Kensington SPO ***Resolved***

[andrew1]

Harrison v Link Financial - http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Mercantile/2011/B3.html

 

53. In my view, the Claimant rightly complains that, mainly by MBNA but also by the Defendant, he was hounded by telephone calls seeking payment of what was said to be due. The calls were a form of torture oppressively frequent in amount and often without attribution to an identifiable number. I am unimpressed by suggestions that all that the Claimant had to do was to seek a meeting when the position was that those who called him would not listen to what he had to say of his difficulties. Nevertheless I am not entirely impressed by the Claimant's failure to write a detailed letter in which he set out his position. I sense that the Claimant wished to engage upon his own terms albeit in no negative fashion.

 

83.Cumulatively and damningly is what I find to be the way that MBNA and the Defendant went about recovering their debt. I am satisfied that the Claimant's description of the way that he was hounded by his creditors is essentially correct not least in the use of "non-traceable" telephone calls. It seems to me that such conduct has no proper function in the recovery of consumer debt. Whatever the strength of the suggestion that the courts should only be a last resort, I can see no legitimate comparison between a series of measured warnings which, after full opportunity for response, lead to legal proceedings and what took place. Even more is the situation to be deprecated when it was only well into this action that the Defendant was able to comply with section 78 and thus able to pursue a claim. An inability to comply with section 78 can be no excuse for conduct of which it must be supposed the sole purpose must have been to make the Claimant's life so difficult that he would come to heel. I cannot think that in a society that is otherwise so sensitive of a consumer's position this is conduct that should countenanced.

 

Hope that helps?

[andrew1]

Might I suggest that once you are 100% convinced Eversheds have all your records (not just the basics of Account name, amount being chased etc), that you also send Eversheds a DSAR?

 

I have experience of this and Eversheds are deemed a Data Controller not just a Data Processor and will have to supply everything they have and you may well find you get the breakdown of the charges you seek from Kensington they otherwise haven't sent directly, you may also see a lot more information about your account than you care to imagine.

 

You won't want to hear this when you are battling to keep your home with the hope of the increase in your salary being a key to saving it, but what you must be aware of are the costs being added blindly to your capital balance of your account of all the legalities which are being blindly added to your mortgage.

 

All of Eversheds costs (including for basic letters like the one you've posted above which will eventually cost you about £200 and the interest it accrues) will be billed by Eversheds to Kensington who upon receipt will add that cost, including VAT charged by the solicitors on their bills which they are obliged to do as with any supplier of services and these will be attracting interest at your mortgage rate forever unless you are given the opportunity to pay those as soon as Eversheds bill them.

 

Kensington will not send you that opportunity and I doubt they will inform you the invoice is being added to your account, the first you'd know about them is on an annual statement, but you will pay those upon redemption/repossession whichever comes first, but they are adding to your balance at an alarming rate.

 

It is something to seriously consider whilst you are fighting to save your home and clear your balance - it'll be a light-bulb moment when you finally feel you have caught up only to be told there's another 20 odd thousand or more in costs still to be paid you hadn't been inform of.

 

If I'm honest, six months of good payment records can work wonders on your credit file which I'd imagine is pretty well shot-up by now given the payment history, but trying to get ahead of the likes of Kensington or Swift Advances or any similar sub-prime mortgage or loan provider who are not main-stream lenders is a nigh-on impossibility.

 

Generally, to get these companies out of your life forever you either have to catch-up with your payments and pay them everything you owe - including their charges so interest on those doesn't accrue), remortgage when your credit history is a little better and pay them off, or as stated above, you actually bite the bullet and sell before they take your home from you and eat into every penny of equity you have to cut your losses.

 

It's hard to call that decision and I truly sympathise with your plight, but the quicker the reality is exposed on what exactly your costs will be added to this account of yours for getting into default the quicker you will be able to make informed choices.

 

I have helped people with Kensington mortgages and Kensington do not provide anything but a one-way traffic package of communication. They do whatever they like in an extremely unprofessional, hap-hazzard way which defies both belief and respect for common decency between consumer and trader.

 

The quicker you get them out of your hair the better - no matter how you do it, but I sincerely hope that you and the good people on here can help you keep your home from being repossessed, I really do.

 

My best wishes to you.

