the sake of my own sanity and stress / depression levels. However, the Bank did not repossess. I received a letter saying it had been cancelled, but did not receive a reason as to why. I had assumed that it was cancelled because of the information told to me many years earlier by that of the Deeds Chase Department in HBOS.
HBOS were informed about my dispute numerous occasions yet continued to act to ignore and only actions were to extort as much money as possible from me.
Your letter dated 15 July 2010 states: "Unfortunately, I am unable to negotiate any legal costs applied to your account. I appreciate the arrangement you have made with our Collections Team and thank you for this. However if an account falls into arrears, legal costs will be applied. You would have received literature detailing this when you agreed to your mortgage contract, in the form of a Mortgage Fees leaflet. A copy of this leaflet is enclosed for your reference”
My response: I offered you a fair and reasonable course of action. That was to simply cancel the numerous fees and costs you have added to my account in relation to arrears. The mortgage was under dispute since 2005. Therefore, as it has taken yourselves until present date to sort out this dispute, I do not see why I should be penalised. It Is my opinion that I have a serious complaint against the Bank Of Scotland. I am also of the opinion that my offer for you to simply cancel all the charges during the times my account was in dispute is a perfectly reasonable offer made by myself.
This offer was also discussed with Mr. Adams, I stated that to avoid myself suffering further stress that I am simply looking for the mortgage as it was intended, and to cancel all the fees resulting from the disputed payments / arrears. I said I did not want to claim for other financial losses as I just wanted closure to this mortgage hell.
Seeing that you have refused this offer, then my alternative is to seek legal advice from my Barrister and will possibly instruct legal action after he has concluded the legal action of professional negligence against the conveyancer who completed this mortgage.
I am of the opinion that the Bank Of Scotland have caused me an unnecessary level of stress and depression since 2005. I am also of the opinion that the Bank Of Scotland have caused me various financial losses since 2005. Such examples of financial losses are not being able to use the property for its intended purpose, a loss of rental income which would have repaid the capital on the mortgage, a loss of employment income since I quit my job due to stress and depression.
It may just be an account number to a bank. But when a customer has invested a considerable amount of money into a property to then be informed that there is a problem in the mortgage and I couldnt sell in the future, then to have both the solicitors and HBOS continually ignore me is more than enough to make anyone suffer with both stress and depression.
In light of the above circumstances, HBOS decided not to uphold my complaint?
What does it take for HBOS to deal with a customers concern in a satisfactory manner?
Basically, your letter leaves me with the following choices:
The above details my response to a letter you recently sent myself. The letter was from Pinkie Tak, a Customer Care Manager with Bank Of Scotland.
I must thank Pinkie Tak for her response to me. This is an unique experience from HBOS. However, the response seems to lack an understanding of the situation as well as some of my concerns completely ignored.
Therefore, I request that this be dealt with another person who is capable of dealing with customer concerns.
===================================
I am of the opinion that HBOS ignores customers concerns. This is clearly evident in this letter. Also evident is the many times I have tried to sort my main dispute out, along with other disputes that are a direct result of HBOS poor level of customer care, or are a direct result of other problems and concerns caused by the original dispute.
1. During a phone conversation with Pinkie Tak, I explained my latest complaint was time critical. This was because LPA receivers were to take control over my property in around 30 days time. I offered to pay the total amount of arrears on the mortgage in order to prevent this happening. This was upon condition that I receive a letter from Bank Of Scotland stating that I would be able to sell the property in the future. This letter would then contradict what my solicitor letter informs me. I waited around two weeks for a response to this offer as well as a letter. Again, this was time critical as the receivers would have complete control over the property in around 30 days. Having waited two weeks for a phone call from Pinkie Tak, I then decided that I would spend the arrears money on building works to the property in order for it to be habitable when the receivers have control over it. I decided upon this course of action since I have been continually ignored by HBOS since 2005, and should I choose to take legal action in the future, then I would need to be seen to be minimising all of my financial losses. It seems as this complaint and offer was totally ignored. Reasons as to my opinion are detailed in 3 and 4 below.
3. I contacted TLT solicitors who act on behalf of the LPA receivers as appointed by Bank Of Scotland. I inform them of the reasons why I had not paid the mortgage, I also inform them that as the mortgage is no longer under dispute, (see points XXXXX and XXXXX below as to reasons of dispute) then I am willing to pay the total arrears and made this offer to the Bank over 2 weeks ago. I inform them that this offer by myself has now expired, due to the fact that I need to get builders to make urgent repairs to the house. I also spoke with the LPA receivers in relation to this. The response I received was that I am not allowed to make any repairs to the property. I explained that the work was needed and if I were to stop the building work, then that would leave the property without a back door as well as other internal unfinished work. The only response I have was a question asking me with words to the effect of: "haven't the locks been changed already" I informed the builders that they must stop their work as I am not allowed to have control over the property. The builders say they can stop the work, but they would still need to be paid for an additional 2 days labour instead of 4. This represented a £1,600.00 loss, paying for 2 days work for 4 or 5 people to do no repairs on the property.
