http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-4425464/Staff-meltdown-Financial-Ombudsman.html Sorry If I posted in the wrong place or if it has already been posted.

Thank you for responding I did actually have a lot of extremely good advice at the time April (2008)from many CAGs especially from Slick, and Priority, and also returned help to other caggers. I was at the forefront of reclaiming charges in late 2005, well before in became well known in the media, so thank you for your suggestions, but I am way pass the stages of SAR's. (2005) Was my first attempt at reclaiming charges from Woolwich Building Society with success strait away within 8 weeks, no quibble and straight forward, with a return of £5000 plus. CAG has given me loads of advice and help, it does not mean that because I haven't posted on the site for 3 yrs that I am not up to date with what is going on. Quite the opposite as I have felt confident enough to even go to Court three time to fight my own battles, with three wins under my belt without any advice from CAG. This was only made possible through CAG's good advice on screen for us all to read, making it possible for ordinary folks to take on the establishment. In 2008 GE would not budge on the reclaiming of charges etc, it is only recently that reclaiming of these charges, as you know, have become easier for us all to claim. However, it is not just the charges and fees etc, it is the way in which GE treated us. Plus the Broker (now in default) who miss sold the mortgage loan in the first place. I won't be posting any more on CAG, but I will be keeping myself informed. Good Luck to you all Bach.

How dare you. I am a 71 yr old female, I have no such friends, you are presumptuous pompous, and arrogant in your assumptions and accusation. I have been a cagger since 2005, no wonder I haven't given much attention to the site for the last 3yrs. I lost my home to GE who look my home based on the charges that they applied to the account of £2035.00 This was because the ------------ would not allow me to change the repayment date from the 24th the 1st of the month. Never missed a repayment, and was proactive throughout for two yrs by making repayment on the 1st of each and every month, but because they flatly refused to allow me to pay on the 1st it gave GE cart blanch to apply every charge under the sun. GE took my home based solely on the charges they applied for late payments I haven't had an easy time and don't expect squirts like you to make accusations, you are site team, then God help us.

Is anyone interested in taking part in group action against GE (GMAC) please let me know before Monday 24th April I / we are not just interested in miss sold subprime mortgages, but negligence by broker, repossessions, unfair customer treatment, secret commissions or any other you are angered and aggrieved about with injustice you suffered at the hands of GE and / or their brokers. Just add your story, it could be the beginning of a long journey, offering final justice for us all who have suffered at the hands of these unscrupulous company's. Yesterday I talked with Peter Tutton (Citizens Advice / now at Step Change Debt after reading his publication "Set up to Fail. He kindly offered help and advice, and is well worth the read. Thanks for your interest

Will continue on our own, thanks for your reply. Regards Have just received a call from Lawyer, if anyone is still interested in taking group action against GE please let me know before Monday Regards I / we are interested in not just miss sold mortgages, but negligence by broker, repossessions, unfair customer treatment or any other you are angered and aggrieved about with the injustice of GE and / or their brokers. Just add your story, it could be the beginning of a long journey, offering final justice for us all who have suffered at the hands of these unscrupulous company's. Yesterday I talked with Peter Tutton (Citizens Advice / now at Step Change Debt after reading his publication "Set up to Fail. He kindly offered help and advice, and is well worth the read. Thank you for y[your interest

Hi, Does anyone know if Group litigation has been taken on GE (GMAC) Secured Home Lending If not IS anyone interested in joining Group Litigation / Class action on GE Secured Mortgage Loans I am currently talking with top lawyer about possible litigation for miss sold second charge loans on a no win no fee basis and wondered of anyone else would be interested. Or has one already been taken. Thanks Bach

Hi everyone My friend is still insistent on going down the FSA route, however, its a lot of work for me and I'm not in a position to do the necessary paper work at least for a few weeks. Iv have a lot of personal problems at the moment. IF he can still go down the FSA route he has said he is quite prepared to accept less compensation. I would be grateful for all your thoughts I will try for him if I can, as I believe he has a really solid case. Thank again to all Lynn

