PPI on Swift Advances mortgage.......***WON***

[landy_alert]

I am about to start trying to reclaim some of the charges and hopefully a portion of the PPI we had with Swift Advances and was wondering whether anyone here could offer any advice please?

 

In November 2007 we paid off a mortgage to Swift Advances (which we took out in June 2006)on the sale of our house which also enabled us to pay our main mortgage with C&G, before buying a new house and becoming MORTGAGE FREE - YIPPEE

 

As we had previously run into difficulties with the repayments to Swift (and had been threatened with repossession, court date set etc, but we paid arrears in full before it came to that), there were extra charges on our final settlement figure from Swift.

 

The amount we borrowed was £58,553 which included £5323 for PPI (single premium I think).

 

The settlement statement reads as follows -

 

Original loan amount £58,553.00

 

Interest charged £13,844.34

 

Less payments received £11,858.75

 

Sub total £60,858.59

 

 

Charges incurred -

 

Court fees £150.00

 

Legal fees £1318.03

 

Post default collection charges £420.00

 

Solicitors charge to attend court hearing £82.25

 

Loan co admin charge-r/d cheque charge £165.00

 

Eastern counselling agency-default charge£360.00

 

Other fees and charges £906.00

 

Sub total £64,259.00

 

Redemption administration fee £250.00

 

Early settlement interest charged £5218.62

 

Settlement figure £69,728.49

 

We expected that there would be an ERC and realise it is unlikely that we would get this back, and understand that they were probably justified in making charges for bounced direct debit/cheque payments, but believe it is wrong that they didn't refund us any of the PPI (???) and were not sure whether they were right to make all those charges regarding a court case for repossession which never took place?

 

Also, we believe we may have a case for mis-selling of PPI as we were led to believe it was a condition of taking out the mortgage with Swift and were not told that as it was a Single Premium we would still be paying interest on the loan and the insurance.

 

We don't seem to have a copy of the original mortgage agreement, although we do have a policy for the PPI, which seems to state that it was only for 3 years, not the 25 which the mortgage was for.

 

We intend to send a Subject Access Request to Swift Advances, but as the account is closed and paid in full are they likely to just ignore the request?

 

Also, as the mortgage was arranged by Norton Finance, is it a good idea to send a copy of the Subject Access Request to them and if so, to whom do we send the £10.00 postal order fee please?

 

Any help and advice would be most welcome, thank you!!!

[landy_alert]

Thanks Pompeyfaith - I will get the letters off to Swift and Norton today and hopefully set the wheels in motion to get some of our money back!

 

Have you any idea how to best work out the interest we would be entitled to reclaim on the PPI?

 

I have looked at a couple of the calculators on here for that purpose, but am finding them a bit complicated - or maybe it's just me, lol!

 

Thanks again,

 

Landy

[landy_alert]

Unfortunately we don't seem to have a copy of the agreement for the actual mortgage - only a scedule for the PPI and the settlement statement

 

I am going to get the scanner out later - haven't used it since since we moved 14 months ago - and check whether it's working ok, as I can see I'm going to be using it a lot in the coming months!

 

(Will also have to learn how to use photobucket!)

 

Back to the mortgage info, at the moment all we have figure wise is what I listed in my first post above - which won't be any help I'm sure........

 

.........will just have to get the old SAR off and await a response!

 

Thanks again,

 

Landy

[landy_alert]

Pompeyfaith if you're still around - I've just thought of something else -

 

Do we need to put anything more specific in the SAR to Swift/Norton, particularly as the mortgage is paid off/account closed etc?

 

Having left out the stuff about the loan accounts to Lloyds, I don't want to miss out anything important to Swift!

 

Also, should we be CCAing them also? I guess so.

 

Thanks for all your help!

[landy_alert]

Brilliant - many thanks Pompeyfaith!

 

Have to pop out now, so will get the letter printed out on return and will get in post to them both tomorrow.

 

Landy

[landy_alert]

Pompeyfaith - many thanks for your offer to check the letter for me

 

Have just checked the scanner and the lead is missing, so called Son at uni who said he has the lead there - typical, eh?