4. Upon contacting Bank Of Scotland to ask why I am not allowed to make repairs to the property and to ask why I am not allowed to live in the property, despite the fact that this had been discussed in court and also the fact that I am able to pay the full amount of arrears. My solicitor representing me at the court also confirmed in letter that it was agreed that I would live in the property and to contact the Bank in relation to the various complaints I have with the Bank itself. The Banks response to this was that if I were to pay the full amount of arrears off, then the receivers would be de-instructed. My response to this was that I had already offered to pay the full arrears 2 weeks ago, by way of recorded phone conversation by Pinkie Tak, a Customer Care Manager. I also stated that this offer is no longer available since I had instructed builders and the arrears money had now been spent on building work since at that point, I had a matter of days in which to get the house habitable.
5. The man I spoke with in relation to point 4 above told me that he would raise a complaint against the complaints department in relation to this recent problem. My numerous other problems were not discussed with this man as at this point I was left with a house that is in a worse condition than before the builders started work – due to the Banks failure in a standard of customer care.
6. On 12th July, I visited the local Halifax Branch with documents in relation to the complaint. I spoke with Terry Adams, the branch manager. I explained my reasons for the mortgage being under dispute since 2005, I also explained the reasons as to why I have a complaint with the Bank. In order to fully understand the situation, Mr. Adams took time to listen to me and ask questions. I explained to Mr. Adams that all of my letters to the bank go unanswered, my telephone calls are never returned and that customer concerns are just simply ignored. Mr. Adams spoke with various departments, upon one occasion, he spoke with someone that I had previously spoken with so both were aware of the nature of my complaint. Finally, after speaking with various different people, Mr. Adams then told me that I would receive a phone call from someone concerning my complaint later that day.
No phone call was returned that day as promised. Neither was a phone call returned the following morning on 13th July.
7. I returned to the Bank on 13th July and spoke with Mr. Adams again. He seemed amazed that I had not received a return phone call as he took the additional time to explain to whoever he was speaking to that I had in the past been ignored and no phone calls returned or letters answered etc... Mr. Adams again proceeded to help me in my situation and contact various different people within the Bank Of Scotland before excusing himself, saying that he would return to me as soon as he could, but he must be elsewhere as to accept a delivery. During this time, I was told by Bank Of Scotland that Pinkie Tak is dealing with my concerns and that she would be the best person to speak with, also that Pinkie Tak would call me later that day. The lady I spoke with said that PinkieX had just sent her a message saying she would contact me. I responded by saying that part of my complaint is concening Pinkie Tak, but was told that Pinkie would deal with me as she is the best person to handle complaints and concerns. Again, no phone call was returned. This is indicative of other experiences with HBOS since 2005. Customers concerns are completely ignored.
8. Upon speaking with Mr. Adams again, I told him that Pinkie Tak would be phoning me. I told Mr. Adams my reasons as to why I found this to be unacceptable since part of my complaint concerns Pinkie Tak and her inability to accept something as time critical, ie to accept my immediate payment of the full arrears since the mortgage was no longer under dispute.
9. Within an hour of informing Mr. Adams of my intentions of standing outside his branch highlighting to people the level of service I have received, I receive a phone call from someone in the Bank Of Scotland (I assume that this is the same person who sent me a letter the following day) I have been informed that the Bank Of Scotland is happy for me to sell the property or put tenants in the property and that no further legal action will be taken against me in the future, provided I maintain contractual monthly payments. I replied that these payments would be made since the mortgage is no longer under dispute and that I would require a letter confirming this. So, now I am of the opinion that should I have a problem with the Bank that goes unanswered, all I need to do is to inform a Bank Manager of my intentions of standing outside the branch giving leaflets as to the facts of the problems. This leaves the Bank with 2 choices - to deal with my complaint in a satisfactory manner, or to leave me continue to stand outside the Bank giving out leaflets as to how awful the bank is and continually shaming the Bank with the facts of the matter.
10 As the mortgage is no longer under dispute, then I can start to use the property as it was intended for, ie an investment property. From now on, as there is no dispute in the mortgage itself, I am delighted to state that my contractual monthly payments will be made every month, without fail. This is what the mortgage was intended for in 2005. If HBOS had an acceptable standard of customer care, then since 2005 there would have been a rental income and a significant amount repaid on the capital of the mortgage.
11. I attended County Court numerous times when HBOS decided to take legal action against me in order to explain the dispute. Sometimes, it was necessary for me to pay the arrears in full in order to stop repossession. Other times, I would make offers of payment. Each time the payments made were under dispute, since the Bank has not satisfactorily explained the reasons why there is a problem in the Bank Of Scotland mortgage and why I would have problems in selling in the future. On one occasion, a member of the Law Society was present in the Court. He said to the Courts Judge that he was there to observe the case since he represented the Law Society who have a particular interest in my case. Each time, attending court, I have had additional fees added on to my mortgage account. Again, further financial losses through no fault of my own. On one occasion, I was told by the Banks solicitor that I should not speak of my dispute and only concentrate on getting the court to accept my proposal of clearing arrears. This I found disappointing. However, other occasions, I did manage to notify the courts of the dispute.
12. The Bank Of Scotland appointed LPA Receivers. Again, this phone call was recorded for my own records. I explained to the Receivers the reasons why the mortgage is under dispute and also explained that I am further disputing their control of the property since the mortgage itself is under dispute. In another conversation, I again explained to the receivers that I consider their actions to be illegal. Their actions of sending people to call at the door repeatedly knocking, asking members of public about the house and who lives in it, asking shop staff in a nearby shop the same questions, taping notices for posession and trespass to the outside of the house and then taking photos of the house in my opinion is nothing other than harassment. I explained to them that as the mortgage is under dispute, and as I consider what they are doing is harassment, then they should immediately stop their actions and inform the Bank Of Scotland as to my dispute. I was simply told that the Receivers would carry on in their actions and they can do this under the Property Law Act 1925. I then googled quickly info, and replied that their actions in my opinion are against the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 and nowhere in the Property Law Act 1925 gives them permission to harass.
