We were very sad to hear about the loss of Martin, a dedicated and unselfish man who helped so many people! God bless him, RIP Martin (((

Hi Shah1091 We have to await their response and tread very carefully, it's important that we get the information we've requested before we take the next step! I've a feeling we may have to force it out of them though. As I said we'll keep you posted, this is not just unique to MA5, other lenders have done this too! But if we tackle this lot it may assist in dealing with the other unscrupulous lenders!!

Hi Shah1091 We have again written to MA5 requesting justification and proof as to why they have seen fit to increase their interest rates! I fear they will again refer us to the FSA who we know will not get involved and once more purposefully MA5 will ignore our request, fobbing us off with their usual rubbish! However we have warned them that we will take it further this time!! We do believe that the more voices we have together the better our chances! So once we have received their response I will post again and proceed as necessar!! It's useful that the banks are being reported for their misdemeanors currently!! Shows them up for the thieving so & so's they are!! Regards

Hiya, I completely understand and share your sentiments and you're absolutely correct about focusing on their contracts! However I still think the first port of call is to force them to provide their evidence and justification as to WHY they hiked up the interest rate in the first place! We may need to enforce this via the courts as I don't believe the Ombudsmen are of any use in this matter! I intend to investigate this procedure further! I still feel that the more people behind us will strengthen our case!

The banks are not interested in helping the public! They are just greedy and care only about increasing their profit margins! That is ALL banks as far as I can see! Try not to get too stressed!

We need to look more closely at their contract! We have asked for them to prove the reason for their extra hike but so far we've had no response! But we are definitely not going to let this drop! I agree that a petition should be set up and we need to Look into the best approach!! By the way, they are not the only Lender to do this! I'm furious!

Hi Smegfish, Iv'e been writing letters of complaint for at least 18 months now! the FOS have ignored me! MA5 have ignored me! I'm at the end of my tether! I for one would be happy to join forces with like minded people who have had enough of being ripped off! I started the thread 'Mortgage interest rises due to market forces' Iv'e been complaining ever since!! Today I received a threatening letter quoting 'The Law of Property Act' and in the same post, different letter, they are apparantly now dealing with my complaint at level 2! whatever that means?? I want them to take me on! i'm fed up with being bullied by these companies and their unfair contracts! i'm there with you!

Hi Herron 1234 Haven't heard anymore from you since your last post in October 2009. Did you get a response from your MP? I'm not paying the extra interest monies they saw fit to add and they couldn't give me a definitive answer as to why the increase had taken place at all!! My reason for not paying the extra was that the account was in dispute. I'm seriously thinking of taking them to court under UTCCR rules. I gather I'm not the only person this is happening to. A friend told me his mortgage interest has been raised this week by 2%!!! It took the Bank Of England over one year to decrease the interest rates, yet these monkeys put it up overnight, without adhering to the terms of the contract or even bothering to use a valid reason, except to say there was an increase in the cost of funding! even though Libor is at its lowest rate for a very long time. Iwould really be interested to know what happened in your case. If anyone else has any suggestions PLEASE don't hold back because what the lenders are doing is legalised (maybe!) blackmail! ie pay up or face repossession you mugs!!!

Hi Paul Received another letter from our mutual friends today, well not an informative letter but more of a threatening one! Because I have not paid them the full amount together, instead I have chosen to make individual payments of the extra hikes in the rates, along with a fax on every payment, informing them that I disagree with the rises and that the extra payments are on 'account only' until our dispute is resolved satisfactorily! This is just in case they come back and claim that I made the payments therefore I agreed to the rise in interest rates!!! I've become very suspicious and cynical! What they are doing is unfair but I'm not convinced that the FOS will do much to help however I'm willing to try all avenues as I'm so sick of these institutions taking us for idiots! Keep well BC

Hi Paul Thanks for reading the thread, yes,I wonder how many of us there are out there in this position? I think we need to be more specific when asking MAS no 5 any questions, otherwise they will just flannel. Their response to me was the usual rubbish,they said that they regularly review their interest rates to "Make sure we are giving the best deals we can to our customers while remaining financially strong in difficult times.This strength is needed to make sure we can continue to offer you the best rates we can in the future." They then go on to say that, even though their rates have gone up it is still competitive in comparison to the rest of the industry! That however is not the point. I cannot find anything in the T&C's that states the interest rates are determined by other lenders rates! They then refer me to sec 3 of the T&C's stating that the svr is not directly linked to the BOE rates!!! I have read (several times over !)the reasons as to why and when the svr can be reviewed, however I can't find the one that says DUE TO MARKET FORCES!!!! Perhaps we should ask them to highlight specifically which point they refer to when increasing the rates? They then gave me 40 working days to respond before they close my complaint. I duly responded by fax & post but they claim not to have received either! I'm about to write again but I think it will be a waste of time!! Regards BC

Hi Paulagraham, I started a thread on exactly the same situation under Interest rate rise 'DUE TO MARKET FORCES' I am furious Can please read my thread so that we can compare notes, if wer'e in the same boat, perhaps we can share ideas on how to deal with these greedy b******s Regards

Hi 42 Man thanks for your response:) This is the only reference to interest rate rises I can find in their T&C's Which were given to me by GMAC the original mortgagees! they then sold onto MAS 5. However the T&C's were to remain as per the original agreement! MAS 5 have chosen to just do as they wish without consideration of what's fair or not! They are interpreting the T&C's in accordance with their own agenda! What's to stop them increasing the rates yet again? Who determines what rate to apply? What happens if they increase to 10% or any figure they choose? Do we just have to accept that!!!! :mad: I'm sooo fed up with having to continually do battle with these organisations! I sometimes feel like I want to run away & live in a tent

Hi 42 Man as a site team member, could you please amalgamate this thread with another that has just been created dealing with the same problem and organisation, it may make it easier for other Caggers to follow! thanks Well after much correspondance and questions to MA 5 they have not moved one iota in their stance of increasing their interest rates "Due to market forces" which they have not explained!! Furthermore, they have yet again increased their interest rates!! Thats twice in the last few months!! Am I missing something here? I don't believe I'm the only one being S*****d like this, but I just don't know what to do! I'm absolutely positive that it's unfair, either by way of the original contract or by their interpretation of it! but I don't have the funds to get into a legal battle with them!! I have continued to pay the original amount, prior to their 1st interest rate increase and have also paid the extra, however I have made it very clear that although I am paying the increases I am NOT in AGREEMENT or ACCEPTANCE of their increased rates and the payment is on 'account only' subject to further investigations! They answered with "If I refuse to pay the increase they would seek a repossession order!" How's that for grabbing your round things in a strong crunch!!! We know that it's unfair but how do we fight these bullies??????

Signed & subbed It's typical that Wales, Scotland & Northern Ireland are unaffected only in England do we get ripped off the most!! It's disgraceful that the Govt should penalise the weakest yet again, I would not have known about it if not for CAG. I'm sooo grateful for this site & It's members in bringing all this info to us & allowing us the chance to fight back!

Hi all I subbed this thread and have been following intently. I've had 2 different companies discontinue their claims against me! I don't think it's a case of whether you've won or not but they cannot continue to harass you for outstanding balances. I think what they are saying is, 'We know we can't get the money out of you, so we are not prepared to waste further legal costs trying to do so!' However that doesn't mean you've won as they will still rubbish you with the CRA's whether you have a valid agreement or not! That is of course unless you take them on legally and win! Which I haven't done yet but thats my next move, no guarantees I'd win though