 

OH is going to sort through huge box of spare leads later to see if we have another one. In the meantime I am reading up on the photobucket stuff and will start experimenting with it. Will get letter underway, but don't know if I'll be able to scan it tonight now!

 

I have plenty of other stuff to get on with on here though including MBNA who are next on my hit list

 

Regards

 

Landy

[landy_alert]

Thanks Pompeyfaith - will read your MBNA thread with interest!

 

Sounds promising for us if what you say is true regarding their poor record of storing docs!!!

 

Hope it's good news for you tomorrow when you call re your court case.

 

Regards

 

Landy

[landy_alert]

Just an update on this - having got so bogged down with Lloyds charges and PPI as well as MBNA charges and PPI on two credit cards, not forgetting Sainsbury's loan and credit card, Swift have been on the back burner, so to speak.

 

Today however, I finally got the SAR letter sent off to Swift as well as a copy to Norton, so hopefully now on the road to getting our single premium PPI back:D

[landy_alert]

Hi everyone,

 

Having received our SAR back from Swift and having perused the evidence, I am 99% certain there was no PPI rebate included in our settlement figure......so will be going all out to get this back. Watch this space:D

 

Regards,

 

Landy x

[landy_alert]

Hi PF and aa,

 

Am certainly on a bit of a roll at the mo, guys:D

 

Thanks again to you both for your help and advice - don't know what I'd do without it!

 

Regards,

 

Landy x

[landy_alert]

Thanks again aa:D

 

Have got the letter already to send re:PPI mis-selling but just wanted to confirm who you good peeps think it best to send it to -

 

Swift and copy it to the broker?

 

Broker and copy it to Swift?

 

Or what about the insurance co?

 

I imagine whoever it goes to will pass the buck and deny responsibility, but as Swift didn't include any PPI info in our SAR, I'm wondering if maybe they shouldn't be our first port of call........having said that, we copied the SAR letter to the broker (by recorded delivery of course) and got no acknowledgement that they'd ever received it coupled with the fact that RM track and trace still show it as not delivered over 40 days down the line, so I'm a bit wary about sending anything so important to them:sad:

 

Any advice would be most welcome as always, thank you!

 

Regards,

 

Landy x

[landy_alert]

Hi everyone,

 

Just updating this thread:)

 

I sent the PPI mis-selling letter to both Swift and the broker, but only the broker responded with the 'we're looking into your complaint and will get back to you in 8 weeks' letter. Swift didn't acknowledge the letter at all, so we sent them another (we know they received both letters as we have 'track and traced' them).

 

I have seen other threads where Alanalana has advised that the company to go for for PPI when a broker is also involved is the one that actually signed the agreement. In this case it was Swift. As we have received no response at all from Swift re this matter but the broker is 'looking into' it, I don't know what my next step should be. I can imagine that after 8 weeks the broker will probably come back to us and say it's not their responsibility and then we'll have to start all over again. The weird thing is Swift are responding to the other letters we have sent them:confused:

 

Any help and advice would be most welcome thank you!

 

Regards,

 

Landy x

[landy_alert]

Hi aa:)

 

Thank you - sorry to be dim, but where on the FSA site do I type in the company name to get the results on Swift, please?

 

Thanks again,

 

Landy x

[landy_alert]

Hi PF:)

 

Thank you for the info!

 

So what is the best thing to do about Swift just ignoring the letters I have sent - report them to the FSA? Sorry, I'm feeling a bit thick today!

 

It seems that they are avoiding the PPI issue totally as they haven't even acknowledged the 2 letters (despite me knowing they have signed for their receipt) - not even to deny responsibility for the mis-selling, which is what I had expected them to do.

 

Any further advice anyone can offer would be most appreciated, thank you!

 

Regards,

 

Landy x

[landy_alert]

Thanks aa:)

 

The CCA is definitely with Swift, but the trouble is if they are not acknowledging my letters regarding the PPI I don't know how next to proceed............do I just wait till the broker gets back to me as they have promised to do?