The above details my problems and concerns in one mortgage account.
The below details my problems and concerns in a different HBOS mortgage account.
Upon purchasing a different property, I contacted HBOS and my conveyancers to say that the property had become further damaged by the previous owners. From neighbours of that property, I am of the understanding that the previous owners to this property had mental health problems. I can only assume this is why water was left running causing extensive damage, as well as items of furniture thrown out of the window damaging the below roof, as well as further fire damage. Contacting the Bank and the conveyancers proved no help in sorting out this situation. I did request that the mortgage be cancelled and that I wouldn't buy the property due to its newly deteriorated state, infact I would reject the sale. Unfortunately, no satisfactory response my HBOS or solicitors. Estate Agents also unable to help. OK, so this may not be the fault of HBOS, but the future events are.
HBOS recent action against me is a court case of trespass. Again, indicative of the Banks knowledge since the Banks solicitor told myself and my own solicitor that I was bankrupt.
However, the Banks solicitor then proceeded to change this opinion when it was discussed in court.
My own solicitor discussed various things in court, for example, the mortgage being under dispute since 2005 and so on. Also discussed was I would make full payment of the arrears on the provision that the Bank send me a letter confirming that there is no longer an error in the mortgage and that I can sell my property in the future. (This would go against the conveyancers letter who informs me of the opposite)
I made an offer to the Bank, to cancel all my fees that were incurred during the time of the disputed mortgage. Under the circumstances I thought that this was a reasonable offer.
Please note, as you have not accepted my offer, then it is no longer available.
I intend to make a claim in respect of all of my financial losses that I attribute to your level of customer service and your inability to answer concerns of the customer. Such a basic concern as whether I can sell my property or not because of a mortgage error as notified by my conveyancer should have been answered in 2005. Other concerns such as your inability to transfer funds between two mortgage accounts to avoid repossession orders should have been quickly rectified by yourselves. Again, all ignored, despite the fact that I made an appeal against this in court.
In addition to this, I intend to make a claim in respect of the amount of stress and depression I have had to endure since 2005 / 2006 in relation to the problems. Your level of customer service that you pride yourself on has certainly failed me.
What does it take for you to uphold my complaint? What do you want? Witnesses in the way of Bank managers at court? Copies of letters? Recorded telephone calls?
Want to cause me even further stress and depression and call in my mortgage loan and close my account? Why not! You did the same with my bank account, closed it for no reason because of a complaint I had made in your failure to adhere to my requests.
Numerous complaints. Ignore. Ignore. Ignore. That is all HBOS seems capable of doing.
I would love to be proved wrong...
I recently received a letter from Pinkie Tak, a Customer Care Manager within Bank Of Scotland.
My response to this letter is as follows:
Your letter dated 15 July 2010 states the following: "I would like to begin by saying how sorry I am that you have found cause for complaint about the service you have received in connection with your mortgage account. We pride ourselves on offering customer service of the highest standard and it is always disappointing when we fail to achieve this."
My response to this:
- You have in my opinion failed to address any of my concerns or problems in this matter.
- You have simply ignored them which is indicative of my previous experiences with HBOS since 2005.
- You also did not accept my offer to pay the full arrears on the account, this caused further stress and financial loss since I had to spend money on builders. You knew the complaint was time critical since the property would soon be under complete control of LPA receivers.
However, the main problem has now been sorted out. Within an hour of informing a local branch manager of my intentions of standing outside the Halifax giving out leaflets highlighting HBOS customer service standard - I had someone who immediately agreed that he would send me a letter stating that there would not be a problem in me selling the property in the future. (This goes against my solicitors letter from 2005) However, as it has taken around 5 years for Bank Of Scotland to answer my complaint, there is now the matter of the duration of the time it has taken you to answer the complaint. There now exists numerous other complaints that have arisen since 2005 in relation to my mortgage dispute.
Your letter dated 15 July 2010 states the following: "You have referred to a problem regarding your Title Deeds; having liaised with our Deeds Team I can confirm that we do not hold your Title Deeds as they are dematerialised. This means your Title Deeds are held with the Land Registry, therefore you would need to address any concerns you have relating to this with the Land Registry."
My response: I informed you that my solicitor had told me in phone and letter that there is a problem with the Bank Of Scotland mortgage and I would have problems selling the property in the future. Therefore, it is easy to deduce from this fact that my concerns should be addressed to the Bank Of Scotland and not the Land Registry. From my understanding, Bank Of Scotland do not have the Title Deeds, as was informed by my solicitor. From my understanding from Bank Of Scotland Mortgage Deeds Chase Department, if my problem existed, Bank Of Scotland have no rights to my house and I would not have to pay Bank Of Scotland. This is unacceptable since I want to be able to pay the mortgage and have the property as for its intention, an investment property.