Thanks Mike for your very valued advise, you obviously know your subject very well. Just finished the Discontinue Notice, so hope that's the end of the matter Thanks again Lynn

Thanks Andy appreciate your impute Lynn

Hi Andy As I said Lloyds have agreed that they will not seek any costs if we discontinue the claim, it was Lloyds TSB solicitors that have stated in their letter that I must file a Notice of Discontinuance and they asked that a copy of this be forwarded on to them for their records Surely they would know if this is the correct procedure for me to follow, or are they being pedantic and difficult. Lynn

Hello all Firstly, I'm sorry I have not kept you all informed that offered me advice with the above problem , I have been really busy as daughter in law in 40hrs labour, (only came out Sunday) between looking after other grandson and hospital visits washing and ironing I have not had one min to my self. So apologises for not keeping you updated with what was for me a really desperate situation to handle given my circumstances of the last few months. Anyway, I took Mikes advice and with help from a team member who kindly drafted a letter for me, I posted it on 15th January recorded, fist, and signed for £6 75. Checked next day and was signed for by Walker at 7,35am. Called the Solicitors office on 24th Jan, told not received a reply to my letter of the 15th, after a lot of apologies, asked If I would fax over a copy, which I did immediately. Also sent a copy in the post. Received a letter this morning (27th) from Lloyds Solicitors, They have agreed NOT to seek costs if we discontinue with the claim. They asked me to notify the Court asap and file a Notice of Discontinuance (which I will do tomorrow) and asked that a copy of this be forwarded on to them. Thank you all for your help, I felt everything was closing in on me and really did not know which way to turn, but thanks the CAG you have alleviated me from getting into a real mess Thank you Mike so very much, your advice was as sound as ever. I will now look forward to catching up on sleep and friends. Regards Lynn

Andy this is really useful help to me. I will sleep on your thoughts and refresh in the morning Thank you so very much for giving me some really constructive advise and help it is really appreciated. Thanks Lynn

andyorch Thanks, You can try Mikes suggestion or you may consider not submitting the DQ...the claim would remain stayed and trackless IM THINKING ABOUT THIS OPTION This would allow time for you to re group and gather your thoughts on how to proceed... there are risks the other party could make application to lift the stay or your claim could be struck out so bear in mind. What would be the consequences of the other party making a application to lift the stay or the claim being struck out This is really helpful for me, thank you lynn . t

Thank you for the constructive advise 'drop hands' basis I have thought I will give them a call in the morning to see how the land lies Thanks again much appreciated advice confirming my own thoughts. Lynn

Well I'm not a solicitor, considering you have been a Cagger for only 2 months then don't bother me again. Reading some of your posts you defiantly give an assortment of advice, which contains many contradictions.

mjt2013 This makes me really angry for your friend. Why on earth did you agree to help him with this when you don't know what the court process is? A free consultation with any solicitor would have allowed your friend to know before issuing the claim what the likely costs would be, he's been completely shafted. I think that unfair, how do you know what I do or do not know, I have represented myself in Court on 5 occasions (aged 67 ) and won each one of these cases which were all very different, I do admit I did fail to realise that his claim could possibly go fast track, which is where the problem lies, my fault. But them when you have a son who tries to take his own life at Xmas and your daughter in law who ends up in a wheelchair due to a stupid drunken drink driver , then I think I could be forgiven for not making that realisation at the time I helped him with his P O Claim. As for SHAFTED, I have helped him with this claim for well over 12months now, NO NOT SHAFTED more like a good friend trying to do the right thing for someone who had a special needs son and sometime can not cope with pressure. CAGER SINCE MAY 2006. You do not know me and I'm really glad I don't know you - what right do you have to say my friend has been SHAFTED I asked for help from CAG all were positive answers to my problem. I am trying to do the honourable thing for my friend and help him with his claim. Your comments are negative and I suspect that you are one of those individuals who bully others, with NO experience of Life I am even prepared to reimburse him with the £395 he has already paid to the Courts. He has the full facts now and has made the decision to discontinue his claim. END OFF Sleep well tonight For the other Cagger's who responded positively to my cry for help, thank you for all you help and advice. Lynn

Hi I have just spoken to friend, and he says he cannot cope with the Court, in fact his wife is just out of hospital and he himself is not well. He asked if I could represent him, but of coarse I can,t do that "McKenzie Friend." He has decide to discontinue the Claim Can you please advise me how we go about discontinuing with the Claim. Many thanks Lynn.

