Help! Husband's 18year old mortgage debt landed on our doorstep today. I'm terrified.

[unclebulgaria67]

Different payment dates and amounts would cast doubt on the reliability of the evidence.

 

I would suggest that when you next write to Halifax, that you question this.

 

Take a rest from this and if you don't hear anything by Monday, chase it up with a letter to the Halifax and a copy to the FOS, letting them know the complaint is still open as far as you are concerned.

[rdm2006]

Just throwing in a thought here. Are you and OH on low income? if so have you considered a DEBT RELEIF ORDER? this basically wipes out your current debt (max of £15,000 I think) Cant remember what your shortfall was - sorry

 

Its a bit of a side step but if it gets the result of stopping them doing something that they should not be doing anyway - its a win in my view

[perplexedofdorset]

Hi Tintin, Opps! sorry RDM,

 

Well I would certainly qualify, working at the minimum wage for 20 hours a week; but I'm afraid my OH is rather successful at everything he does, which includes the career he started when he came home. That's not to mean he's on big bucks; just to a girl who's maximum ever wage was £16 1/2k (in 2000), I think he is!

The shortfall was around £29k.

 

Maybe he should ditch his job and take advantage of all these benefits for people who don't work....Naaah, that way madness lies!

Ill get back to you all oer the weekend with drafts of these letters, but wait for the post on Monday.

Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

 

Uncl B,

legal expenses optional cover

would that cover consultation with a solicitor then?

[unclebulgaria67]

Pass. You would have to check your policy as to whether you have the legal expenses option and then give them a phone call. They might not even cover the situation that you are in and therefore may not be able to offer any advice.

[perplexedofdorset]

Hi Guys

 

 

Ah the good old Halifax!!!

 

A letter dropped on the mat today from them, they........

 

note our continuing request for details of the payment received in connection with my OH former mortgage, and refer me respectfully(yeah right)to the letter dated 190th February, in particular points no: 1, 6 and 7.

It has been explained to us that they are unable to provide us with sort code or account numbers.

We have been sent the case history, list of payments and list of debits and credits to the mortgage account.

 

From the letter of 10th Feb.....

 

point no: 1....unfortunately I am unable to provide you with sort code, account number from where the payments originated, please find enclosed DLC case notes, and payments.

point no: 6....Please find a breakdown of all credits and debits to the mortgage account

point no: 7....Please find a breakdown of all debits and credits to the mortgage account.

 

(is it me or are they repeating themselves?????????)

 

So there I think we have it, the pieces of paper say my OH made the calls, wrote the letter and emails, and paid the payments, so it must be true...... OH REALLY??????

 

So is this the 'evidence' we need ..that the H cannot actually provide any evidence to show exactly WHO made they were in contact with??????

 

Or will the FOS continue to believe their word against ours........

 

Over to you.......

Edited April 20, 2012 by perplexedofdorset

[unclebulgaria67]

So send the latest letter from the Halifax onto the FOS, saying that there is no proof that your OH made the payments to DLC. Without such proof, you maintain your position that Halifax should not be pursuing the account and that you wish to continue your complaint with the actual Ombudsman. The lady that is dealing with it, will probably not be the actual Ombudsman, but just someone who reviews the complaints at the start of the process. I am not sure how the FOS decide which cases merit ending up on the actual Ombudsmans desk. But it is worth continuing the complaint at this time and saying that you are not happy with the interim review that the FOS have conducted.

 

In the meantime, when you have £10 to spare, send off an SAR to DLC for the information that they hold. As this progresses, the info that DLC holds may or may not prove essential for you to have. You just never know, whether the Halifax have kept information back from DLC or DLC have not provided all the information that they hold.

[perplexedofdorset]

Thank you Uncle B, sounds like a sensible next step.

 

Today we received another letter from FOS saying that they...

 

received our letter of complaint on the 12th April and because of the high number of enquires they may be up to 4 weeks before they come back to us....

 

This is from someone different, Do you think the letter has arrived as matter of course and my Speedy Gonzales of an adjudicator pre empted / got to work more quickly than the woman in Operation Support???

[rdm2006]

1st person you deal with in FOS is an adjudicator. if you disagree with their opinion it will be passed to an ombudsman. In my experience they will just reiterate what the adjudicator said (heres hoping this time is different).

 

Remember that they do not have to follow the law and no one has to prove a thing, so if halifax say that black is actually white then the ombudsman will probably agree with them

[perplexedofdorset]

HTH (Hope This Helps)

 

No ! that doesn't help!