 

The other thing is this is a non-regulated agreement so does that mean the FOS won't handle it? I don't mind if we have to go down the court route with this one, but as we also have an on-going charges claim with Swift (which Swift ARE currently looking into), I'm wondering if we can just take them to court for the charges and PPI in one go?

 

Sorry for all these PPI related questions I keep coming up with - I did a calculation last night and discovered we have PPI to reclaim (or are in the process of reclaiming) on 14 different loans, cards etc - most paid off, thankfully!

 

Regards,

 

Landy x

[landy_alert]

Thanks aa:) Will do!

 

Regards,

 

Landy x

[landy_alert]

Hi everyone:)

 

Just updating this thread -

 

We received a response from the broker regarding the PPI - they come up with all the usual answers to our allegations that the PPI was mis-sold - ie, denials all round, but and its a big but - they have a blooming recording of the conversation in which it was sold to us. Now, I'm looking into a few queries I still have over this - I don't want to say too much to give the game away if they are watching, but I wondered whether there was anyone who had had success in a case like this?

 

Any help would be much appreciated as always, thanks!

 

Regards,

 

Landy x

[landy_alert]

Hi everyone:)

 

Just updating this thread -

 

We received a response from the broker regarding the PPI - they come up with all the usual answers to our allegations that the PPI was mis-sold - ie, denials all round, but and its a big but - they have a blooming recording of the conversation in which it was sold to us. Now, I'm looking into a few queries I still have over this - I don't want to say too much to give the game away if they are watching, but I wondered whether there was anyone who had had success in a case like this?

 

Any help would be much appreciated as always, thanks!

 

Regards,

 

Landy x

 

Just bumping this thread in case anyone has any experience of a similar situation;)

 

Regards,

 

Landy x

[landy_alert]

Hi everyone:)

 

Just updating this thread -

 

According to the letter we received back from our broker, the PPI was provided by Sterling Insurance. In amongst the paperwork the broker sent 'proving' we chose to take out the 'optional' PPI was a policy document from Sterling. We have never seen this document before and do not have a copy of it in our original file for our mortgage.

 

One strange thing is that the mortgage was taken out in May 2006 and yet the Insurance policy start date is December 2006:confused:

 

In our file we do have some letters relating to the PPI which say the policy was with Premier Writers, who I had always assumed were the Insurer, but I now think that maybe they were just the underwriter?

 

If anyone can shed any light on any of this I would be most grateful.

 

Thank you,

 

Landy x

[landy_alert]

Hi Lynn:)

 

Many thanks for the info - very helpful and most appreciated!

 

I will definitely do as you suggest.

 

Regards,

 

Landy x

[landy_alert]

Hi everyone:)

 

Just a further update - apologies in advance for the length -

 

I have sent a letter to Sterling as recommended by bach - thank you bach:) Have not yet received a response.

 

Have had a further response from the broker to my letter in which I put them to strict proof with written evidence that they sent us the information they say they sent, allowing us to make an informed decision. Obviously my letter said more than just this but that was the main thrust of it.

 

They have not sent any written proof that they did indeed provide us with this info at the time of taking out the mortgage. Instead they insist that we were sent two copies of the loan agreement - one with PPI and one without.

 

I am absolutely certain they did not, but if they are not prepared to show us the proof and just expect us to take their word for it I'm not sure how to proceed:confused: I am sure that if they had and the PPI had indeed been as optional as they say it was we would not have chosen to take it as we could ill afford the extra expense.

 

Am I right in thinking the onus is on them to prove we received this information?

 

Furthermore any information we were given at the time regarding the PPI was pretty scant - none of it explained the cost of the PPI per month or how it would affect the overall cost of the mortgage. In fact none of the paperwork even showed the total cost for credit of the actual loan:eek:

 

The broker says we were provided with a policy summary/document relating to the PPI policy prior to signing the agreement. I have found one document which refers to an enclosed policy summary, but there is no policy summary. We should, I admit, have noticed this at the time and asked for a copy of it, but firstly we were desperate to borrow the money and we were also pretty bad at reading small print back then so possibly didn't even notice it wasn't there. If we had received it I believe it would be in the file with all the relevant paperwork which we kept together. Why would we get rid of some docs but keep others from the same batch?