Hi and thanks so much for your comments and helpful information. Can I get bach to you a bit later as in the middle of cooking supper Thanks Lynn

Hi, can anyone help my friend and myself. On behalf of a friend we have sent a claim to the Court for the reimbursement of £16 234. for PPI miss selling by Lloyds TSB. We have received a Notice of Proposed allocation to the fast track and N181 and directions questionnaire. Firstly, the questioner stated “it appears that this is suitable for allocation to the fast track" Secondly, he has already paid a Court Fee of £395 to cover the court costs. Now the Court is asking for a further fee of £220, “unless proceeding on a counter claim only" What does this mean? My friend cannot afford to pay any more fees. If IT GOES FAST TRACK AND LOOSES HIS CASE he won’t be able to pay costs. He really does not want to go “fast track” as never been to court before, but says he could handle the small claim track route with help Thirdly, if he decided NOT to continue with his claim would he get his £395 returned? Also could he then go to the FOS He has also suggested we reduce the claim to under £10 000 so that it will go SMALL CLAIMS ROUTE Are we allowed to do this - I have NO idea how to do this. Will we have to cancel the original claim and will he get his fee returned? Should he then put in a new claim in for an amount under £10 000? He is 72 and has little confidence as it is. Has been self-employed since 1978 and a sole trader. He understood PPI was a condition of the Credit Card. It was not until the media attention that he looked at the terms and conditions when he realised that he should not have paid PPI due to being self-employed, the policy was not fit for his purpose. He is a Cement truck driver and deliverers churning cement all over the country. By Law he had to be covered for public liability, accident, unemployment, as well as having to insurance cover for his family in case he could not work, he has a special needs son now 18. His accountant arranges all the insurances on his behalf. Lloyds TSB are defending the claim, “stating that it is statute barred due to the Limitations Act as over 6yrs ago”. And have stated the following “The Defendants right to apply for the proceedings to be struck out as no reasonable grounds for bringing the claim, and / or abuse of the courts process pursuant of CPR Part 3 Rule and /or b CPR Part 24 Lloyds TSB states “that the PPI would have only been applied upon the Claimants request”. Lloyds TSB denies that the PPI was not fit for purpose and put the “Claimant to strict proof of his allegations that he had other insurances in place at the time” THIS WE CAN PROVE BEYOND DOUBT. The Defendant denies that PPI was miss sold in this manner “ Lloyds TSB stated in a letter that my friend “walked in to a Lloyds TSB bank and ask for the PPI to be applied two weeks after he received his Credit Card”. He states there is NO way he would have done this, everything was done through his accountant. Lloyds TSB have no proof that this was the case they have no CC Agreement. (1978) They have only supplied him with data from 2001. No statements or data going back to when the card was opened in 1987, although, he has some statements from 1993 onwards. The Defendant will say, "that the P O Claim are generic, vague and disclose no reasonable grounds for bringing a claim against the Defendant. The Claimant has not fully particularised how the sum of £16. 271 has been arrived at. " We both worked out the PPI from statements going as far back as 1993 as this was all we had to work from. When we filled to the Court the Particulars of the Claim we, kept it at a minimum as we understood that the FULL PARTICULARS would be required by the Court at a further date. (Was this the right thing to do at that stage) WHAT SHOULD HE DO Continue with his claim? Or pull out now as he can’t afford to pay more costs. Will he be allowed to take it to the FSA after pulling out from the courts Lloyds TSB continually upgraded his credit card until it was up to around £11 000 . When I went through his statements with him I noticed that the PPI amount was quite horrendous at times sometime paying over £70 per month for the PPI facility. IS THIS RIGHT? He has paid his credit card account in full many many times over and has an immaculate credit rating. Lloyds TSB have stated in a letter he received ” YOU DID NOT HAVE ANY OTHER APPROPIATE MEANS BY WHICH YOU COULD PROTECT THE PAYMENTS OF YOUR CREDIT CARD” THIS IS AN OUTRAGEOUS STATEMENT TO MAKE, HE CERTAINLY DID HAVE, AND STILL HAS MANY OTHER MEANS OF PROTECTION AS HE IS STILL WORKING OVER 40HRS A WEEK. HELP !!! PLEASE CAN ANY ONE ADVISE WHICH WAY FORWARD WE SHOULD GO NOW Ie CANCEL CLAIM - GO TO FOS ? THROW THE TOWEL !!!!!! CONTINUE WITH CLAIM – BUT WE ARE REALLY GOING TO NEED HELP FROM CAG? I CANT DO THIS WITHOUT YOUR HELP