 

So if the H say that although the man in the moon may have made those payments as this chaps name on them and we'll go with that......that will be the way it is and the H will hound us til we die?????????/

[unclebulgaria67]

It is just one step at a time. Yes the FOS can only go on the information that they are provided with, but sometimes you do get different opinions from different people at the FOS. I have read of many instances, where different adjudicators have looked at complaints and have made different decisions.

 

The FOS are very under resourced, so of course the adjudicators will be under pressure to process the complaints as quickly as possible. So RDM is correct that sometimes the FOS, will not do the leg work to prove your case for you. Hence this is why it may be a good idea to send the SAR to DLC, when you are able to do so.

 

This was never going to be a quick process.

[389shell]

subbing

[rdm2006]

all i can say is that in my case i had been advised of one thing by three different levels in my bank, the last one being written from the head of that departments complaints section - so you would think that he would have to know his job.

 

The bank wrote to fos advising that this was a mistake which they duly accepted and without question. so forgive me for being just a little doubtful.

 

like i said i really do hope that it is different for you.................

[perplexedofdorset]

Good morning everyone,

 

Please find below a draft of my next letter to the FOS, any suggestions, amendments etc gratefully received ...

 

Q: Should I use the term, my husband or use his name, Mr *** in these letters?

Q: I am especially asking for help with the italicised paragraph...does that read right?

 

Dear Ms .....

 

Ref: *********

 

We do not acknowledge this alleged debt.

 

Further to my letter of the 10th April please find a copy of the Halifax’s response to my third request for proof of from where these alleged payments and contacts originated. As you can see they freely admit that they have no evidence of the source of these.

 

We therefore maintain that, as there is no evidence that my husband made these payments, the Halifax has no grounds to pursue this alleged debt.We therefore wish to continue with our complaint with the Ombudsman, as we are not happy with the interim review.

 

Thank you for the missing enclosures; they are, as I had suspected, the documents already in our possesion.

 

I enclose an additional document from the DLC showing payments allegedly received toward this debt and draw your attention to certain dates, amounts received and even the total amount paid that do not correlate in any way to the Halifax’s list of alleged payments. This strongly indicates that the record keeping at DLC may not be as reliable as expected and must cast doubt over any subsequent allegations of my husband’s involvement with this debt.

 

Couple these discrepancies with the Halifax’s inability to provide evidence of the source of the payments and inaccuracies in their case notes and we find their allegations of contact with my husband to be highly suspect.

 

I will be printing and posting tomorrow (1st class recorded) as we have no black ink left in our printer and I don't think the letter will have the necessary gravitas in purple!!

So time for any revisions or additions.

 

As for the letter from the H, I don't know whether I mentioned a sentence at the end of the last letter...

 

You have advised you have been in contact with the FOS and the bank still awaits hearing from them.

 

I also note a brief letter from the H on the 20 Feb, which states that they await hearing from the FOS.

 

Does that mean the FOS are working on the documents I sent to them only?

is there evidence of the source of the payments that the H hold but will reveal only to the FOS or??????????????

 

So guys,, over to you.........

 

On the subject of the two lists of payments, should I be writing to the H to ask them to explain the differences, inaccuracies?

Edited April 23, 2012 by perplexedofdorset

[unclebulgaria67]

[quote=perplexedofdorset;3803497

 

Q: Should I use the term, my husband or use his name, Mr *** in these letters? Use Mr ****

 

 

Dear Ms .....

 

Ref: *********

 

We do not acknowledge this alleged debt. ( Don't think it is necessary to include this. They already know that you are disputing the debt, as evidenced by the complaint to the FOS, the content of this letter and previous correspondence. Your dispute is not whether the debt exists, but that Halifax are out of time to collect it )

 

Further to my letter of the 10th April please find a copy of the Halifax’s response to my third request for proof of from where these alleged payments and contacts originated. As you can see they freely admit that they have no evidence of the source of these.

 

We therefore maintain that, as there is no evidence that my husband made these payments, the Halifax has no grounds to pursue this alleged debt.We therefore wish to continue with our complaint with the Ombudsman, as we are not happy with the interim review.

 

Thank you for the missing enclosures; they are, as I had suspected, the documents already in our possesion.

 

I enclose an additional document from the DLC showing payments allegedly received toward this debt and draw your attention to certain dates, amounts received and even the total amount paid that do not correlate in any way to the Halifax’s list of alleged payments. This strongly indicates that the record keeping at DLC may not be reliable and casts doubt over any allegations of my husband’s involvement with these payments.

 

Couple these discrepancies with the Halifax’s inability to provide evidence of the source of the payments and inaccuracies in their case notes and we find their allegations of contact with my husband to be highly suspect.

 

As for the letter from the H, I don't know whether I mentioned a sentence at the end of the last letter...

