SPML/Capstone/Ascenden

[Jen2603]

I'm presently complaining to the ever lovely Capstone/SPML/Ascenden regarding mortgage arrears charges. Going through the statements has been eye opening to say the least.

 

Since taking my mortgage out in 2007 the total CMI due amounts to £19,034.27.

 

I have paid a total of £19,835.73 (All CMIs due +801.27)

 

Yet despite this my CMI arrears presently stand at £316.92

 

and I have been charged a total of £4792.15

 

of which £3841.00 are late payment/arrears management fees

 

and £951.15 relate to solicitors fees.

 

At their worst my arrears amounted to no more than three months payments roughly £900 or so.

 

I'm happy enough to pay their solicitors fees but the additional charges levied seem somewhat disproportionate.

It also appears that until last year they have been allocating my overpayments to the charges rather than

the missed payments keeping me in permanent payment arrears and walloping on the charges.

 

For example this month I'll pay them £500 which will cover the £316.00 presently outstanding with plenty

left over to pay towards their legal costs but because I cannot pay on the 1st as I don't get paid until the

20th, I'll be getting hit with another arrears charge. Likewise I'll be in arrears again from 1st of June

because I cannot pay until 20th June and so on.

 

I've just sent my complaint off to the ombudsman, however was wondering if anyone here can report the

ombudsman looking at things fairly. I genuinely don't mind reimbursing any out of pocket expenses incurred

by SPML/Capstone/Ascenden but these charges cannot possibly be an accurate reflection of their costs.

Edited May 7, 2012 by Jen2603

[dx100uk]

get reclaiming

 

they are PENALTY fees - end off

 

dx

[Jen2603]

get reclaiming

 

they are PENALTY fees - end off

 

dx

 

 

I knew they'd been pretty bad with the charges but I cannot even begin to describe how shocked I am

seeing the total and knowing that all my monthly payments have been brought up to date, yet they continue to charge me for the charges. Had SPM/Ascenden allocated everything I have paid to the monthly payments rather than their charges. I would not presently be in arrears.

 

I have found more than one instance of them putting me back in arrears by allocating my full monthly payment to charges and then adding another £95 charge to my account for 'missing' a payment.

 

I've sent everything off to the FOS I'm just hoping they'll look sympathetically at my situation.

[Ell-enn]

Hi Jen, have you sent a calculation to the FOS ? i.e. a spreadsheet showing payments made and charges applied to your account each month since you went into arrears ?

[Jen2603]

I've just done a breakdown of the charges and requested a refund of interest. I wasn't sure if I should go for the contractual rate or the statutory rate of 8%. Any thoughts?

[dx100uk]

pers i'd use:

 

FosCISheet v101.xls

 

and use their mortgage int rate.

 

dx

[flower2]

The FOS are a bit of a lost cause. I complained & after approx 2 yrs they found some charges in my favour, I accepted & SMPL had until the 25th April to contact me, I contacted the FOS again & they said I would here by the end of the week which was a fortnight ago, STLL WAITING.

 

Hope you have more luck than me

[Jen2603]

Hi Flower2,

That is disappointing to hear. Two years is a ludicruos time to wait for a decision. I hope matters get resolved for you soon.

[Leo1]

Subscribed as sending my SAR to Acenden this week, battle stations ready!

[Jen2603]

Good luck Leo1.

 

They are a terrible company.

 

Mind you their incompetence worked quite well for me recently.

I didn't do a SAR.

I just wrote a letter querying the level of charges applied to my account and stated that I felt they were excessive.

I got a couple of standard acknowledgements, then a massive envelope containing all statements,

charges etc with a covering letter saying that was their final response and if I wasn't happy I should go to the FOS.

So I did!

 

They either must be feeling very confident or are overwhelmed by reclaims

and can't be bothered even pretending to go through a complaints procedure.

 

I'm not feeling too great at the moment and have a lot on.

If they'd been smart and spun it out they could have got rid of me for a while longer at least.

 

Going over the statements

 

I note that they've refunded charges at seemingly random intervals.

As I hadn't complained I'm not sure why they've done this.

There doesn't seem to be any pattern to it.

One month they'll refund an arrears charge,

the next they impose it even though the payments made within each month are the same.

 

I've not heard back from the FOS yet, though it's still early days. Will keep thread updated with progress of a hopefully successful reclaim.

 

Dx100uk-

Thanks for the calculator.

 

It's been an amazing help.