Furthermore, in a recent court case of trespass, upon speaking with the Banks representative solicitor within the Court, it transpires that the title deeds of the property are correct. However, this same solicitor told both myself and my own solicitor that I was bankrupt. Upon myself asking for paperwork in relation to this, it was said it could not be provided. Within the court room, my solicitor said I did not realise that I was bankrupt. The Banks solicitor then said that an error had been made and I was not necessarily bankrupt. (OH JOY, yet more errors upon errors)
That highlights just some of the errors I have experienced and the Banks slapdash way in its treatment of customers who have a valid concern and dispute with a mortgage account. As it can clearly be seen that the Banks solicitor does not know what he or she is doing, then I required clarification from HBOS in relation to my mortgage. My request of a letter clarifying my dispute has now placed my mortgage account out of dispute, I no longer consider I have a dispute with HBOS concerning the title deeds and errors in the Bank Of Scotland mortgage.
Your letter dated 15 July 2010 states the following: "Having liaised with the Receivers Team, I can confirm the Trespassing Order was against any tenants residing in the property and not yourself. Upon review of their notes, I have been informed that they hold no record of would
<//retrieve text from letter> have been in breach of your mortgage terms. They have also confirmed that they are no longer acting on this case."
My response: If you liaise with your representative solicitor, or my own solicitor, or the Judge in court on that day, then you will be aware of the facts that in court, it was discussed that I would live in the property and contact the Bank Of Scotland again in reference to my many complaints against them, as well as the fact that I would offer full and immediate payment of arrears. The Judge asked if I understood this, to which I replied 'YES'.
However, personally, I wouldn't rely on information that you may receive from your own solicitor. The Banks own solicitors are in my opinion incompetent in their roles. An example of this solicitor saying to both myself and my solicitor that I am bankrupt, then appeared to change his decision when this was brought to the Courts attention. This is indicative of the performance of Banks solicitors in my experience, please refer to other complaint against a Banks solicitor.
You see, such errors can be conveniently ignored by yourselves, yet you fail to realise the impact your poor level of customer service has in the lives of your customers.
I requested last year that the receivers no longer act on the case, and pointed out to them that the mortgage was under dispute. I also explained the reasons why it was under dispute. They replied that they would carry on since they have powers under the Property Law Act 1925. I again said that the mortgage is under dispute, as is their jurisdiction over the property. I also said that I have just googled and could not see anywhere in the Property Law Act 1925 where it allows LPA Receivers the right to harass people. I then proceeded to give my definition of harassment and to state that their actions of writing letters, sending people to the property to constantly knock on the door, sending people to the property to ask neighbours and local shop staff questions as to who resides in the property, sending people to tape notices on the outside of the premises as well as take photos of the premises is in my opinion harassment. I then said it is my opinion that their actions are not covered in the Property Law Act 1925, and that it was my opinion that they are not abiding to a more modern act, ie the Protection From Harassment Act 1977.
Your letter dated 15 July 2010 states: "Your case has now been passed to our Secured Collections Unit who have informed me of an arrangement you have discussed with them. In reference to your telephone call on 13 July2010, I understand you have discussed a monthly payment arrangement of £310.16. Should this payment arrangement be consistent, the Collections Litigation Team will then be able to review your account and may possibly capitalise the remaining arrears balance at a later stage"
This offer was made upon condition that HBOS write me a letter stating that there is not a problem in the Bank Of Scotland mortgage and that I can sell the property in the future, or have tenants in the property.
It is interesting to learn that this offer was made to me within one hour of my notification to a branch manager of the fact that I would stand outside his branch to highlight my complaint, giving out leaflets to people!
It is unfortunate that no such offer was made in 2005, as this would have avoided a lot of unnecessary expense and financial loss!
It is unfortunate that you had been personally informed that my situation was time critical and my offer to pay the full arrears was not accepted by yourself, this again causing further financial loss.
Your letter dated 15 July 2010 states: "Furthermore, you queried why we had cancelled repossession on your property in January 2009. The Secured Collections Unit has advised me of an arrangement that had been made by yourself, in which you agreed to make a payment of £800.00 in order to stop the repossession. As this payment was made we did not take any legal action against your property.
My response: I can not remember this as there are so many times I have had to make disputed payments.
However, what I do remember is the last court case for repossession, I had had enough stress and depression and simply decided to let the Bank Of Scotland repossess the house. I did not make any offers of payment and did not contact anyone since I wanted the bank to repossess at this point, for the sake of my own sanity and stress / depression levels. However, the Bank did not repossess. I received a letter saying it had been cancelled, but did not receive a reason as to why. I had assumed that it was cancelled because of the information told to me many years earlier by that of the Deeds Chase Department in HBOS.
HBOS were informed about my dispute numerous occasions yet continued to act to ignore and only actions were to extort as much money as possible from me.
Your letter dated 15 July 2010 states: "Unfortunately, I am unable to negotiate any legal costs applied to your account. I appreciate the arrangement you have made with our Collections Team and thank you for this. However if an account falls into arrears, legal costs will be applied. You would have received literature detailing this when you agreed to your mortgage contract, in the form of a Mortgage Fees leaflet. A copy of this leaflet is enclosed for your reference”
My response: I offered you a fair and reasonable course of action. That was to simply cancel the numerous fees and costs you have added to my account in relation to arrears. The mortgage was under dispute since 2005. Therefore, as it has taken yourselves until present date to sort out this dispute, I do not see why I should be penalised. It Is my opinion that I have a serious complaint against the Bank Of Scotland. I am also of the opinion that my offer for you to simply cancel all the charges during the times my account was in dispute is a perfectly reasonable offer made by myself.