Thanks CitizenB I am reading as much as I can in the meantime about HSBC. I'm not surprised your not a fan of HSBC they are unscrupulous lot. Just to add to my woes Iv had a M&S bag of clothes stolen from me today £160 (from outside Morrison's) Police say it was a set up, apparently they are coming into Solihull from up North. Just another incident to cope with. Tomorrow is another day Thanks for being so supportive. Lynn

Hi and thank you so much for taking the time to read such a long thread. I sent yesterday 17th a telephone harassment letter recorded delivery for her. I am about to send a letter to the Chief Executive Alan Keir, HSBC which will be finished tomorrow and will send recorded (This by the way is the 3rd letter we have written to HSBC head office) The BCOBS I have read and learnt inside out and have quoted this in my letters, HSBC have also broken many rules in in the Consumer Credit Act 1974, including applying a default as she was not informed in writing. I have even written to a National newspaper for help but not yet had a reply from them This is as far as we have got with it all. DiLaw has been really responsible and answered all calls from HSBC collections, informing them she is taping calls and making notes of times and frequency. She askes if HSBC are they calling to offer her compensation and offer an apology or are they asking for payments. They always say payments and at that point she says " I am now going to terminate you call" I don,t know what to do now to help them! My son is a Dr of Music and she is a Paramedic. they are a professional couple and are being treated like idiots by HSBC I love them both very much, their health is really suffering through HSBC incompetence. Thanks again for offering your help, you have confirmed to me I am on right track. Regards Lynn

