00765 v abbey

[00765]

My mortgage with Abbey is in arrears by £5,000 + ie about 4 months in arrears.

 

I rang Abbey on 1st Dec 06 to pay £1,300 by debit card. When i spoke to the rep. she essentially said, "you can pay what you want but if you don't pay the total arrears outstanding by 11th Dec 06, Abbey will proceed with repossession proceedings". I don't have £5,000 to pay.

 

Anyway I paid the £1,300, thinking that i was going to complete on the sale of another property by 11 December 06 but sure enough, that transaction has gone nightmareishly pear shaped.

 

On 7 December 06, I faxed a letter to Abbey, confirming that i had made an effort to begin to reduce the arrears, by making the £1,300 payment on 1st Dec 06, would they now engage with me, to arrive at an agreement to reduce the arrears, rather than them running to the courts. I stipulated that if they insist on going to ct despite my willingness to enter some kind of agreement, I'd want them to please place my letter before the judge.

 

I have not received a response.

 

Today my Dad paid £1,500 into my Abbey mortgage account. The normal monthly instalments are £1,299.00.

 

I have now drafted another letter to Abbey which i intend to fax tomorrww, informing them that;

 

1st, i am disappointed that they have not seen it fit, to respond to my 1st corespondence

 

2. that £1,500 was paid into the mortgage a/c today & that ie i am clearly making some effort to reduce the arrears

 

3. would Abbey please discuss the matter with me rather than go to the court

 

4. Again if they insist on going to court, that they please again place my 2nd correspondence before the judge.

 

Can anyone guide/advice me, as to how i can possibly keep this arrears fight out of the courts &

 

b) if Abbey do insist on going to court, does the fact that i have made x 2 payments in one month, aid me in trying to prevent any successful Abbey repossession of my property?

 

My Mortgae is ordinarily due on 7th of each month & I have no more funds to give Abbey until at least next month

 

Thanks in advance

[00765]

When i got home today i received a message from Abbey asking me to call them.

 

I'll call them tomorrow & see what they have to say.

 

Wish me luck!!!

[00765]

Just spoke to Abbey Pre Litigation dept. The rep essentially said, too bad, you'll be getting a letter from our solicitors soon. That once arrears go over 3 months, they automatically instruct solicitors.

 

I reminded the rep that, I've made x2 payments this month, in an effort to bring the arrears down, £1,300 on 1/12/06 & £1,500 on 12/12/076, so why can't they override the automatic transfer to solicitors. She said they can't.

 

I inquired from the rep as to whether solcitors costs are going to be incurred. She replied yes. I indicated to her that had Abbey stopped the automatic transfer to solicitor (from whom I am yet to hear), & agreed a payment schedule with me, i would not have to potentially be incurring their solicitors costs. I told her that if the matter gets to court, i will be making this point to the judge

 

I also informed the rep that I cannot pay again until early next month, as i get paid at the end of the month & ie i humanly cannot pay the full arrears of some £4000 in one sitting. She basically said, there's nothing she can do. So what was the point Abbey calling me in the 1st place!!

 

It's all just a horrow story & i'm trying to hang in there but it's becoming real hard to stay the course

 

I'm fighting Abbey, KMC & desparately trying to sort out my messed up finances.

 

Anyone, anyone, have any ideas as to how i go forth with this potential Abbey repossession?

 

Thanks

[tallchap]

00765

 

sounds like you need a bit of serious help here. Sorry to say that I'm not able to help, but I would pm one of the moderators quickly for solid guidance

 

good luck

[00765]

Sincere thanks Tallchap. Good to hear from someone.

 

Sorry if i sound like an idiot but what's pm? is it post message & if so how do you post a message directly to the moderators

 

Thanks again

[tallchap]

No probs, it's a learning process. To private message a moderator or site helper, find a post by one of them, BankFodder, zootscoot, click on their name and you get the pm option. They should be able to point you in the right direction

[ellielou]

Hi 007

 

Sorry to hear your story, Abbey sound like they're being really awkward.

 

I'm sorry I'm not an expert on the subject and I can't say I've been in this position with a mortgage leander but have been on the verge of being taken to court by others.