 

Andrew1

[andrew1]

Whatever you do Kensington will make you angry, my suggestion is that you bite your tongue, focus totally on paying them to bring things up to what the Court ordered and catching up with payments.

 

Go kick a bucket if you feel anger, but just keep your focus on what the lads and lasses here are telling you - 'forget about taking them on' - this is deep pocket tactics - they have more money to waste on litigation than you and their responses just adds charges to your account and making you even more in hock to them - they'll charge you every penny of whatever you throw at them so get into the mindset of following the rules and if you have a grudge, wait until they are paid off and then hit them when they can't add their costs to your mortgage.

 

Don't keep playing their game or into their hands like this - just focus on the money, pay it and get the hell out of their grips as soon as you can. Then pick your fights on your terms, not theirs.

[andrew1]

ive asked my new boss to pay them straight out of my wages starting end of august

and hes fine with that .

 

I'm not so sure Kensington would accept being paid by a third party to be honest - all to do with Money laundering unless it was by an Order of the Court. You have to ask them, but they'd want your employers bank details and go through all kinds of checks to ensure the payments are safe.

 

I can't see Kensington accepting it, it's not as straight-forward as you might think and you'd be better keeping your employer at arms length from your personal financial issues, never a good idea to involve your main source of income provider no matter how good your relationship is.

 

If this were me, I'd get it paid into a separate bank account if you don't want it tied up with your normal finances and set a Direct Debit up from that, or better still as I don't like direct debits and the problems they cause if you get a day late in being paid, set up a payment and pay it a number of days earlier than it is due to avoid any possibility of it defaulting which attracts fees.

[andrew1]

Respectfully request, given the circumstances, that everything be kept in writing - keep a file and keep copies. No phone calls, no texts, no calls at work. So long as you respond to letters and not ignore them you should be fine. Once regular payments begin, you shouldn't be bothered by them too often anyway thereafter.

[andrew1]

Looking at those two letters from Kenny's and the solicitors, I might be tempted to ask Kennys when you next write (wait for the time being for the responses to your letter) to confirm there are no costs being added to your Capital balance without any advice to you for the employment of these solicitors or any other third party costs.

 

Just bear in mind what I mentioned previously that these costs get added to your account without notice to you and without any opportunity presented to you to pay any of these costs off so you don't have to pay interest on them over the next 25 years or however long the term remaining is.

 

You need written confirmation there are no costs you don't know about going on that capital balance and if there are, then you need to put into writing you are to be informed of them, with a complete breakdown of what they are for in order that you can mitigate the effect on your finances of interest accruing on those costs.

 

We don't like surprises when it comes to being ripped-off now do we?

 

Wait for the response to your letter as Ell-enn suggests and see once you have set all this up and started making payments how you can fit that question in to them. Don't jeapordise the current situation by asking now, pick your moment when things have settled, but you need that question answered. " What costs are being added to the capital balance that you are not advised of, if any ? ".

 

You have to treat Kennys like a one-armed bandit which lets you use an open ended credit line on a credit card instead of cash and who then won't let you out of the arcade until you've paid every penny off. The machine just sucks every penny out of you too!

 

Sleep tight.

[andrew1]

Mark, it's not over yet and isn't until the fat lady sings!

You still have a chance even before any eviction to convince the judge of events which appear to have improved somewhat since 2016 as you say, but I know I go on about this over and over

- there are costs gathering apace behind all these actions and if you are going to find yourself in court again, that's the time to bring this frustration of yours to a head and lay it to the judge that life would have been so much better if Kennys had been giving you some forbearance and actually answered your letters.

 

If it's possible, can you make some kind of schedule of letters you've written, the key questions asked, the length of time you waited for a reply before having to write again?

 

You are going to need hard evidence of all this to lay in front of the judge so that he can take one look and see how unhelpful Kennys have been. He needs to know what difference it would have made to you at a time you and your family were under so much stress.

 

I'll come back later, but get this started as soon as you can because it will make a difference.

[andrew1]

I think the thing to remember Mark is that most of the people on this thread have either faced repo or eviction themselves, helped those facing it to get through or have a vast amount of experience travelling the journey with others going through it,

 

What you read on here is not like it was in 2006 when I first came to the forum

when there were a lot of armchair lawyers who 'thought' they knew what to do,

but some hard experience to back-up what they are saying and that includes me!