Details of our complaint with HSBC are explained below; HSBS COLLECTIONS DEPT ARE CALLING UP TO 7 TIMES A DAY FOR PAYMENT. SHE IS 8 MONTHS PREGNANT, IN A WHEELCHAIR AND CRUTCHES. CONSTANTLY IN PAIN. WHEN RESTING IS CONSTANTLY BEING DISTURB BY HSBC BABARDMENT OF CALLS. MY SON ILL WITH WORRY EFFECTED HIS CREDIT RATING I AM DESPERATE I DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO NEXT TO HELP IT’S A LIVING NIGHTMARE. PLEASE IF THERE IS A SOLICITOR OUT THEIR CAN YOU HELP US. My daughter in law, has had a current account with HSBC for 20yrs. She took out a loan from HSBC 5yrs ago and was repaying the loan at a rate of £260.31 per month; the loan is due to finish September 2016. She has not missed one payment whilst paying back the loan over the last 5yrs. MARCH 2013 I suggested she try and reduce her loan repayments, and at the same time perhaps she could release some more money by re-structuring the original loan and she would be able to perhaps gain a better interest rate. APRIL 2013 She was made redundant from her job. She immediately rang up HSBC in April and asked them for advice through their Finance Department as she knew she would have difficulty paying her loan repayment of £260 31 in May without going over her agreed overdraft limit. She informed them she would be able to continue with the repayments the following month in June as per usual as she had already found new employment (she is a Paramedic) however, there would be two weeks during which she would be without employment and therefore earnings. The result of this was that she would be missing ONE Month DD payment in May with agreement. She specifically asked if this would affect her credit rating and was assured that up to 7 payments could be missed or deferred before any action would be taken. At no point during the conversation was she advised that this would be registered as a default on her credit rating file. In the meantime, to reduce payments she stated to the financial team that she would stop using her credit card but she also stated that she did not wish to cancel the card. HSBC informed her “that was absolutely fine” and the May payment could be paid back at the end of the loan time or earlier if she were able to. HSBC did in fact take the May payment from her account but immediately refunded the payment into her current account. She was then expecting the loan payment to be taken from her account in June as normal, as agreed in the telephone conversation to HSBC in April. Loan payments continued to be paid as normal and as agreed. AUGUST 2013 She an her partner made an evening appointment with the local HSBC customer service manager in Solihull during the week commencing 12th August, now knowing that they were expecting a baby and sensibly planning ahead for the additional financial pressure this would put them under. They asked the customer service representative, if they could re-structure the loan, hoping to be able to get a better interest rate and another loan. He took some details, and started the process of entering information, saying that he was hopeful she could consolidate the loan with her credit card, borrow some more money to help with the baby and still reduce her monthly payments. The application was refused, much to everyone’s surprise, so he investigated why that should be. It transpired that HSBC had without consent or any contact with her cancelled the direct debits paying back her HSBC gold credit card. As a result of this there was a note on the file cancelling the credit card and registering a default. At no time was she informed that the DD payments had NOT been taken from her account. She at no time received any correspondence from HSBC informing her that she was behind with the repayments of the Credit Card. The Customer service manager telephoned Head Office to find out why the Direct Debits had not been taken from her account. He also tried to contact the assessing agency to see if they would change their mind, pointing out that she had been a loyal customer since December 1993, and had never, in all that time, defaulted on any payment. As it was now around 5.30 pm in the evening, head office informed him that it would be looked into immediately the next morning and they would telephone first thing the following day, but for now they could progress no further. She was totally unaware that the JUNE, JULY and now AUGUST Direct Debit had NOT been taken from her current account until this appointment with the local HSBC Branch. The HSBC customer service manager informed her that “had it not been for the Direct Debit mistake there would not have been a problem for her obtaining further credit.” The following morning HSBC head office listened to the tape of the telephone conversation which she had made in April. As agreed, the customer services manager telephoned her to advise her as to the results of the investigation. The Customer Services Manager stated the following: The telephone conversation confirmed that she was not advised about the default. The telephone conversation confirmed that she was not advised that the direct debits would be stopped on her credit card. The policy of the bank was to automatically cancel all direct debits associated with borrowing through the bank (loans, credit cards) but again she had not been advised of this. The member of staff she spoke to had been “spoken to” and would undergo retraining. Payment of £142.00, the amount accrued by the bank cancelling the DD would be taken from her current account on 2nd September. HSBC person apologised for the error but stated that they could not “undo” the effect their error had had on her credit status. Later that week she returned home to find a letter from HSBC dated after her meeting with Customer services manager Solihull branch informing her that her credit card was in arrears and would be cancelled if she didn’t make a payment. This was a direct contradiction of the information that the Solihull Branch had found on her file, which showed that the account had already been closed. This is a further example of the mis-management of Paula’s account. 2nd September 2013 The direct debit was NOT reinstated, and the credit card payment was not taken despite having been promised as resolved by the customer services manager. She had to make a manual payment to rectify this. 5th September 2013 She noticed that the loan repayment had not been taken from her account either, for the first time. She had not asked for this to be cancelled, delayed, deferred or anything else. At this point she was under immense stress, upset, and had a complete lack of faith in HSBC and its staff. 21st September 2013 She and her partner made another appointment with Solihull HSBC branch Manager, to discuss the effect this had had on them, and requesting her help. The stress of the catalogue of errors was by this point causing her to suffer blood pressure problems which are especially dangerous in pregnancy. She explained that the DD had still not been taken from her account for the HSBC Credit Card and in addition HSBC had cancelled the Direct Debit for the LOAN without informing my daughter in law Ms Bond agreed immediately to refund any late payment charges she had incurred as she agreed that the defaults were not her fault. However, the default would still remain on her credit file. Ms Bond informed them that Branch Managers do not have any authority to remove defaults from credit files, and despite previous requests with two employers at HSBC head office to have the default removed not one individual within HSBC company says that they have the authority to do so. Ms Bond stated she wanted to further investigate and although she would be going on holiday she would make sure that daughter in law would be contacted personally by herself on the Wednesday and after that her colleague would deal with it. Ms Bond contacted her on the Thursday and stated that she could confirm everything she had told her – however, a loan default would permanently stay on her file with regard to the agreed deferment because in actual fact their policy is that you cannot defer payments and settle the loan a month later than agreed. Again, a direct contradiction of what Paula was told originally. While they were with her, Ms Bond initiated a new standing order mandate for the personal loan and credit card which would go out around 5nd October 2013. Since she initiated this, payments have been taken correctly. However, daughter in law is still not able to get any credit due to the default placed on her credit file by HSBC, and is unable to restructure her loan to gain a better interest rate. She is now 7months pregnant and has had to start her maternity leave earlier than anticipated because she has developed a serious medical condition associated with the pregnancy which has means she must now be on a wheelchair. It is more necessary than ever that she consolidate her loan and card, and despite the fact that Ms Bond confirmed her credit rating within the bank was “very good”, they will not assist Paula further. Ms Bond assured her that she would receive a letter detailing the results of investigation and offering a full unreserved apology in writing regarding their error. This letter has still not been written, now nearly 3 months after meeting with Ms Bond. My daughter in law and my son are extremely distressed and she is suffering severe anxiety attacks as a result of the financial stress. Both her midwife and obstetric registrar have cautioned against further stress as it has the potential to be detrimental to her unborn child. IT IS AN ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE FOR US ALL. I am so sorry this explanation is long and drawn out. I wanted you to have the facts that I/we am aware off. I/we would be so grateful if you can help us to get the default removed from her credit file. It would make such a difference to their situation as they are feeling quite desperate with life at the moment. We are all incredulous at the ineptitude of HSBC and the lack of logic and common sense in refusing to consider her for a consolidation loan which would reduce her repayments – a refusal directly caused by HSBC own error!

