Santander Mortgage Arrears

[Lilythepink]

I have a joint mortgage with my sister or rather a remortgage, of 87000, We have kept our payments up to date, until I took sick, and have been off work with PTSD, stress/depression, and am currently waiting for treatment.

My sister rang them, and she had to phone the CCCS and get a number or something, so that Santander knew that we had spoken to someone about our situation.

The woman suggested we paid £50 off a month, we usually pay £591. So we actually paid £200 off for the last two months. Now we both have received letters today, saying that unless we pay the arrears within the next seven days, we will get a visit from a field person.

As far as we were concerned we thought this arrangement was for 3 months, and we had paid over the amount they suggested, and the interest was frozen, with no charges. But they say we owe them over £758.00

This has us very confused and frightened, as money is very tight, and we have our essentials to pay for. Does one dept not talk to the other..

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Hi, you do not have to talk to anyone who calls they have no authority what so ever.

 

I suggest sending the follwing to Santander:

 

Ref: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

I refer to your letter regarding a visit from a field agent from your company, please be aware that we will only deal with this matter in writting and have no wish to make any arrangement or appointment with any such agent, therefore any such uninvited contact will be considered harassment and WILL reported to the relevant

regulatory bodies without further reference to you.

 

Send recorded delivery.

[Lea_HTH]

What do you mean you paid 50 quid? Did you also pay the monthly instalment?

 

You won't lose your home for 758 pounds worth of arrears though, so long as you can afford to pay the monthly instalment plus something towards the arrears.

 

Your 'essentials' include your mortgage which has first priority.

[Lilythepink]

I will send that letter,thanks

 

No, I have no money to pay my half of the mortgage, but my sister was dealing with it, and she told me, that the customer services at Santander, said only pay what you can afford, and suggested £50.00, but we gathered together £200. And for the last two months they were meant to have frozen all charges etc. There is nothing on my CRA experian to say that we have defaulted or late payments or anything, and it was updated by Santander a couple of months ago.

[barbershop0]

Have you considered asking them if you can go onto interest only for a period until you get treatment?

The field agent would possibly want you & your sister to complete a income & expenditure statement (and charge you for the visit). Your local CAB can help you complete one of these which may be acceptable to Santander, these are much more reasonable people to talk to rather than a field agent.

 

Santander may not have update the CRA's.

[Lilythepink]

My sister phoned Santander, and they won't consider any kind of payment other than full, because my sister is paying her unsecured debts, and I said to get it in writing. I just hope I can get better quickly, although they have told me it will take time.

I am going to write that letter to them anyway. The customer service people can say things like pay only £50, but in fact they have probably charged us for the privilege. Mortgage comes first everything else, can go and hang itself...... have to get myself healthy first and then deal with the others.

[Lea_HTH]

Are you certain your sister did not misunderstand - normally a mortgagee would expect the current instalment plus an extra amount towards any arrears. Unless they agree to interest only, then it wouldn't make any sense for them to offer discounted monthly payments as that would simply increase the arrears.

 

Your sister must not prioritise unsecured debt over the mortgage - if she has spoken to CCCS they must surely have informed her of that fact.

 

Are you not getting paid from work whilst you are absent due to ill health? Have you considered claiming benefits if not?

[Lilythepink]

THanks for that advice. My sister puts her head in the sand, and tries to ignore everything. I have told her she will have to not pay some of her debts and try and get the mortgage paid. She is meant to my support whilst I was off ill, but she is not in much, and I have plenty of time to worry. I am on half pay, and I pay only £1 to my cc, and I am changing banks, so they can't take any of the ESA that I have or my DLA. She does not tell me the truth about anything I think, because she has let me down on money things, and I have had to pay them myself. I am on my own and will have to try and sort myself out. I so want to get back to work, but at the moment they won't take me back, as I am still suffering from so much stress. The waiting list is so long for treatment, that I actually wrote to the NHS and they have to come back to me, as I don't want to lose the house. I find the forums very helpful, as I can't mention money to my sister as she flies off the handle, and just shouts at me. So onwards and upwards...... I will try my best to pay my half.

[Lea_HTH]

People often bury their heads in the sand when things get difficult. I appreciate that you might feel your sister is not being much support to you, but she obviously has her own concerns about her financial situation to think about too. It might help both of you to sit down with a debt counsellor, perhaps someone from CAB, to try to sort out your priority debts and ensure that you have sufficient to pay your mortgage first, pay utilities and buy food. Everything else can wait as obviously the most important thing for both of you is to keep a roof over your heads.

 

It does look like you're the one that is going to have to be pro-active in this, as someone needs to take charge. You should try to speak to Santander, explain your situation, and state that you are only looking for a short period of time for reduced payments whilst you get back on your feet and into work. Ask for 6 months, and request that they apply forbearance, as the pre-action protocols state they should.

 

I really do think, however, that you would be better off getting some help from CAB to deal with this so that some of the pressure is taken off you.

[Lilythepink]

the problem with this is my sister has already told them last night, that we will pay the full amount this month, they won't consider a payment holidButay or reduced payments as my sister talked to them, and told them we were paying our credit cards, storecards etc. And I have been in a DMP since 2006 with Payplan, who are useless, and I only pay token payments of £1 to each of my creditors for years now. But I hope that we can just survive until I get better. Tighten our belts a bit, and as you say ask them for forebearance...... I feel very angry that when times in need, people that have paid each month without failure, get treated this way, and send threatening letters to me. Thank you very much for your advice, and understanding, as I cannot mention money to my sister as I said she just walks out on me.....

[Ell-enn]

You need to put your request to them in writing - if you need help with the letter please let me know and I'll draft one for you.