 

The only policy document we do have in our possession dating from the time of taking out the mortgage is accompanied by a letter dated 6 weeks after we signed the agreement. This was sent by the underwriter.

 

They also refer to the Demands and Needs statement. We do have a copy of this - it is a generic printed sheet with no questions or answers to be filled in - an example of what is says is -

 

'Your Demands

 

You would like your loan repayments to be repaid if you became involuntarily unemployed or ill within the next five years. (Subject to a maximum period as noted in the Policy Wording or Summary of Cover)*

You would like the outstanding amount of your loan to be settled if you should die within the next five years (see Policy Wording or Summary of Cover to confirm that this coveris available)

 

Your Needs

 

You do not have any way to pay your loan if you have an accident, become sick or are involuntarily unemployed

You do not have any way of paying the outstanding balance of your loan if you die.'

 

We did both sign this form, but the points were not based upon any questions we had been asked. Although we were obviously stupid and naive to sign it without questioning it, the fact that it says we had no other cover is not true as we had insurance with Scottish Widows at the time as well as Mr L's employer providing 6 months full pay etc if he was ill.

 

Additionally the Demands and Needs form refers to five years cover, yet we discovered later (when we received the policy doc from the underwriter after signing) that the PPI was only for three years - so surely there is something wrong there?

 

I don't know now whether to go to the FOS (the broker says it is their final response) or wait till Sterling (the insurer) has replied.

 

I presume that because this dates from 2006 there is no problem with the broker being regulated by the FSA?

 

Any help would be most welcome as always, thank you!

 

Regards,

 

Landy x

Edited August 12, 2009 by landy_alert
Altered something!

[landy_alert]

Hi everyone:)

 

Just a further update - apologies in advance for the length -

 

I have sent a letter to Sterling as recommended by bach - thank you bach:) Have not yet received a response.

 

Have had a further response from the broker to my letter in which I put them to strict proof with written evidence that they sent us the information they say they sent, allowing us to make an informed decision. Obviously my letter said more than just this but that was the main thrust of it.

 

They have not sent any written proof that they did indeed provide us with this info at the time of taking out the mortgage. Instead they insist that we were sent two copies of the loan agreement - one with PPI and one without.

 

I am absolutely certain they did not, but if they are not prepared to show us the proof and just expect us to take their word for it I'm not sure how to proceed:confused: I am sure that if they had and the PPI had indeed been as optional as they say it was we would not have chosen to take it as we could ill afford the extra expense.

 

Am I right in thinking the onus is on them to prove we received this information?

 

Furthermore any information we were given at the time regarding the PPI was pretty scant - none of it explained the cost of the PPI per month or how it would affect the overall cost of the mortgage. In fact none of the paperwork even showed the total cost for credit of the actual loan:eek:

 

The broker says we were provided with a policy summary/document relating to the PPI policy prior to signing the agreement. I have found one document which refers to an enclosed policy summary, but there is no policy summary. We should, I admit, have noticed this at the time and asked for a copy of it, but firstly we were desperate to borrow the money and we were also pretty bad at reading small print back then so possibly didn't even notice it wasn't there. If we had received it I believe it would be in the file with all the relevant paperwork which we kept together. Why would we get rid of some docs but keep others from the same batch?

 

The only policy document we do have in our possession dating from the time of taking out the mortgage is accompanied by a letter dated 6 weeks after we signed the agreement. This was sent by the underwriter.

 

They also refer to the Demands and Needs statement. We do have a copy of this - it is a generic printed sheet with no questions or answers to be filled in - an example of what is says is -

 

'Your Demands

 

You would like your loan repayments to be repaid if you became involuntarily unemployed or ill within the next five years. (Subject to a maximum period as noted in the Policy Wording or Summary of Cover)*

You would like the outstanding amount of your loan to be settled if you should die within the next five years (see Policy Wording or Summary of Cover to confirm that this coveris available)

 

Your Needs

 

You do not have any way to pay your loan if you have an accident, become sick or are involuntarily unemployed

You do not have any way of paying the outstanding balance of your loan if you die.'