I think first then I would give them a call and tell them the situation. If they say your insurance was with Cardiff Pinnacle tell them the situation and ask for a refund. Then put it in writing a explain you have spoken over the phone and you are confirming the conversation in writing, tell them in the letter that you are still paying for it now and you are claiming a refund. If you know how much you have overpaid, total it up and add the interest that was originally applied to the Mortgage.(should be a nice little sum) Similar happened to us, we paid back loan early, and Cardiff Pinnacle didn't notify us that we were entitled to a proportion back. When I wrote to them they had no PPI contract for us. GE told us that the Insurance was with them. Anyway now with Financial Ombudsman(over 18mnths now) Cardiff Pinnacle say they don't know us, it turns out that the Insurance may be with General Insurance or Aviva, its a nightmare!!!! All my paperwork shows the Insurance was with Cardiff Pinnacle, I think there is a cover up going on somewhere. Make the phone call and first find out if you are actually with them. Lynn

Good Morning I sent a SAR to Cardiff Pinnacle & to the loan Company, I think this would be a good way to start, if you haven't got any statements (£10 required for the information) Or follow procedure above http://www.consumerwiki.co.uk/index.php/PPI hope this helps Start the ball rolling now you have nothing to loose!

Hi Only just come back to the Consumer Action Group after being of the radar for the last 3 years. (Joined June 2005) I have had a claim in with the FOS for the last 18 months having paid PPI on a loan upfront which was not required. (Long Story) however, have been helping friends and family with claims, so Iv learnt quite a lot! Which company was the PPI with? Who was the original loan with? Can you post up more details ie How long was the policy for? how long was the insurance cover for? etc And NO it's not anyone's fault, these Companies deliberately mislead us ALL Can you give me more information Lynn