 

At this juncture, it's not about winning or losing, it's working out the best strategy to:

 

a) get your financials into a shape strong enough to support the next 6 months while getting out of this current state of affairs and

 

b) getting the right strategy and evidence together to get you past any attempt by Kenny's to obtain an eviction.

 

People do get to this stage and then put the judge's mindset into a positive mode and you have shown that since 2016 you have made some really positive steps to bring your arrears down - that's a big positive at this point in time so record that.

 

You have also, despite these horrendous worries hanging over you and the fastidious neglect of Treating Customers Fairly by Kenny's, managed to secure yourself a better paid job which is miraculous given the stress you are living through and this new job is being jepordised by Kenny's draconian stealth tactics and unjust enrichment by their unprofessional recklessness which just adds charges to your account just because they refuse to answer your letters or listen.

 

All that needs to be placed, with supporting documents as mentioned above, in front of the judge to stop this eviction and allow you to continue.

 

I'm not sure what Ell-en will recommend with regards to your next move on the solicitors letter, but just keep your faith in yourself, don't beat yourself-up about this - this is not your fault, If you had known what this company was like before you entered into this mortgage you'd have never gone near them - it's the broker who needs to be in court who recommended them in the first place (if there was one) because they should tell you what a bunch of shysters they were.

 

That's all for later, but get some sleep and try not worry, you can get through this, it'll be a fight, but you can do it.

 

Just prepare for the next presentation for the court as there won't be many chances left.

 

Sleep tight and don't be too hard on yourself. We are all here for you.

 

Andrew1

[andrew1]

Okay, I'm not going to pre-empt what Ell-en might suggest you write back, but if this were me I'd be sending (if only for the Judges benefit when/if the day comes) to state that you have written to their client advising them of the improvement to your finances and have submitted a proposal to them with regards to bringing the account into order and advising them of your new employment which enables you to do so, but they have yet to reply.

 

I would also point out that your situation has been frustrated by the lack of responses to your 'x' number of letters sent to their client where you have tried to engage with them which they refuse to answer. Their suggestion of telephone conversations is not something you wish to undertake due to the stress it entails and the emotion involved and you have respectfully asked their client to maintain everything in writing, which they seem to be ignoring frustrating the situation all the more. not something you expected from a professional organisation such as Kenny's (God forbid the language, but you are writing this for the Judge to read, not because Kenny's deserve it!)

 

If you can get that into what Ell-en suggests then do.

 

All you are doing now is writing for the Judge to see you have made the efforts which are being ignored and to be honest Mark, remember this is all going to plan for Kenny's because this is their business model, get it out of your head this is your doing. Okay, you fell behind, but they are after your equity now and that's how they make their money.

 

If you had the equity in the property they could have looked at consolidating the arrears into the capital, increasing your monthly payments and letting you get back on-track. Not sure if you've asked them to do that without going back over the thread, but it's generally not in their interest to do that. They make their money on the higher interest rates, the wanton charges for everything and then make you pay their legal costs (as mentioned in that letter you just posted - ask for a breakdown of what they are to date) and then on the repo/resale. The business model is stuck to rigidly so people who fall foul of their ways pay heavily.

 

That's why you are not to blame for most of the situation you are in, you are just another victim.

 

Same with Swift and numerous other sub-prime lenders. It's no help to you, but these companies all operate on the same business model and have a well-oiled machinery behind them to bleed you dry and spit you out. The Courts can only go so far and you'll only get 10 minutes in Court to put your case forward to convince them to support you. Even if you get a 6 month reprieve (suspended possession Order) to show you can do it, but you can't mess up thereafter or you'll lose out. Better to sell than be repo'd believe me. Give this some serious thought. Keep a plan B in place as you can't always rely on a Judge to go your way and if eviction is rubber stamped in Kenny's favour, you'll only have days to sort yourselves out, not weeks or months, days!

 

Be on top of it, work on pleasing the Judge, but that letter you posted above provides you with the option and Ell-en may come up with a few choice words to work with.

 

Good luck, Keep strong.

[andrew1]

I know this is not what you want to hear Markez, but I'd seriously consider nipping into an estate agent and getting the house on the market as a precaution and this might buy you time.