This offer was also discussed with Mr. Adams, I stated that to avoid myself suffering further stress that I am simply looking for the mortgage as it was intended, and to cancel all the fees resulting from the disputed payments / arrears. I said I did not want to claim for other financial losses as I just wanted closure to this mortgage hell.
Seeing that you have refused this offer, then my alternative is to seek legal advice from my Barrister and will possibly instruct legal action after he has concluded the legal action of professional negligence against the conveyancer who completed this mortgage.
I am of the opinion that the Bank Of Scotland have caused me an unnecessary level of stress and depression since 2005. I am also of the opinion that the Bank Of Scotland have caused me various financial losses since 2005. Such examples of financial losses are not being able to use the property for its intended purpose, a loss of rental income which would have repaid the capital on the mortgage, a loss of employment income since I quit my job due to stress and depression.
It may just be an account number to a bank. But when a customer has invested a considerable amount of money into a property to then be informed that there is a problem in the mortgage and I couldnt sell in the future, then to have both the solicitors and HBOS continually ignore me is more than enough to make anyone suffer with both stress and depression.
In light of the above circumstances, HBOS decided not to uphold my complaint?
What does it take for HBOS to deal with a customers concern in a satisfactory manner?
Basically, your letter leaves me with the following choices:
- To simply accept the fact that the Bank Of Scotland can bully and ignore its customers.
- To publicise details as to how HBOS treats customers by standing outside various branches. But not only one branch. I have friends and family across the country who have agreed to help me in this. They are amazed, since I am a natural quiet person, yet, I will have no hesitation in standing outside any of your local branches with leaflets and a megaphone. There is no law against this and I even have a retired ex police inspector helping me in the arrangements.
- To take legal action. I am in the process of taking legal action against a solicitor for professional negligence in this mortgage. Once this is complete, as I have no satisfactory response from yourselves, seeing as you declined my offer of cancelling my charges, then, I will possibly instruct my Barrister to take legal action against yourselves.
The above details my response to a letter you recently sent myself. The letter was from Pinkie Tak, a Customer Care Manager with Bank Of Scotland.
I must thank Pinkie Tak for her response to me. This is an unique experience from HBOS. However, the response seems to lack an understanding of the situation as well as some of my concerns completely ignored.
Therefore, I request that this be dealt with another person who is capable of dealing with customer concerns.
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I am of the opinion that HBOS ignores customers concerns. This is clearly evident in this letter. Also evident is the many times I have tried to sort my main dispute out, along with other disputes that are a direct result of HBOS poor level of customer care, or are a direct result of other problems and concerns caused by the original dispute.
1. During a phone conversation with Pinkie Tak, I explained my latest complaint was time critical. This was because LPA receivers were to take control over my property in around 30 days time. I offered to pay the total amount of arrears on the mortgage in order to prevent this happening. This was upon condition that I receive a letter from Bank Of Scotland stating that I would be able to sell the property in the future. This letter would then contradict what my solicitor letter informs me. I waited around two weeks for a response to this offer as well as a letter. Again, this was time critical as the receivers would have complete control over the property in around 30 days. Having waited two weeks for a phone call from Pinkie Tak, I then decided that I would spend the arrears money on building works to the property in order for it to be habitable when the receivers have control over it. I decided upon this course of action since I have been continually ignored by HBOS since 2005, and should I choose to take legal action in the future, then I would need to be seen to be minimising all of my financial losses. It seems as this complaint and offer was totally ignored. Reasons as to my opinion are detailed in 3 and 4 below.
3. I contacted TLT solicitors who act on behalf of the LPA receivers as appointed by Bank Of Scotland. I inform them of the reasons why I had not paid the mortgage, I also inform them that as the mortgage is no longer under dispute, (see points XXXXX and XXXXX below as to reasons of dispute) then I am willing to pay the total arrears and made this offer to the Bank over 2 weeks ago. I inform them that this offer by myself has now expired, due to the fact that I need to get builders to make urgent repairs to the house. I also spoke with the LPA receivers in relation to this. The response I received was that I am not allowed to make any repairs to the property. I explained that the work was needed and if I were to stop the building work, then that would leave the property without a back door as well as other internal unfinished work. The only response I have was a question asking me with words to the effect of: "haven't the locks been changed already" I informed the builders that they must stop their work as I am not allowed to have control over the property. The builders say they can stop the work, but they would still need to be paid for an additional 2 days labour instead of 4. This represented a £1,600.00 loss, paying for 2 days work for 4 or 5 people to do no repairs on the property.
4. Upon contacting Bank Of Scotland to ask why I am not allowed to make repairs to the property and to ask why I am not allowed to live in the property, despite the fact that this had been discussed in court and also the fact that I am able to pay the full amount of arrears. My solicitor representing me at the court also confirmed in letter that it was agreed that I would live in the property and to contact the Bank in relation to the various complaints I have with the Bank itself. The Banks response to this was that if I were to pay the full amount of arrears off, then the receivers would be de-instructed. My response to this was that I had already offered to pay the full arrears 2 weeks ago, by way of recorded phone conversation by Pinkie Tak, a Customer Care Manager. I also stated that this offer is no longer available since I had instructed builders and the arrears money had now been spent on building work since at that point, I had a matter of days in which to get the house habitable.