 

My understanding with debts is that if you offer a payment plan and stick to it, then there's little they can do if you're making a concerted effort to get up to date. I would say that your last 2 payments are proof that you are trying to sort this out. I'd write and inform them of a payment plan to clear the arrers and the date you will be forwarding them the payments and ask for them to accept the offer in writing. Even if they don't respond to the offer keep making payments in line with what you have said in your letter. This should then show your willingness to resolve the problem & their lack of it.

 

As I said I'mnot an expert & don't know the legalities of it all but I hope this has helped in some way.

[alanfromderby]

I believe that generally three months is considered to be the trigger for legal action - although this may vary between companies.

 

Clearly it is in your interest to do all you can to make them see reason, but at the end of the day they are only bound by a VOLUNTARY code in their dealings with customers.

 

Should the matter go to court, it is almost certain that a District Judge would agree to the proposal you are making to settle the arrears - indeed, it seems to have become practise for judges to allow arrears to be repaid over the full life of the mortgage.

 

My dealings with Bristol & West showed that companies do often apply pressure to collect the full arrears, whilst at the same time they are fully aware that a District Judge would allow more leeway.

 

The best approach is to pay what you can, keep them updated about the situation and meet the payments to which you have agreed. If you do that, you will be in a string position should the matter escalate to court - and if they start to harass, threaten them with the Financial Ombudsman.

[00765]

Thank you tallchap, karnevil, ellielou, alanfromderby, for all your hugely useful comments & advice. Your posts have served to calm me down.

 

Prior to reading your posts this evening, I faxed a 3rd letter to Abbey basically expressing my diasppointment with the telephone conversation of this morning & again asking Abbey to agree an arrears repayment schedule.

 

I think i'll go with the points made in earlier posts of today, try & maintain my monthly payments until such time as either Abbey reach an arrears agreement with me or the court makes an adjudication on the matter

 

I think i'll also send a suggested payment plan to Abbey.

 

I'll keep you'll posted

 

Good nite

[zootscoot]

Hi 007,

Try something on the lines of this:

Dear xxxx

Thank you for recent correspondence. I am very disappointed that we seem unable to reach a satisfactory compromise in this case and your continued persistence to insist on pursuing court action despite my every effort to pay off the arrears. I am not seeking to avoid payment but, am genuinely making an effort to repay the arrears as can be evidenced by the payment of xxx on xx/xx/xxx and the payment of XXX on xx/xx/xxxx.

 

You have stated in correspondence your intention to commence proceedings in the County Court against me. The commencement of legal proceedings under such circumstances could be counter to the ‘Overriding Objectives’ of the new Civil Procedure Rules. You will be aware that the ‘Overriding Objectives’ underpin everything the court does. Moreover, paragraph 4 of the Protocols Practice Direction states that in cases not covered by an approved pre-action protocols, the court will expect the parties “to act reasonably….. in trying to avoid the necessity for the start of proceedings”.

I would suggest that your consistent refusal to accept my offer could be viewed as unreasonable and I would ask the court to consider this matter with reference to the ‘Overriding Objectives’. This could leave you liable to paying for your own costs. I’m sure that we could sort this without the need to take the time of the courts and the offer of £xx per month, is of course still open to you to accept.

Yours faithfully

007

 

Also have a look in the Mortgage FAQ's in the stickies of this forum there is a little about reposession there. In the event that it does end up in court the likelihood is that the court will order that you repay on terms a lot more favourable than they are demanding.

 

All the best

 

Zoot

[00765]

Thank you Zootscoot. That's a tremendous letter & i am immensely grateful.

 

I shall use much of it tomorrow to fax another letter to Abbey.

 

I must say again, that i am astounded by the quality & relative speed of advice i have received on this matter & again to each & everyone who has posted on this thread, i say a big & sincere THANKYOU. The difference your comments have made to my sanity as i go thru this mess is profoundly appreciated

[ellemmjay]

Hi there,

 

Can't really say anything more than has been said particularly by Alan from Derby but really wanted to offer my support.

 

I've been through repossession hearings three times in ten years' with the Abbey and on each ocassion found them absolutely immovable - HOWEVER on each occassion the judge was superb and fairly scathing of their actions.