[Lilythepink]

Thank you so much, all this is just stressing me out, and I am just grateful for all the help I have got from the forums. I will keep posting, and do you think they would let us go interest free, because I honestly don't want to not pay my other non secured debts....

At least I have a job to go back to, wish I could get the therapy I need, and get my confidence back. thanks again, and to anyone else who helped me.

[Ell-enn]

Hi there, have a look at this guide http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=31139&d=1320163405

 

the letter you need is on page 8 - send by recorded delivery and make sure you keep a copy for yourself.

[Lilythepink]

Thank you so much, as you can imagine my head is all over the place. You think it will never happen to you, but circumstances/nervous breakdown never warn you. I have had two burglaries and two cars stolen within 6 months, and it has taken its toal on my finances and just when I thought I had got over it, the insurance company refused to even insure me. house and car insurance went up 4 times as much as I usually pay, and things just started falling apart. Victims should get compensated by the criminals that cause this suffering. Nobody ever caught, and you just have to put up with it. thanks again

[TomBennett]

Hi, I have been following this thread as I am having a similar problem with Santander. I have used your guide copying the first letter (page 8) to Mr G Rymer, head of collections at Santander outlining my situation and, asking yet again for help. To précis my current situation, I was ran over by a negligent driver in december 2011. This has left me with a spine injury, I am awaiting the outcome of this month's MRI scan followed by an operation to fuse the lower part. The driver has accepted liability though my solicitor having problems getting an interim payment from the driver's insurance company.

 

As I say, I wrote to them asking for help using the template on page 8 of the guidelines though the response I received is as follows: Firstly they thanked me for my communication. "Please contact one of my advisors on the telephone number shown above in order to resolve this matter promptly". Then the usual warnings in capital letters. I can only assume that he refers to "resolving the matter promptly", to the arrears amount at the start of his response.

 

I have been in constant contact with Santander, and have made payments on my mortgage via credit card transfers via my current account. I have never missed a payment on my mortgage until last month. Now that my credit cards are now on their limit and my overdraft is depleted, I borrowed a, one-off, small amount of money from my sister.

 

Where can I go now? I wasn't planning on being in this temporarily disabled state for quite so long and, I have lost my business. The Insurance company has been issued with county court papers, the case is with the Bristol District Judge.

 

Many thanks,

Tom Bennett

[Lilythepink]

Hi Tom, I have just typed out that letter from the link above, so they have to consider your circumstances......

[TomBennett]

Hi there,

 

Thanks for the reply, are you referring to the letter on page 8 of the guide or a new template that I can't see.

 

Many thanks,

Tom

[TomBennett]

I'm writing to them today to inform them that I am going to approach the FSA. Is there anything I should know about what to say?

 

Tom

[Lilythepink]

hi Tom, it is the letter on page 8 of the guide, have just posted mine. THey have to treat you fairly, and just keep posting here, and the people on here are just great. couldn't do without them....

[Lilythepink]

Urgent help needed. I sent the letter on page 8 to Santander, they said to ring them, which my sister did. They first of all said because we had stopped paying our unsecured debts, ie credit cards (they have given me a payment holiday), they were going to allow us an interest free period of 6 months, that was on Saturday.

Then the restructuring team rang and wouldn't let me speak as they had been speaking to my sister before and all the details they had where from her. So just now she rang them, and they now say we have to pay over £200 each as we are 150 short of the full mortgage, and as we are not on a dmp for our unsecured debts, we can not go interest free. I can't afford this, as my half pay has now stopped, and I am on ESA of £71 a week. Four hundred and forty pounds, which my sister agreed to, and I went mad, as why would we go on a dmp if I am going back to work very soon. Any help appreciated. I would not have agreed, as I am I going to live if I have to pay that amount of money when I am only on benefits.

[Lilythepink]

Can anyone help, every time you phone Santander you get a different person. We have stopped paying our unsecured debts, but they say we have to be on a dmp, but I intend to be back at work, and our unsecured credit cards, credit union, have all given us payment holidays. Can anyone suggest a letter that I could send, and the arrears and charges are mounting up.

[Lilythepink]

Wrote to Santander with the hope of going interest only, and said that I had problems with ringing them, because each time you ring you get a different story. The arrears are now over £1000, and they sent us a letter asking us to phone them.

Advice anyone?

[Lilythepink]

Did send that letter, plus another one to remind them, also said I did not want to deal with them on the phone as each time we rang, we got a different story, so what do they say to do - ring them, so rang tonight and they are saying that we still have a buffer of money that we could pay the mortgage. I am on £71 a week ESA, and that might not last.

Can anyone supply me with an income/expense form that is realistic, they don't want us to live at all. And we only asked for a period of months interest only. What a shower of so and so's. They said my sister's bank charges were very high, do they not realise that she is the sole bread winner now, and that banks do charge a lot when you use your overdraft, or miss a payment.

I am about to report their treatment of us to the FOS, as we warned them that this might happen to us, and kept in touch with them all the time. We haven't paid any of our other debts, so we will be freezing this winter, and no electricity. We have cut back on everything we can, don't go out anywhere, and don't even buy a newspaper. Anybody else any advice? They go throught the I/E form each time we phone and that's not a cheap phone call either.

[Ell-enn]

Hi there,I have affixed the budget sheet we use in these situations, it's accepted by the courts as a realistic example of household expenditure. The sheet calculates automatically as you fill it in.

 

Please let us know if you need any further help with letters etc. You might find this guide helpful http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=31139&d=1320163405

[Lilythepink]

Hi, thank you so much, do you know what they allow you for food, heating, rates etc.

I did send that letter, but they just said we are in arrears and to phone them, after me saying I would only communicate in writing.