Birmingham Midshires ERC ***WON***

[lickthewallfatboy]

we were with Birmingham midshires mortgages until about 3 years ago.We had just changed to a fixed rate mortgage,and circumstances changed quickly in that after about 2 months,we had to move.Sold the house and BM hit us with a rather stiff penalty for clearing the mortgage.

 

 

We built our own house,and didn't use the BM.

 

I have written a letter asking for the redemption statment,and when I get that I am asking for a breakdown of how the penalties added up,and if it's dodgy-and it probably is-I'm going to ask for them back.We're talking a decent 4 figure sum here....

 

In for a penny,in for a couple of grand!!

[lickthewallfatboy]

I will indeed.Depending on where this goes,I may need some assistance.....

[lickthewallfatboy]

I sent off to B.Midshires on June 4 asking for redemption figures on an old mortgage we used to have.They sent back a SAR pro forma to be filled in.

 

Does the deadline run from my initial letter,or from the date of return for the pro forma?

 

thanks

[lickthewallfatboy]

thanks for the speedy reply-and just what I wanted to hear!!

[lickthewallfatboy]

they sent me the pro forma pretty quickly to be fair,but no word since...

[lickthewallfatboy]

that leaves 9 days......july 15

[lickthewallfatboy]

today,with one day to go on the Data Protection Act deadline,I received a load of paperwork via recorded delivery with all the details I requested.

 

There are several penalty fees for returned direct debits etc,and all under the title "Assess Fee" amounting mostly to £25 each and interestingly,one for £2989(called a "switching fee" on the statement!!)....and the most interesting,a penalty of £3250 for early redemption of the mortgage.

 

This all adds up to a figure of £6768,if I am correct.....

 

ALSO-AND QUITE WORRYINGLY

Birmingham Midshires included in my information a copy of a solicitors letter in connection with the sale of someone else's property,with their account number plain to be seen with their full name and address!!

 

I believe I am right in thinking that this is a serious breach of the Data Protection Act-anyone know what consequences this could potentially have for BM,and could it be subtly mentioned in correspondence in order to loosen their pursestrings a bit more quickly?

[lickthewallfatboy]

This morning I got my information from Birmingham Midshires-but very worryingly they included a copy of a solicitors letter in connection with someone else's house sale from here in Northern Ireland,with their full address and account number plain to be seen,and on another page of fax copy from BM to another solicitor in the UK,my account number and name,and their account number and name are written on it in pen!!!

 

I do not know the other people whatsoever,and I am beginning to get really angry here....

 

could I use this to get what I want (nearly £7K in charges and early redemption fees)any quicker?.

 

I think BM could be in big trouble here-am I correct?

[lickthewallfatboy]

IT IS BONKERS MATE!!

 

I am hoping that this could be the key to a very speedy settlement.Here's hoping that you get something like this as well-examine all paperwork very closely.I couldn't believe my eyes when I was looking at someone else's name,address and account number....

 

and 2 large fees-what a stroke of luck!!!

 

Phase 2 intitiating-Warp 9, Mr Sulu.....

[lickthewallfatboy]

did you confront them?This could be a very big stick to beat any offending parties with.

 

And I'll tell you something else-when I read through the solicitor's correspondence to BM,the level of total incompetence on their part(BM) beggars belief

 

3 months after the new people moved into our old house when we sold it,BM still had not removed their charge from it,and my solicitor was VERY irate about it.Amongst other things of course.....

 

they aren't infallible after all....

[lickthewallfatboy]

It seems that BM might be just a bit rattled....

 

got a letter back already from Kate Cartwright,Senior Compliance Officer

 

thank you for your letter of 15 July 2006.I am very sorry that you found corespondence in my response to your subject acces request that did not relate to you.I can assure you that both I and my colleagues are aware of the seriousness of this incident,and I would therefore ask that you return the said document to me in the enclosed envelope so that I can investigate how this happened and ensure that our processes are reviewed to ensure that this does not happen in the future.

 

All documents are checked before they are sent out,but obviously in this case human error has allowed an incorrect document to ne sent out to you.

 

Once again,please accept my sincere apologies and I look forward to hearing from you shortly.

 

 

Yeah,right-do they think I'm stupid or something?I'm holding onto this-it may come in very useful!!

[lickthewallfatboy]

I'm intending to do these things-the question is all about timing.....I don't want to shoot my bolt too quickly and overplay my hand.If I can use this to get what I want,I will.

 

All hinges upon the initial reply I get from BM for my request for repayment.If they want to play clever,2 can play that game!!

[lickthewallfatboy]

am I really in such a potentially advantageous position?This is getting exciting!£7K would make such a difference to me.I am well on the way to being unsecured debt free with all this.That would put the tin lid on it.

 

I want to screw the cash out of them without it looking like it's blackmail,but I was thinking maybe of doing the above,plus maybe going to the press....???