 

Taking the facts as I see them, this is an interest only mortgage so the main capital is still sitting there outstanding - Do you have any kind of endowment policy sitting there to cover the capital when the mortgage period expires?

 

There are c20k of arrears which you are catching up on, but the Judge has limited powers with regards to giving much leeway.

 

Kenny's will be pressing for repo.

 

Do you have much equity in the property over what you owe Kenny's?

 

An empty house is subject to vandalism so the property sale price might be effected if empty and therefore the equity is diminished. It's a point to argue in your favour if they get you in court. Try and avoid eviction at all costs, better sell if the worst case scenrio happens and if the house has been valued and on the market (you don't have to sell if you can come up with an alternative and get through this, but it shows the court you are trying to save what equity you may have left). Kenny's legal costs will be something of a hefty cost too remember.

 

That'll all stack up in their favour when they are trying to prove you can't afford it. - You just have to prove you can and that you can make significant in-roads into the arrears if you can convince the judge to go with you.

 

It's tough, but don't be too hard on yourself, it's no consolation I acknowledge, but as I said before, this is Kenny's business model and that is what you're fighting here. To fight against it is damned hard for even the hardest fighters out there. If you do get an order against you, which we pray you don't, then keep your head held high - it's the Sub-Prime system against you, not your own human failings. Thousands get behind for all number of reasons financially, you are not alone in that and these leeches suck the life out of so many. You will find a way through this, it's not the end of the world, just the beginning of a new one. Build from day 1.

 

Sorry to be focusing this post on the worst outcome, but get things into your mindset for all eventualities.

 

"Keep a positive mental attitude through the assumption of a negative result"

 

Keep strong.

[andrew1]

Forgive me touching on sensitive subjects, but as you say, this is how life rolls and we need to look at all options -and I mean all and sadly right now.

 

I don't suppose your parents place could be considered for an equity release scheme to raise the capital to clear all your arrears is there?

 

I'm not in favour of Equity release generally for these purposes, but it's one possible option you may wish to look at. Of course, I don't know all your family circumstances, but I'm clutching at straws now in the event the Court go against you.

 

Sorry, me and my costs issues won't go away I regret. You may find that with all Kenny's litigation costs added you may find yourself in negative equity and I would suggest right now -like today, applying to Kenny's for a redemption/settlement statement to pay the whole mtg off and get a full figure including all costs. That way you will know exactly what these legal costs will amount to.

 

Call them (I don't normally recommend that as the others here don't so keep to subject matter of the call) and ask them what the redemption figure is, they won't know why you are asking and may think you've been talking to another mtg provider to pay them off - don't tell them why, just ask them what the figure is, they'll confirm it in writing and it'll stand for 14 or 30 days (can't remember now exactly how long), but it won't matter as you won't be paying this off right now in any case so it'll just expire and be forgotten about.

 

You need to know the redemption figure, including any litigation or any other costs to date. There may be more to come of course with the next court hearing so you'll be able to factor that in later, but at least you'll know exactly where you stand as of today.

 

That's the figure Kenny's will present to court and be asking the Judge to Order and you need to know too. I don't think you do right now so prepare yourself for a shock.

 

That'll bring the reality to the fore and tell you what your chances of success are. This is what the Judge will be looking at for sure. He'll see you haven't got a lot to play with. We need to prepare you for the best case scenario and the worse case scenario and you need to prepare for the worse just in case.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Andrew

[andrew1]

You are feeling low because you don't have immediate answers or cash to put things right and the feeling comes from a degree of helplessness. Somehow, you have to draw on your inner strengths, not just for you, but for those around you who are looking to you to remedy this.

 

You have skills, qualities, achievements in your life no matter how big or small which make you the person you are. The reason people love you and support you. Take a reflection on what those things are and then tell yourself you are bigger and better than these dross you are dealing with. It won't necessarily save your home, but it'll help you keep your self respect because this is NOT your doing, keep telling yourself that and build on it. It's the system you are fighting and it's a big system which is extremely difficult to beat-they have plenty of patience and plenty of deep pockets to insure they win most of the time. That doesn't make you any lesser a person. These companies are run by people and it is those people, not necessarily the companies who are the lesser people and it is the people who you need to let the judge know who are bringing you to this point. Thoughtless, antagonistic, arrogant, couldn't care less kind of people who work to rules and targets without any thought for what you may be going through.