[joby73]

Hi

 

We have sent Acenden a cheque for £4666.32 for fictious arrears charges to clear them as we are sick of been takin to court by them, Acenden claim they have never recieved the cheque even though it was sent recorded post and signed for as recieved On the 8th May, The cheque was cashed on the 10th May and was cashed by them and still they say they have never recieved it thus leaving us still in arrears and had the balls to ask us for a £65 administration chrge cheeky sods

[Ell-enn]

Did you write your mortgage account number and name and address on the back of the cheque ?

[joby73]

Did you write your mortgage account number and name and address on the back of the cheque ?

 

yes we did and they no they have recieved and cashed it. The holding on because we are in court with them again on the 25th May so more charges 2 be added

[Ell-enn]

Have you done an up to date statement for court with proof of them receiving and cashing the cheque ?

[joby73]

We are in the process of getting all the proof together for the court, cant wait to see what the judge says

[Ell-enn]

OK, if you need help with writing a statement for court to go with the proof of payment etc, please let me know and I'll happily draft one

[joby73]

Thankyou I may need all the help i can get

[Ell-enn]

OK, let me know what proof you intend to use and we'll take it from there. If possible you should try and get the statement and supporting proof to the court a few days before the hearing so the judge can read it before you go in.

[Jen2603]

Hi

 

We have sent Acenden a cheque for £4666.32 for fictious arrears charges to clear them as we are sick of been takin to court by them, Acenden claim they have never recieved the cheque even though it was sent recorded post and signed for as recieved On the 8th May, The cheque was cashed on the 10th May and was cashed by them and still they say they have never recieved it thus leaving us still in arrears and had the balls to ask us for a £65 administration chrge cheeky sods

 

That is appalling! Follow Ell-enn's advice re the court action they're taking as obviously that's the priority just now. However I would strongly recommend going through their complaints procedure and then putting a complaint into the Financial Ombudsman's Service to try and recover these charges. It might also be helpful for you in court if they can also see there is a dispute on the account with regard to charges and the true arrears.

 

With regard to my own situation i received a letter from them today asking me to contact them urgently to discuss my arrears. Hell will freeze over before I talk to them on the phone and in any case I have once again cleared my payment arrears and paid a total of £189 to my charges this month. Next month they'll get the same again and so on. I'm just crossing my fingers the FOS rule in my favour and fairly quickly. I grudge every penny I pay over my CMI knowing how badly I have been ripped off.

[joby73]

Hi,

 

Just to let everyone no today went really well in court we got an absolute discharge by the judge she was discusted at what acenden had done to us.

We are also in the process of going to the fos re all there ficticious charges.

we have had £7700 added to £2000 in missed payments these payments were missed when we had a serious house fire 5 years ago and to date they still say we owe £4666.32 even though we have been paying our cmi plus £78 off the arrears every month it dosent add up but nothing acenden does adds up. we were only taken back to court because of the level of arrears and this is the 13th time since 2005.

At least my husband has calmed down now.

I also grudge paying every penny to these idiots as they sit there wondering what else they can do to make every customers life a living nightmare

[Jen2603]

Just woke up this morning to find a letter from our chums at Ascenden had arrived. Curiously after five years of refusing to change my mortgage payment date......they have changed my mortgage payment date!

 

I'm relieved that this means I won't be hit with a monthly charge of £65:00 for paying 'late' but still somewhat cheesed off that I have paid charges running into thousands which in part have been down to their refusal to change my payment date. Naturally they've not made any mention of refunding me so I'll just have to wait for the FOS getting back to me on that.

 

On the subject of the FOS can anyone advise how long they normally take t acknowledge receipt of your case? I sent everything off to them about a month a go and to date have not received a response.

[Ell-enn]

Have you not even received an acknowledgement of your complaint? Did you send it by recorded delivery?

[Jen2603]

No I just did it through standard post. I have copies of everything so if I don't hear anything by the end of next week I'll re send by recorded delivery.

[Jen2603]

At long last I have received an acknowledgement from the FOS. They have contacted SPML and hope to get back to me within twelve weeks. Fingers crossed!

[mustard7]

Fingers crossed for you!

My complaint is very similar to yours.. though I have tried to deal direct with Ascendon rather than the fos route.

So far they have reimbursed only £140 out of the thousands I believe they owe me.

Similar to you situation I had 'paid off' my arrears within a few months of them occuring but due to them adding charges all the time my arrears balance never seemed to reduce leading to a suspended repossession order and ultimately forcing me to sell my home.