 

 

The fact that you are making serious efforts to minimise the effect of the arrears will only go in your favour - the most usual outcome is a suspended repossession order which instructs you to pay your monthly amount plus something towards the arrears - but if your in the throes of moving then the judge may suspend to allow you time to complete the property deal / remortgage - this , by the way seriously hacks Abbey off..

 

I wish you all the best and I know it's pointless telling you not to worry but it's honestly no where near as scary as you imagine

 

 

Oh and once you've settled this and moved on to another house and if you can get rid of Shabbey - don't forget to claim all your arrears charges back

 

 

 

Best of luck

 

 

 

Elle

[00765]

Thanks Zootscoot & ellemmjay.

 

I will use your letter Zoot & elle, your comments are really reassuring.

 

I received a letter from Abbey's litigation department yesterday informing me that they will be going for a repossession order if i don't pay £3,757.28 (less than 3 months arrears) by 21/12/06 (4 days time).

 

I don't have any money to pay Abbey for a 3rd time this month. So I guess it's of to court we go.

[00765]

Here is my intended next letter to Abbey as adapted or basically copied from Zootscoot's brilliant creation; Thanks Zoot

 

 

Dear Sirs,

Re: xxxxx

Account No: xxxxxxx

Thank you for your recent correspondence. I am very disappointed that we seem unable to reach a satisfactory compromise in this case and your continued persistence to insist on pursuing court action despite my every effort to pay off the arrears. I am not seeking to avoid payment but, I am genuinely making an effort to repay the arrears, as can be evidenced by the payment of xxx on xxx and the payment of xxxx on xxxx.

 

You have stated in your correspondence, your intention to commence proceedings in the County Court against me. The commencement of legal proceedings under such circumstances could be counter to the ‘Overriding Objectives’ of the new Civil Procedure Rules. You will be aware that the ‘Overriding Objectives’ underpin everything the court does. Moreover, paragraph 4 of the Protocols Practice Direction states that in cases not covered by an approved pre-action protocol, the court will expect the parties “to act reasonably in trying to avoid the necessity for the start of proceedings”.

 

I would suggest that your consistent refusal to accept my request to reach an arrears repayment schedule, could be viewed as unreasonable and I would ask the court to consider this matter with reference to the ‘Overriding Objectives’. This could leave you liable to paying for your own costs. I am sure that we can sort this out without the need to take the time of the courts.

I simply do not have £xxxxx. However, I ask that Abbey kindly accept my offer of £50 per month, towards the reduction of the arrears.

I await your imminent reply.

 

Yours faithfully

---------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Of course i have no idea what the overriding objectives or the Protocals Practice Direction are. But they sound good!!

 

Any comments, suggestions?

[zootscoot]

Best of luck with this 007!

 

 

Overriding objectives:

 

PART 1 - OVERRIDING OBJECTIVE

 

Protocol practice directions:

 

PRACTICE DIRECTION – PROTOCOLS -

[00765]

Thanks Zoot.

 

I have this am faxed the letter to Abbey.

 

So now it's a waiting game.

[00765]

Zoot, seems like your letter worked I received x3 letters from Abbey today essentially saying the same thing.

 

The main letter states as follows;

 

Thank you for your letter dated 18th December 2006, received via fax, the contents of which have been noted.

 

Your account has now been referred back to our debt Management office in Sheffield, notification of this was sent to you on 19th December 2006.

 

Please contact Debt Management with your offer of repayment

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Thank you so very much Zoot. I think I get a much needed reprieve, thanks to you Zoot, everyone who has posted on this thread & just the shear presence of the Consumer Action Group has been a real confidence builder for me, as i go forth in battle with HFC & KMC.

 

I now have to ring Abbey & hope that they will accept my offer of £50 per month towards the arrears. Well that will now have to wait til after XMAS. I'll keep you'll posted

 

To everyone who has posted on this thread to date & all at the Consumer Action Group, may i wish you a peaceful XMAS & a most prosperous New Year.

[zootscoot]

That is excellent news!

 

Some much needed peace of mind particularly at Christmas.

 

Merry Christmas to you

 

Zoot

[00765]

I have now sold the property with which i had the abbey mortgage.

 

Thanks to you Zoot & everyone who gave me advice on this matter. I now turn my battle attention to HFC & biggest of all Kensington Mortgage.