5. The man I spoke with in relation to point 4 above told me that he would raise a complaint against the complaints department in relation to this recent problem. My numerous other problems were not discussed with this man as at this point I was left with a house that is in a worse condition than before the builders started work – due to the Banks failure in a standard of customer care.
6. On 12th July, I visited the local Halifax Branch with documents in relation to the complaint. I spoke with Terry Adams, the branch manager. I explained my reasons for the mortgage being under dispute since 2005, I also explained the reasons as to why I have a complaint with the Bank. In order to fully understand the situation, Mr. Adams took time to listen to me and ask questions. I explained to Mr. Adams that all of my letters to the bank go unanswered, my telephone calls are never returned and that customer concerns are just simply ignored. Mr. Adams spoke with various departments, upon one occasion, he spoke with someone that I had previously spoken with so both were aware of the nature of my complaint. Finally, after speaking with various different people, Mr. Adams then told me that I would receive a phone call from someone concerning my complaint later that day.
No phone call was returned that day as promised. Neither was a phone call returned the following morning on 13th July.
7. I returned to the Bank on 13th July and spoke with Mr. Adams again. He seemed amazed that I had not received a return phone call as he took the additional time to explain to whoever he was speaking to that I had in the past been ignored and no phone calls returned or letters answered etc... Mr. Adams again proceeded to help me in my situation and contact various different people within the Bank Of Scotland before excusing himself, saying that he would return to me as soon as he could, but he must be elsewhere as to accept a delivery. During this time, I was told by Bank Of Scotland that Pinkie Tak is dealing with my concerns and that she would be the best person to speak with, also that Pinkie Tak would call me later that day. The lady I spoke with said that PinkieX had just sent her a message saying she would contact me. I responded by saying that part of my complaint is concening Pinkie Tak, but was told that Pinkie would deal with me as she is the best person to handle complaints and concerns. Again, no phone call was returned. This is indicative of other experiences with HBOS since 2005. Customers concerns are completely ignored.
8. Upon speaking with Mr. Adams again, I told him that Pinkie Tak would be phoning me. I told Mr. Adams my reasons as to why I found this to be unacceptable since part of my complaint concerns Pinkie Tak and her inability to accept something as time critical, ie to accept my immediate payment of the full arrears since the mortgage was no longer under dispute.
9. Within an hour of informing Mr. Adams of my intentions of standing outside his branch highlighting to people the level of service I have received, I receive a phone call from someone in the Bank Of Scotland (I assume that this is the same person who sent me a letter the following day) I have been informed that the Bank Of Scotland is happy for me to sell the property or put tenants in the property and that no further legal action will be taken against me in the future, provided I maintain contractual monthly payments. I replied that these payments would be made since the mortgage is no longer under dispute and that I would require a letter confirming this. So, now I am of the opinion that should I have a problem with the Bank that goes unanswered, all I need to do is to inform a Bank Manager of my intentions of standing outside the branch giving leaflets as to the facts of the problems. This leaves the Bank with 2 choices - to deal with my complaint in a satisfactory manner, or to leave me continue to stand outside the Bank giving out leaflets as to how awful the bank is and continually shaming the Bank with the facts of the matter.
10 As the mortgage is no longer under dispute, then I can start to use the property as it was intended for, ie an investment property. From now on, as there is no dispute in the mortgage itself, I am delighted to state that my contractual monthly payments will be made every month, without fail. This is what the mortgage was intended for in 2005. If HBOS had an acceptable standard of customer care, then since 2005 there would have been a rental income and a significant amount repaid on the capital of the mortgage.
11. I attended County Court numerous times when HBOS decided to take legal action against me in order to explain the dispute. Sometimes, it was necessary for me to pay the arrears in full in order to stop repossession. Other times, I would make offers of payment. Each time the payments made were under dispute, since the Bank has not satisfactorily explained the reasons why there is a problem in the Bank Of Scotland mortgage and why I would have problems in selling in the future. On one occasion, a member of the Law Society was present in the Court. He said to the Courts Judge that he was there to observe the case since he represented the Law Society who have a particular interest in my case. Each time, attending court, I have had additional fees added on to my mortgage account. Again, further financial losses through no fault of my own. On one occasion, I was told by the Banks solicitor that I should not speak of my dispute and only concentrate on getting the court to accept my proposal of clearing arrears. This I found disappointing. However, other occasions, I did manage to notify the courts of the dispute.
12. The Bank Of Scotland appointed LPA Receivers. Again, this phone call was recorded for my own records. I explained to the Receivers the reasons why the mortgage is under dispute and also explained that I am further disputing their control of the property since the mortgage itself is under dispute. In another conversation, I again explained to the receivers that I consider their actions to be illegal. Their actions of sending people to call at the door repeatedly knocking, asking members of public about the house and who lives in it, asking shop staff in a nearby shop the same questions, taping notices for posession and trespass to the outside of the house and then taking photos of the house in my opinion is nothing other than harassment. I explained to them that as the mortgage is under dispute, and as I consider what they are doing is harassment, then they should immediately stop their actions and inform the Bank Of Scotland as to my dispute. I was simply told that the Receivers would carry on in their actions and they can do this under the Property Law Act 1925. I then googled quickly info, and replied that their actions in my opinion are against the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 and nowhere in the Property Law Act 1925 gives them permission to harass.