 

We did both sign this form, but the points were not based upon any questions we had been asked. Although we were obviously stupid and naive to sign it without questioning it, the fact that it says we had no other cover is not true as we had insurance with Scottish Widows at the time as well as Mr L's employer providing 6 months full pay etc if he was ill.

 

Additionally the Demands and Needs form refers to five years cover, yet we discovered later (when we received the policy doc from the underwriter after signing) that the PPI was only for three years - so surely there is something wrong there?

 

I don't know now whether to go to the FOS (the broker says it is their final response) or wait till Sterling (the insurer) has replied.

 

I presume that because this dates from 2006 there is no problem with the broker being regulated by the FSA?

 

Any help would be most welcome as always, thank you!

 

Regards,

 

Landy x

 

Just giving this a gentle bump for some further advice please:D

[landy_alert]

Did you SAR the broker or Swift?

 

I see you sent the PPI letter to both but perhaps the SAR would produce a better result. They can ignore the PPI letter for 8 weeks or refuse your claim in which case the FOS comes into play.

 

The SAR should be complied with in 40 days and then it is the ICO for their failure to comply with a legal statute in law namely the DPA 1998 an act of Parliament.

 

If swift and they are blaming the broker and the broker is saying basically get stuffed by not providing the information perhaps you could SAR broker and if the broker then does not come up with the goods send in a complaint to the ICO requesting they enforce the release of the data they hold on you.

 

IMO I would always advocate chasing the organisation that signed the Consumer Credit Agreement and not the broker or any other side organisation. If a representative of Swift signed then go after them if a broker was used it is up to them to reclaim any PPI money you no doubt have been or are still paying to swift.

 

Hope this is clear ??

 

aa

 

Hi aa:)

 

Thank you as always for a helpful post!

 

I think, but I'm just going to check in my Swift file, that we SARed both Swift and the broker. Hold on a mo........

 

............right, what we did and I think it was on the advice of 42man, who is also a Swift victim, was send the SAR to Swift and copy it to the broker. Swift responded - eventually, after a LBA for non-compliance, but the broker never responded at all. We didn't follow it up I'm afraid:(

 

I suppose we should have just SARed them separately - we could do so now, but I have feeling that now they know we are after them they will just concoct the missing documents to imply we received them when they say we did at the time of taking out the mortgage.

 

I thought by putting them to strict proof, with written evidence, as I did in my last letter that they would have to comply - but either they don't have the proof or else they feel they can just ignore my request.

 

Is there no other way I could find out whether they actually sent us that info, like a CPR request or something?

 

Regards,

 

Landy x

[landy_alert]

The CPR route will need a sharper mind than mine. I have generally kept clear of court procedures but you could pop into the legal forums and post the question there I am sure you will get the support you need

 

Thanks aa:)

 

How my mind is feeling at the moment - scrambled - I think maybe I'd better steer clear of CPR too! I've done a bit of reading on the subject in the past, but legalese is not my favourite language:eek:

 

Will have a think about how to proceed next - I definitely don't want to give up as there's too much money at stake, not too mention getting a bit of justice for what poor Mr L went through because of these idiots.

 

Thanks again for your continued support!

 

Regards,

 

Landy x

[landy_alert]

Hi everyone:)

 

Just another update -

 

Sterling Insurance have responded saying our PPI was not with them:(

 

That means that the Sterling Insurance policy sent to us by our broker purporting to be ours was a red herring:mad:

 

Now I'm back to square one unfortunately - I have three options......

 

1) Contact the company I had assumed were the underwriters who must be the actual insurer

 

2) Pass the whole lot to the FOS

 

3) Do I even bother to ask the broker why they sent us a policy that was nothing to do with us?

 

If I decide on option 1, should I ask about a rebate or just say the PPI was mis-sold (as I am still certain it was)?

 

Decisions, decisions - how I hate them, especially as I always seem to make the wrong one:eek:

 

Sorry, had a carp day today (too many enigmatic letters from LTSB to deal with) and have had too much vino tonight!

 

Rant over.

 

Regards,

 

Landy x

Edited August 14, 2009 by landy_alert
Added something!