 

They have the upper hand because you are in their control zone, but just think for a second how things might change that position somewhat once you are free of them?

 

If they do take your home and you end up somewhere else, be it Council or rented, does that make you a lesser person? No, you've just levelled the playing field and rather than dealing with these people (and that's all they are) on their terms, you can now play them any which way you like. Take them out of their comfort zone if you feel you have issues to take up with them and money to reclaim or drop them from your mind from day 1 and rebuild.

 

I chose to fight some of my issues once I had my freedom from the stealth and arrogance that comes with them, first I found over £2000 worth of legal charges added to my mortgage (because they can) for DSAR's which should have only cost me £10 each back in 2008 and 2010 when I sent the DSAR's in.

 

I picked my fight and did it my way rather than theirs at a time when they couldn't add their solicitor costs they employed to fight me off onto my mortgage any longer. Took me a year to fight, but I picked up £3700 with the assistance of the ICO who supported me. They (the bank) sent my Data to their solicitor to cleanse it before dispatching same to me, but charged me for the pleasure. I would never have known had I not dug deep into what they'd done. I have a whole swathe more but I am picking my time and my fights on my terms not theirs.

 

As Frank Sinatra said ' I did it MY way!" - you can if you're up for the fight and I was, some decide to just move on and rebuild, but I have a way to go yet with what I have found out and you may too.

 

It's not ideal and it turns your life upside down, but we rebuild - that's what humans do.

 

Try to find solutions to the thoughts which trouble you, one by one. You'll get there.

[andrew1]

Thanks, but all meant to help, don't be too hard on yourself.

[andrew1]

Well done, but I don't believe them! I cannot imagine you would not have built into these sums legal costs so don't hold your breath, take the recordings of the phone calls if you have them and write them out because if you were repo's, not only will the house get sold at fire-sale price (which is way less than you'll get if commercially sold by you) they will add legal costs, unless of course those costs are included in your total figures obtained before you rang.

 

Only you can reconcile your payments against your statements and work out exactly what's been paid and what their balances are to see if their court and litigation costs have been included in those figures so if you can get your head around it, try and do that at some point just to be absolutely sure of what they are asking you for.

 

I'm sorry to be doom master, but I know this first hand what they and others like them do.

 

You ARE liable for their costs, so where are they shown on your statements and are they accruing interest? You can bet your life they are so where is it shown? Either for this Repo action or any other action taken from previous attempts to repo you. Solicitors are not cheap, especially those Kenny's use, so where are their costs reflected?

 

I hope I'm wrong.

 

This might make you happier....thugs - the lot of them in this market:

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6059329/Lawyer-headbutted-friend-childrens-rugby-match-leaving-vision-loss-struck-off.html

 

This fellow was a Solicitor Advocate - (he's accepted by the court to address the court, unlike normal solicitors) a Partner of a firm who deals with people like you and me and thousands like us. Worked for TLT in Bristol.

 

One down, a few more to go!

[andrew1]

Fos have just emailed me and stated they are going to super fast track my complaint

and want my complaint and kennys response = ooooh

 

That sounds good! tick tock eh?

[andrew1]

Well given your experience of dealing with these numpties you would think you know by now:madgrin:

 

Sadly Andy, it's called 'clutching at straws' when you are facing what Markez is, anything that looks hopeful or a chance is taken. Not ideal by any sense of the imagination, but one has to try.

 

Andy's right of course Markez, but do try and heed his advice and keep off that phone if you can, there'll never be anything but grief with Kenny's and that's just dealing with the facts unfortunately.

 

Try and keep strong and keep your energies for the courtroom where this will inevitably be decided.

 

Andrew

[andrew1]

You holding out Okay Markez? Silence is not always golden at times like this...don't be alone.

[andrew1]

We're just about to start a mortgage with Kensington.

 

Easy to sit here and say go somewhere else for your Mortgage, but Spudzulu is dead right, once you get into bed with these people, one step out of line and you are doomed into a world of excess charges, higher interest rates, extremely poor administrative back-up and a Company who has not one ounce (gram!) of compassion for their customers in my opinion.