- Upon my solicitors advice, I was told that I needed around £23,000.00 to repay part of the mortgage. I tried to apply for loans, also tried with Bank Of Scotland. My call with the Bank was transferred to someone dealing with complaints, since I complained that it is not my fault I need to apply for a loan to repay part of a mortgage. Again, no response from the bank in relation to this complaint and concern, as are with numerous other calls made to HBOS..
14. Once, I was sent a leaflet saying change of interest rate, this was either from Bank Of Scotland or my mortgage broker , I think it was from the Bank saying that I could change my mortgage. I contacted Bank Of Scotland and requested they change me to the interest rate as was advertised and also questionned if my mortgage still had errors and when it will be sorted out. I was simply told that I could not have the benefit of the better intrest rate since the account was in arrears. I explained that I am willing to pay off all the arrears if the Bank could confirm there was no problem in the mortgage, that I could have tenants in the property and also dispose of the property in the future. I am of the opinion that I have been further financially penalised through no fault of my own, since an interest rate change could not be applied to my account.
15. Another occasion, I managed to speak with someone within Bank Of Scotland who understood my problem with the mortgage. This was great! I thought that somehow, I had managed to speak with someone who understood my problem. This lady transferred my call to the 'deeds chase department' within Bank Of Scotland. Without even checking my account, I was told that the problem I have could not possibly exist. I then explained that my solicitor said that it does exist, also my solicitor has said there is a problem in the Bank Of Scotland mortgage and that there is a problem in Title Deeds and I am not the legal owner, I would have problems disposing of the property in the future etc etc... I was told that my problem would not exist, there is not a problem in the deeds of the property. I was then told that if my problem existed then I would not have to pay Bank Of Scotland anything and the Bank would then claim money from the solicitors. I said that this is unacceptable since I want to be able to pay the mortgage and have the property for its intention, ie an investment. I had already spent a considerable amount of my money in investing in the property and I want it to be used for its intentions, ie an investent and buy to let property. I was informed that I could make a complaint concerning this. This complaint was ignored as are all other complaints.
- How is it possible for the Bank Of Scotland to send me a letter apologising for the level of customer service I have received, whilst a letter 3 days later from a Customer Services Manager (XXXXXX XXX) fails to recognise any of my concerns and complaints. Based upon the information by XXXXXX XXX, she is unable to uphold my complaint?
Based upon this information, then, I see it as normal practice for Bank Of Scotland to issue mortgages in error, then, ignore customers concerns and simply respond with harassment and adding numerous legal fees to the mortgage account!
How is it possible for Bank Of Scotland to ignore my concerns and complaints since 2005?
If this problem was rectified in 2005, then I would have been able to keep my friends as tenants in the property. Unfortunately, because they had already waited 6 months for this buy to let re-mortgage to complete, then, being told that there was a problem in the mortgage and I am not the legal owner caused them to leave the property.
I have contacted the bank on numerous occasions by telephone, each time explaining my particular problem and concerns. There were numerous times. This letter of complaint is already long enough as it is, however, if legally I am required by a Legal Court to produce a call log, as well as recordings of conversations for my own records, then I will oblige.
I am also able to produce copies of letters that were sent to HBOS detailing my concerns. Again, all of these ignored. In addition to this, should this matter proceed to Court and require witnesses as to my endeavours to close this dispute, then I would list 4 HBOS managers who previously received copies of my letter of concern, each of them stating that it would be acted upon and passed to the relevant person who would deal with me. No response received from HBOS.
It can clearly be seen that I have tried my best in order to sort out this problem. I had thought on one occasion the matter would be ended, since a member of the Law Society told the Judge that he represented the Law Society and was present to observe the court case.
However, HBOS actions are to ignore the customer and make false promises of phone calls and harassment.
The above details my problems and concerns in one mortgage account.
The below details my problems and concerns in a different HBOS mortgage account.
Upon purchasing a different property, I contacted HBOS and my conveyancers to say that the property had become further damaged by the previous owners. From neighbours of that property, I am of the understanding that the previous owners to this property had mental health problems. I can only assume this is why water was left running causing extensive damage, as well as items of furniture thrown out of the window damaging the below roof, as well as further fire damage. Contacting the Bank and the conveyancers proved no help in sorting out this situation. I did request that the mortgage be cancelled and that I wouldn't buy the property due to its newly deteriorated state, infact I would reject the sale. Unfortunately, no satisfactory response my HBOS or solicitors. Estate Agents also unable to help. OK, so this may not be the fault of HBOS, but the future events are.
- I called into Halifax, Woodchurch in order to cancel all my direct debits apart from my 2 mortgage payments. Also, I requested my change of address. Nothing was updated, despite the fact that I was told that my address was already updated and that my direct debits would be cancelled later that day as it would take a lot of time to cancel all my requests, since each would have to be done manually. These actions were never carried out. This caused problems with mortgage payments. See account statement for further details.
- Arrears developed on both mortgage accounts since there was a problem with the direct debits. I contacted HBOS and was told that it was my responsibility to ensure payments were being made, this is despite the fact that I had setup my account in a way that payments would be made and I would be notified in the event of any problem. Therefore, I was of the opinion that HBOS made an error, although I realise that had also made an error in this instance as I wrongly assumed that the Bank would execute my requests as promised.
