Thread: Worried sick - repossession threatened but uptodate on payments

I foolishly missed 3 payments off a loan secured on my house and although I have now repaid these plus an additional payment (to keep one payment ahead), Barclays Bank are pushing for repayment of the whole £75k and threatening repossession.

I will find it extremely difficult to find alternate finance for this amount as I am currently self employed and do not have enough records to present to a new lender of proof of my credit worthiness - most of the earnings are going back into the business. I do however have £200k equity in my house, savings of £20k that are accessible and a further £68k that is tied up for 5 years in bonds.

I am worried sick about this, Barclays have given me 60 days to pay back the whole loan and although I rang today to inform them of the overpayment I've now made, the woman there is set for my blood. I've children and a family and we've lived in our home for nearly 20 years, we'd be heartbroken to lose it.

Is there anything at all I can do to stop Barclays repossessing my home and allowing me to continue with the loan? The woman handling this is extremely "vicious" and seems to delight in my distress, I really can't believe I let myself get into this mess.

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated.

Hello and Welcome,

I'll move this thread to a more appropriate Forum, where hopefully you'll get some help, I'll see if our Repossession Mod can help.

Regards.

Scott.

Hi there, I can understand your worry and frustration. However, in short - if there are no arrears then there can be no claim for possession. What are they going to tell the court they are claiming for?

You need to write to them (by recorded delivery) stating the facts and referring them to the Civil Justice mortgage Arrears Protocols. If you need help with the letter please let me know and I'll happily draft one for you.

Thanks. Everything I've read suggests that repossession of my home would be the very last resort, that's why I simply can't understand this tack at all. The woman at Barclays is refusing to stop and has given me 60 days to repay all the £75k - something I simply can't do, but I can continue payments. She said because I've missed payments I've broken the contract and they want their money back, simple as that.

I cannot believe how someone can delight in these threats, but this woman appears to relish the situation, I have been in tears on the phone on more than one occasion.

Thanks ever so much for your post Ell-enn, I'll look up the Civil Justice mortgage Arrears Protocol now.

My only slight fear in this - because it is a loan rather than a mortgage will this make any difference? The loan is guaranteed against my property, but was taken out for other reasons.

How much was the loan for?

The loan is for £75k and was taken out 8 years ago (I used this in a business I'd started, which has now been sold). I have never missed a payment until October.

My house is worth £250k and I have a £50k mortgage. I have savings of around £20k that are accessible (I would rather hold onto these if at all possible), and savings of £68k tied up in bonds (gilts) for another 5 years.

Although the equity is there, the problem is releasing it - I really don't want to lose my home and I can't access the bonds. I am working in a new business and would find it difficult to secure alternate finance. Rock and hard place.

Barclays have not followed the Protocol at all on this, no alternatives have been given (even though I'm AHEAD now on payments), they are refusing to budge.

I've never missed a payment in my life, to say I'm shocked at this is a complete understatement.

There's no danger you will lose your home - as I said before, if there are no arrears they cannot bring a claim for possession, as they have no grounds for a claim.

In the first instance you should write to them heading the letter "Formal Complaint" and detail the situation and the threat of court action when there are no grounds.

Make sure you send it by recorded or special delivery, keep a copy of the letter and staple the postal slip to it, then check on the royalmail website a few days later to print off the signature receipt. Keep safe in case you need to prove they received the letter.

Has the threat of further action only been made on the phone or do you have it in writing?

The threat was made verbally. Basically because I missed the payments (which have now been repaid) I have broken the contract this is now null and void and they're apparently within their rights to demand full repayment - exactly what they're doing.

Thanks for your replies on this thread, I really am at my wits end.

What kind of secured loan is this? do you have a copy of the original agreement you signed? if so, can you scan a copy and attach to a post? Remember to block out any personal information, name, address, agreement number etc anything that could identify you. Would just like to see the terms and conditions on the agreement.

Thanks Ell-enn, I'll search for it out now. I've rung the Financial Ombudsman this morning and am now waiting for my call to be returned.

There's no budging the woman at the bank, and she refuses to let me talk to her superior, saying it's all within her authority. I get the feeling she's on some great ego kick with this, quite sickening when dealing with people's lives like this.

As Ellen says, if there are no arrears then they cannot repossess. I imagine that if they went to court a judge would be fairly unimpressed by their behaviour and kick the case out! Sounds to me like someone trying to exert some authority that they don't have. I would follow their formal complaints procedure as mentioned above.

As usual when you need something important, I can't find the agreement anywhere. I rang Barclays woman (henceforth known as Cerberus) and of course she wouldn't help. Because I've seen a solicitor about all this - who is frankly proving less helpful than you guys - she refuses to deal with me now and will only deal direct with him. According to him he's asked for a copy of this agreement already and it hasn't been forthcoming....

Sigh.

Is it still worth me making the complaint Ell-enn or should I wait until we get the original agreement?

I'd make the complaint anyway (by recorded/special delivery of course).

Originally Posted by pubman1

As Ellen says, if there are no arrears then they cannot repossess. I imagine that if they went to court a judge would be fairly unimpressed by their behaviour and kick the case out! Sounds to me like someone trying to exert some authority that they don't have. I would follow their formal complaints procedure as mentioned above.

In this case, I think you have a really good chance of getting this sorted out in your favour.

If there are no arrears, Barclays need to SIT DOWN and stop harassing you.

And I hope Cerberus remembers her place too.

**Hugs**