 

Be fully aware of your rights and what might trigger costs. If you get charged any costs for anything, pay them there and then and don't let interest accrue on them. One day late in paying and you'll get yourself charges added

 

If your Credit score is the reason for running with Kenny's then find out exactly what happens if you decide to transfer your mortgage to someone else in say 6 or 12 months and wait until you've paid them for a good 6 months putting your credit history in order and get the hell out of there as soon as you can and onto a High Street lender of repute otherwise you'll be back here looking for help on how to deal with them.

 

I wish you luck, but work on your credit score and a Kenny's exit plan because you won't want to be with these guys when interest rates go up again or if your finances are stretched.

 

Try and get your Mortgage broker to give you some alternatives and tell him or her that you would only stay with Kenny's short-term and ask what the penalties would be for or when you could pull out. Just don't go in blind- always have an exit plan. You'll probably need it.

 

Sorry to digress on Markez's thread, but the story is laid out for you as to how things can change quite dramatically when even the most innocent of situations can turn nasty.

[andrew1]

Now go and blinking enjoy your life the best of luck to you both.

 

Tis me again with my constant niggle.

 

Find out Markez if any of these legal costs are accruing on your mortgage at some point now you have a bit of breathing space. Someone is paying for either Kenny's or E'sheds and you can guarantee that person will be you. I can't shake this from my mind even though you have had something in writing saying there are no charges - I don't buy it..

 

This might be a good time to SAR both Kenny's and Eversheds (they won't like it, but if this were me, I'd be doing it). Look at the terms in your mortgage loan documents and see if you can spot anything which states they can add their legal costs and then if there's anything in there, the question is where are these costs shown, where are they going to be shown if not already and when are they going to be shown?

 

I know I bang on about it, but thus far I have seen nothing from you which tells me they are paying all their own costs - and I smell a rat.

 

Prove me wrong and I'll be happy.

 

I am jubilant you have pulled this off and whilst you sing the praises of everyone on here (and rightly so if I may say so) it is you who have actually executed the whole thing and believe me, there have been thousands of people who have come on the forum over the years who have been given real solid guidance but who have, for one reason or another either bottled it and left it, ignored it and lost the lot, or been just too frightened of the whole legal, court and challenge scenario, which is fully understandable given the fear people face and endure going through what you have experienced.

 

So, take nothing away from what you have done my friend, you've just climbed a mountain! - I'm proud of you.

 

Well done. Just don't sit back as dx points out, keep on top of this, plot your way through the next stage cos it ain't over quite yet - just enjoy the break, but be prepared, line the ducks up for the next round and be ready for it. Keep coming on here asking all the way, don't wait for it to happen.

 

Elle-nn - You're just plum amazing!

 

Andy Pandy.

[andrew1]

I told you Markez about this Business model and I attach here a chart I drew up about the Swift Advances rates which are based upon the Libor rate or so they said when it was convenient, but changed it in court to suit themselves and introduced ' financing costs' too when asked why they raised rates rather than reduce them when the Libor and Bank of England rates went down. Punters never saw a rate decrease throughout their loan term and as Kenny's business model is the same, yours won't either.

 

You can see the initial Swift rate for a loan was 13.44 in the yellow column on the right against a Libor rate on the left of 4.75 back in Feb 2006. I have nothing against the mark-up, that's what business is all about and they make their profits on the mark-up, but follow the headings down and watch as the Libor rates and the Bank of England rates tumble, yet the Swift margin increases as they fail to reduce rates to customers.

 

Their margin (Profit) goes from an initial 8.62% to a whopping 15.5% + when everyone in the country is struggling at that time from the banking crashes.

 

That's why you won't see these kinds of companies giving you a penny unless forced to do so.

 

Hope that helps? (It probably won't, but it helps understand what makes them tick!)

Swift Advances rates Libor & Bof E comparison.pdf

[andrew1]

Swift went on the rampage using this business model repossessing thousands and thousands of people's homes right across the Country. Northern Ireland was particularly badly hit. The minute a customer got into arrears the profit machine kicked-in charging for letters, default notices late payment fees and anything else they could add to the capital balance.

 

One particular gripe I have, and this applies not just to Swift but to most lenders including the High Street lenders and that is the procedures, or lack of them, in place to stop the debt spiraling out of control.