- Arrangements were made to clear the arrears, it had been agreed that I pay a lump sum, with the promise to clear the remaining amount of arrears within a number of weeks / months. (HBOS should check its own records for the exact time, however, I believe that my offer was to clear the total arrears within a time period of 3 months on both accounts, also to make a lump sum payment with immediate effect.
- Arrangements were also made for the lump sum of money to be transferred by myself into one mortgage account (this was done through cash or transfer, check your own records). Further arrangements were also made, these were that a letter be sent to the tenant in order to show the tenant that their home was secure, I was to be sent a letter confirming cancellation of both repossessions, the lump sum money would be transferred between the two mortgage accounts in order to prevent action on both accounts.
- HBOS refused to honour this agreement. I was told that a mortgage account could not have funds transferred between the two! I responded, saying that this arrangement had been made, xxxx pounds to stop repossession proceedings on 2 houses. I further responded saying that as far as I am aware, my lump sum payment essentially places one account in credit, I was told that this would be transferred in order to stop proceedings.
- HBOS refused to honour their agreement with me, ie to stop repossession proceedings.
- Because of a lack of customer care by HBOS and their lack of skill in executing their agreements, I made an appeal against this in court. The Banks representative solicitor was about 3 hours late (check with court for exact time). Again, this was time critical since bailiffs were due to the house in order to repossess. I was told that I would be given extra time if the order went ahead for repossession, that is, the bailiffs would give me extra time. This was not the case, since after the court hearing, I returned to the property to find the bailiffs already at the property. Various tools etc were left behind, no advice was given as to how I could collect these tools.
- At the court hearing, the Banks solicitor was approx 3 or 4 hours late. I mentioned to the courts clerk that I needed to go outside to put a new parking ticket on my car. I had been out of the court building less than 10 minutes. Upon my return, I was informed that the court was waiting for me!!! I quickly spoke with the Banks solicitor explaining of my problems in paying the mortgage, ie – bank error, see above. I then spoke of the arrangement that had been made with the Bank, but they had failed to stick with the agreement and transfer a credit balance from a lump sum payment from one account, in order to cover a split lump sum payment between the 2 accounts. I also said that the arrears are not a direct cause of my inactions, rather that they are a cause of the banks inactions in the fact that they had failed to cancel my direct debits as requested and update my address.
I explained to the Banks solicitor that I had left my paperwork in the car. Such paperwork was documents to show that a lump sum payment had been made into one mortgage account, also, my own document as to a proposal of clearing the arrears within 3 months, also bank statements to show I have the ability of clearing the arrears with immediate effect should the Court not accept the fact that I had already made a lump sum payment to one account and that this payment was agreed to be split between two accounts. - At court, the Judge was aware of my dispute with one mortgage and was made aware that I have an ongoing complaint of professional negligence against the solicitor that completed the HBOS mortgage. The Judge asled the Banks solicitor on 3 occasions whether a 30 day order would be acceptable, or suspension (again check court records for exact information)
The Banks solicitor simply responded with words to the effect of: “has had a problem paying this mortgage for a long time, he does not live in the property, clients require repossession and it is easier for Mr. Powell not to have this unnecessary financial burden.
In my opinion, the Banks solicitor disregarded everything I had discussed with her. - Also, it is my opinion that HBOS denied me my right to a fair court hearing. This is based upon me having to wait 3 or 4 hours as the Banks solicitor was late. During that time, I returned to the car for a parking ticket and left my paperwork in the car. I feel that had I had this paperwork, I would have stopped the repossession order as the Judge would have been able to see my complaint in this matter and would have seen that I had already cleared the arrears by way of payment and an arrangement,
HBOS recent action against me is a court case of trespass. Again, indicative of the Banks knowledge since the Banks solicitor told myself and my own solicitor that I was bankrupt.
However, the Banks solicitor then proceeded to change this opinion when it was discussed in court.
My own solicitor discussed various things in court, for example, the mortgage being under dispute since 2005 and so on. Also discussed was I would make full payment of the arrears on the provision that the Bank send me a letter confirming that there is no longer an error in the mortgage and that I can sell my property in the future. (This would go against the conveyancers letter who informs me of the opposite)
I made an offer to the Bank, to cancel all my fees that were incurred during the time of the disputed mortgage. Under the circumstances I thought that this was a reasonable offer.
Please note, as you have not accepted my offer, then it is no longer available.
I intend to make a claim in respect of all of my financial losses that I attribute to your level of customer service and your inability to answer concerns of the customer. Such a basic concern as whether I can sell my property or not because of a mortgage error as notified by my conveyancer should have been answered in 2005. Other concerns such as your inability to transfer funds between two mortgage accounts to avoid repossession orders should have been quickly rectified by yourselves. Again, all ignored, despite the fact that I made an appeal against this in court.
In addition to this, I intend to make a claim in respect of the amount of stress and depression I have had to endure since 2005 / 2006 in relation to the problems. Your level of customer service that you pride yourself on has certainly failed me.
What does it take for you to uphold my complaint? What do you want? Witnesses in the way of Bank managers at court? Copies of letters? Recorded telephone calls?
Want to cause me even further stress and depression and call in my mortgage loan and close my account? Why not! You did the same with my bank account, closed it for no reason because of a complaint I had made in your failure to adhere to my requests.
Numerous complaints. Ignore. Ignore. Ignore. That is all HBOS seems capable of doing.
I would love to be proved wrong...