 

You have advised you have been in contact with the FOS and the bank still awaits hearing from them.

 

I also note a brief letter from the H on the 20 Feb, which states that they await hearing from the FOS.

 

Does that mean the FOS are working on the documents I sent to them only? No, I suspect that the FOS are dealing with someone at the Halifax who handles the FOS and not the Halifax department that is dealing with the mortgage shortfall. Bad communications within Halifax. When you send the Halifax a copy of the above letter, advise them that you don't know why they have not heard from the FOS.

is there evidence of the source of the payments that the H hold but will reveal only to the FOS or?????????????? I doubt it. Obviously DLC don't have the information to provide to the Halifax, otherwise Halifax would have provided it straightaway.

 

So guys,, over to you.........

 

On the subject of the two lists of payments, should I be writing to the H to ask them to explain the differences, inaccuracies? YES

 

See above in RED .

[perplexedofdorset]

Thank you Uncle B, noted and amended...

 

The letter to the H....

Shall I send them the highlighted DLC list, which I shall be sending to the FOS?

 

I shall be back later this afternoon / evening with a draft of the letter to the H.

As soon as pay day arrives I will be making the request to DLC, along with the £10 fee...have you got a template for that?

[unclebulgaria67]

Yes you could send Halifax the info that you are sending to the FOS.

 

Sometimes it is best to be vague with the SAR. Basically you want everything that they hold. The letter should be sent to DLC Head of Compliance/Data Protection Officer.

 

This from the ICO may help. http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_the_public/personal_information/how_manage/access_info.aspx

[perplexedofdorset]

Thanks Uncle B...

 

I've just transferred a savings account of mine that has been released to our bank account, so am going to request the SAR as soon as possible....

 

Q: How should I pay the fee?

I don't want them getting hold of my OH's bank details via a cheque and don't want to send a cheque from my account as my surname is different,

and as its to do with data protection they might not release the info...

 

mind you they're a business and money is money isn't it??

What do you think?

[perplexedofdorset]

how is this for the sar request uncle B?

 

 

Ref: ****** - Mr ******

 

Please supply all the information you hold about me relating to payments collected toward the above account. I am entitled to this under the Data Protection Act 1998.

 

This would include the type and source of any payments, including bank name, sort code and account number if applicable.

If you need any more information from me, please let me know as soon as possible.

 

If you do not normally deal with these requests, please pass this letter to your Data Protection Officer or another appropriate officer.

[perplexedofdorset]

I have changed the wording of the letter to the FOS just slightly..

 

do not correlate in any way to the Halifax’s list of alleged payments. This strongly indicates that the record keeping at DLC and the Halifax may not be reliable

 

I mean who are we to say who's records are wrong!!!

[unclebulgaria67]

Postal Order ?

 

The SAR Letter I would change a little.

 

Ref: ****** ( Relating to Halifax Mortgage account) - Mr ******

 

Please supply all the information you hold about me, including those relating to payments collected toward the above account. I am entitled to this under the Data Protection Act 1998.

 

This would include the type and source of any payments, including bank name, sort code and account number if applicable.

 

If you need any more information from me, please let me know as soon as possible. I enclose a postal order for £10, which is the maximum fee that may be charged for a Subject Access Request under the Data Protection Act 1998.

 

If you do not normally deal with these requests, please pass this letter to your Data Protection Officer or another appropriate officer.

[unclebulgaria67]

I have changed the wording of the letter to the FOS just slightly..

 

do not correlate in any way to the Halifax’s list of alleged payments. This strongly indicates that the record keeping at DLC and the Halifax may not be reliable

 

 

 

I mean who are we to say who's records are wrong!!!

 

Yes that seems to be ok

[perplexedofdorset]

Excellent Uncle B,

Will do.

Do you think I have to sign a scribble for this? I haven't been getting a signature for any of my correspondence so far, just typing my OH's name and it seems to be ok, so...??

This may get printed and posted on Wednesday as I have a really busy day tomorrow,

but first class recorded will still get to the FOS before May 1st won't it??

I'll get a draft of the letter to the Halifax on here soon too.

Have a nice evening

Edited April 23, 2012 by perplexedofdorset

[Ell-enn]

Send the £10 fee by postal order - write on the back of the PO, name and address and also the words "Fee for Subject Access Request only" so they don't try and use the money towards the account. Take a photocopy of the front and back of the postal order and staple it to your copy of the letter - add the recorded delivery receipt once you have printed off the signature proof.

[perplexedofdorset]

Thank you.

 

i would never have thought of that sneaky b********

[Ell-enn]

Wouldn't be the first time a lender has used an SAR fee to put to the account and then tried to say the debt was acknowledged as a payment had been received !