nat west have lost my loan agreement paperwork.

[Sturognic]

I took out a loan with Nat West in May 2008.

 

I explained that I did not want it for more than 5 years, as I was due to retire in 5 years time.

 

The paperwork was drawn up and after reading it through, I signed.

 

When I asked for a copy, I was told that it had to go to Head Office first to be verified.

 

I began paying the monthly payment by Direct Debit and to be honest,

I forgot all about the fact that I hadnt got a copy,

until May 2010, when I received a statement showing all my payments.

 

The header on the statement said that I had taken this loan out for 84 months!

 

I visited my local branch where I had appplied for the loan and queried this.

 

I asked for a copy of the agreement and after many requests,

I eventually got a letter in August 2010 admitting that they were unable

to locate a copy of my agreement and that in these circumstances

if I chose to cease payments that they would not be able to enforce payment!

 

I still carried on paying for the full 60 months, because that is what I signed for.

 

My final payment was May 2013, I then cancelled the DD and

 

sought advice from the Citizens Advice Centre, who told me that without a copy of the agreement,

this loan was unenforceable and not to worry.

 

I have been sent a default notice and they say that my name has been put on the Credit Reference Agency,

but I am not bothered about that.

 

Since then, I have had three Collection Agencies

(Ascent Legal, Irwin Mitchell and Apex) asking for payment.

 

I have sent them all copies of the letter from Nat West, stating that this is not enforceable,

because they cannot provide me with a copy of the agreement, but still they keep writing to me.

 

The latest one is from HL Solicitors who claim they may take action through the courts.

 

I am getting so fed up with having to repeat myself to them

,Ii am just wondering if anyone can advise any action that will shut them up for good.

[renegadeimp]

Have you filed formal complaints with the dca and the bank?

[Bazooka Boo]

Hello and Welcome.

 

So far you have done everything correct, and if you have the letter from the bank saying they have not got a copy of your original agreement and they will not be pursuing you for future payment as it is unen, then IMO that is all you really need.

 

The fact that they have no flogged the remaining balance on to questionable DCA's is indicative of the banks gluttony.

I would be entering into their complaints procedure and exhausting it to your satisfaction, sooner rather than later.

 

Whilst they are able to submit a recon of the agreement, it beggars belief why they have chosen not to do so?

 

Formal complaint to the bank, and any missives you get from any DCA forward them to the bank that you took the original agreement out with.

[Sturognic]

Thank you. Yes, I have sent Apex a letter of complaint

and have had a reply saying that they are "looking into" my complaint.

 

Ascent Legal and Irwin Mitchell were told by Nat West to `close the case`, back in November.

 

Incidentally, they were not told the reason why Nat West state I owe them.

 

Have sent letters to Nat West on several occassions but they never reply.

[renegadeimp]

If you sent a complaint and headed it as such, give them 8 weeks to send a final response otherwise get onto the FOS, and provide everything you have so far.

[Sturognic]

Thank you. I am feeling more confident by the minute since posting on here. So, I send a formal letter of complaint (is there a template for this, please?) to the bank, along with any other letters I get from the DCA.

[Sturognic]

I have already been down the FOS route, in 2010 when the bank couldnt find my agreement

- what a waste of time that was.

 

I sent them everything I had written to the bank, and their response was,

they had seen "dump prints" from the bank and that although I was paying my dd each month,

I was trying to get out of paying.

 

I tried explaining that I would like to see these prints,

because if they did not show my name and details, they would be irrelevant to my case.

 

As far as they were concerned, the case was closed and no more communication would be entred into.

 

Needless to say, I signed their final response letter as Not satisfied.

[renegadeimp]

Did you actually get a decision from an ombudsman then?

 

If the DCA's still chase and threaten you, then you really need to get in touch with the FCA and supply everything you have so far. You could also read up on harrison vs link in regards to continued harassment.

[Sturognic]

Yes, their decision was that they didn

[Sturognic]

Yes, their decision was that they didn`t uphold my complaint, even though I intended to fulfill my obligation by paying the full 60 months, which is what I have done.

[Bazooka Boo]

FCA then, and ignore anything else.

[Sturognic]

The latest is I have had a reply to my complaint letter to Apex, who have apologised for continuing to write on behalf of their client "nat west" regarding this.

 

They are admitting that their own system didn't work and that they should have put a stop to any communication once they were aware that the loan is unenforceable.

 

This letter was very honest and I appreciate them for holding their hands up and apologising.

To be fair to Apex, I do believe that Nat West did not give them the whole story and chose to ignore the fact that they have already admitted themselves that the agreement is unenforceable. Apex have confirmed that they will no longer be contacting me in the future and wait for it........... that Nat West have now recalled the case.

 

No doubt Nat West will try yet another DCA to try going down the same route again.

[rebel11]

You could lodge a complaint with the ICO. The fact that they have lost your agreement is a breach of Data Protection principle 7, even if it's been lost accidentally.

 

http://ico.org.uk/for_organisations/data_protection/the_guide/the_principles

 

http://ico.org.uk/for_the_public/raising_concerns

[citizenB]

I think your initial complaint should be directed to Nat West.

 

It is they who have screwed up and have confirmed that they are unable to pursue you because of this. In which case, they had no right to involve a 3rd party in order to pressure you to pay.

 

IMHO you have been treated unfairly. Not least because of them not providing a copy of the agreement at the time of signing.

[Sturognic]

Since my last post on this subject, Nat West had used some more DCA to try and get out of the fact that my agreement was unenforceable, (Robinson Way was used twice despite closing the account down in 2014). 

Westcot, Moorcroft, Irwin Mitchell are just a few.

 

Just to update readers, I had a phonecall from Nat West complaints a week ago, totally out of the blue, to inform me that they were writing off the balance and closing my file, so would not be contacting me again.

 

I requested a letter to confirm this and received that over the weekend, so...............................RESULT

. It certainly pays to keep positive and when you know that you are right, to hang in there and do not give up at any cost.