 

D'ya think that might raise a big enough hornet's nest?

[lickthewallfatboy]

I'm definitely prepared to go through with anything I threaten.I've had to report Citi cards to trading standards today for continuing harassment phone callsdespite 2 cease and desist letters.

 

£7K is as good in my pocket as it is in BM's!!

 

I'll let you know of any progress!!

[lickthewallfatboy]

just as a matter of interest-I did a spreadsheet calculation of interest on the 2 big penalties,and the total comes to an eye watering £2100 approx......

[lickthewallfatboy]

had a reply letter from Baljit Kaur,at the BM Mortgage contact centre.

 

thank you for you recent correspondence.I'm sorry to hear you're unhappy.

 

At Birmingham Midshires we take customer complaints very seriously and I'll answer you as quickly as possible.I'll contact you no later than 4 weeks from 17 July 2006.I may need this long to carry out a thorough investigation,but I do hope to repsond earlier.

 

I understand your complaint is as follows:

 

you would like us to eview the charges that have been made on your mortgage account.This is in response to your letter dated 15 June 2006 and received by us 17 July 2006.

 

Please contact me if this is not correct.

 

I enclose our leaflet giving details of our Internal Complaints procedure.

 

 

 

 

Obvious points to note-

Attempted delaying tactics-will not be tolerated.

I do not want a review of the charges-I want them repaid.

No mention made of the Data Protection Act breach caused by them sending me someone else's name,address and account number.

 

I'll compose a reply later today....

[lickthewallfatboy]

I have drafted this response........

 

WITHOUT PREJUDICE

 

Dear Mr Kaur

 

Thank you for your letter of 17 July.

 

I would like to reiterate that I have requested a refund of the early repayment penalty of £3250 which you levied when we repaid the mortgage in full after we sold our property in January 2004. We were also charged £2989 (a “switching fee”) when we moved from one mortgage product to another in October 2000,for which we also request repayment.

 

There are also various “Assess fees” for late payments etc dating back to 2000,which when added together with the switching and early redemption fees, amount to a total of £6768.

 

I also wish to remind you of the extremely serious issue I raised concerning the disclosure of another customer’s name, address and account number in the documentation sent to us.This matter can be amicably settled with yourselves on full reimbursement of the disputed penalties,and the offending items of data can be returned to Birmingham Midshires following the successful conclusion of this matter.I am seeking advice as to the most appropriate course of action which may or may not have to be taken,should deadlines pass with no positive response.

 

The 4 week period starting 17 July is of no relevance to me,as I have already given a perfectly reasonable 14 day window of opportunity to amicably resolve this issue.

 

Yours faithfully

[lickthewallfatboy]

probably,but I'll be getting stuck in as far as possible.This is too big to let go without a fight.

 

If it goes as far as interest,I'm looking at a grand total of around £9500.

 

anyone care to let me use an address in England to launch a claim?

£5K claims at a time would be faster to get sorted than the £2k limit we have over here.....

[lickthewallfatboy]

The information was in connection with the sale of his house.He may not even be a BM customer anymore,in which case the document conveniently "disappears" into the ether,BM deny knowing what I'm talking about and I have no proof that it ever happened in the first place.....

 

Back to square one.

 

I'm not telling them that I'm keeping the information-I'm just giving them a timetable for it's return.......or for the appropriate body taking action against them

[lickthewallfatboy]

the simplest way around this just seems to be send it to the IC with a covering letter telling them what happened and let them deal with BM for dropping a clanger....

 

then no-one can accuse anyone of anything.

 

If BM can do this with this guys info,they can potentially do it with mine or anyone else's.It's just downright shoddy unprofessionalism on their part.These are the type of people we are supposed to trust with our money and our details?

 

Total joke.

[lickthewallfatboy]

LBA time-tomorrow is the 30th,and as there is no post on a sunday,they should have replied by today.....

[lickthewallfatboy]

LBA way today

[lickthewallfatboy]

letter just received from BM-

 

you will remember i wrote to you on 19 july to let you know I am looking into your complaint about the charges applied to your mortgage account.

 

I had hoped to be able to answer you in full within four weeks of receiving your complaint.I am sorry to let you know that I need more time because I want to throroughly investigate your complaint,in the hope of reaching an agreeable conclusion to this matter .

 

Your concerns are important to us and we take them seriously.I hope you will appreciate that it is not always possible to complete a thorough investigation with this time.I am sorry for any inconvenience this delay may cause you and confirm I will reply within the next 5 days.

 

yours sincerely

 

oh,well.Looks like court again.......

[lickthewallfatboy]

I don't know-it could be positive,it could be negative.It's hard to understand how these poeple think-however-they haven't dismissed me out of hand.....

[lickthewallfatboy]

I was wondering-could I issue a claim for the late payment charges in Northern ireland,and use an address in England to go to moneyclaim in order to go after the ERC and the product swap fee?