 

Rarely, when charges are being applied at the time of what they'd like to term as the 'offence' did the debtor get informed they might like to pay the 'fine or charge' off so as not to attract further interest over the term of the loan.

 

With 1st mortgages (1st Charge that is, not your first mortgage ever), a mortgage statement is issued generally once a year in January meaning that any charges which had been applied say the January before, the cost of the penalty for want of a word, had been applied to the capital balance for almost a year before the customer was informed or aware of the charge and that charge had attracted interest for that year. Many had that with Second charge loans too and this makes a hefty profit for these companies. It is my belief that any charge being applied to a loan of any kind should be preceded by a letter stating the charge will attract interest and should the customer wish to pay it, the interest would not make their debt situation worse.

 

To me that's common courtesy, to them it's profit so keep stum!

 

I agree with you Elle-nn the sub-prime market should be exterminated, regulators are no use, we had the OFT overseeing the likes of Swift and they were as much use as a chocolate kettle and the unregulated loans (over 25k back then) were like giving them a blank cheque.

 

Try get them out of your life Markez, you'll be a happier man for it!

[andrew1]

The FCA 'Guidelines' are often stated as just being guidelines by these companies, not the law, happened with the OFT back then too. I have had many dealings with the FCA, but as with most regulators, they won't entertain any dialogue with the customer so you never know whether your particular complaint or concern is thrown in the bin when it arrives or is being treated seriously and acted upon.

 

Regulators do not get involved in individual account disputes, they just 'listen' to people's concerns and if they do act on them, you never get to know how or what was done.

 

To the concerned punter, that's not much help when he or she is fighting for their life against an alleged injustice by an unscrupulous lender or practice. In fact, it just frustrates the punter even more.

 

One just hopes someone hears what's going on and does something for the rest of mankind to stop the organisation from doing it again - but you never know!

 

That takes people to the legal option and I have not seen many people come away unscathed from taking these companies on as the T & C's in their contracts mean that the punter pays for their defence and costs no matter what the result is and that's hardly a fair term in a consumer contract is it? There is no level playing field from the very start.

 

It's a very hard battle to win against these people without cost so best not get into bed with them in the first place if at all possible - credit can be useful, but it's dangerous to one's health.

 

Andrew

[andrew1]

How's the plan going Markez? Still on top of it?

[andrew1]

The minute you get into arrears they have a right to repo. That's when the clock begins to tick with regard to if and when the lender will go for it. With the likes of Kenny's it's not 'if, it's always when. They know they have a legal right and will just remind you to keep the control freak attitude over you as DX suggests.

 

Just keep doing what you are doing and paying on time and gradually the balance of control will reduce and once you are out of arrears the game changes. Kenny's know they can do and say what they have said to you and no doubt the charges applied can be charged too under their Mortgage Conditions. If you can pay those charges to save yourself added interest then so much the better, but they'll take whatever you paid and just reduce it from your arrears.

 

Try and ignore their emotional attitude because it will wind you up - but then that's exactly what they do as it's their business model, so try keep off the phone and put anything you want to ask them in writing - just keep up the payments until the arrears are paid and 6 months of payments will make a significant difference to any outcome if they haul you in front of a Judge again.

 

Wipe out of your mind what they say, like you would something you scrape off your shoe that's been left on the pavement by a dog walker - there's not a lot of difference! Look forward to the day you are rid of them and having a happy Christmas with your family. Search out for the 'feel-good' factors around you, not these dross.

[andrew1]

We had this problem when attacking Swift who operate the same business model. They put their rates up in a similar manner when the Libor and B of E rates plummeted and somehow, when they took people into court and the point was argued, they said the increases reflected their own 'borrowing' and financing costs which the Judges seem to accept as okay as this was to fund the business and did not reflect Libor or B of E like most other high street banks.

 

It's another ruse by companies who operate this kind of sub-prime business which seems to be above the intelligence of the Judiciary to see through. It just makes it harder for people like you markez to argue when faced with court hearings and is another reason why you should get the hell out of their grips at the first opportunity.

 

Just listen to what the guys here say though, they know what they're saying.

 

Keep calm and just keep to the payment plan.

 

good luck.