Warhorse v Kensington Mortgage Company

[WarHorse]

About to commence claim with Kensington Mortgage Company. Does any1 know address to whence 1 sends SAR, pls?

[cooxie]

I have two addresses for Kensington, not sure which is best tho.

 

1 Providence Place,

Skipton

North Yorkshire

BD23 2HL

 

Head Office

Kensington Mortgages

1 Sheldon Square

Paddington

W2 6PU

[WarHorse]

Thx, Cooxie. I think i recognise the Providence Place address as one I dealt with. Let will go 2moro.

[cooxie]

Good luck.

Haven't contacted Kensington myself yet, have an ERC from 2004, waiting to see the outcome of others first and settle my Natwest claim.

[WarHorse]

Good luck, Cooxie. Managed to find old Kensington redemption statement with a/c no. so will send SAR req let 2moro. They sure like to charge for each & every little thing - i found £250 added to the redemption figure for 'sundry disbursements', plus lots more! Will keep you guys posted on progress.

[WarHorse]

Posted SAR to Kensington Mortgages on 02/01/07. Wondered if any1 had ne thoughts re a redemption figure which may have been 'loaded' because of their charges? I redeemed my mortgage with Kensington but i know that the redemption figure was 'hiked up' further by their charges. Up to what date can I claim the interest on the 'penalty' charges as I am still in effect paying those, i.e. paying an increased mortgage advance (which i would not have had to pay but for those charges) to this day? Your suggestions would be much appreciated. Thx.

[WarHorse]

Looking through an older Kensington statement attached to the redemption statement there are charges for a 'debt counsellor' at £75.00 added, of course, to the mortgage capital o/standing!. Has ne1 claimed for these? I would appreciate some advice, pls. On a brief general point, when you (as the Claimant) issue your MCOL, (or a paper claim), the Defendant has 14 days in which to file a defence, UNLESS, they tick the box marked 'Acknowledgment of Service' - by ticking this box they get another 14 days in which to file their defence. If they do not tick the AoS box, then you can ask the Court to grant judgment in your favour after the 14 day timescale. Judgments can be set aside, though. All that needs to be done is to file an affidavit at Court stating that in the interests of justice, the defendant should be allowed the opportunity to file their defence. I am not a legally qualified person - so plse dont rely what I have said, but i have worked for solicitors & this is what they do. This is my (subjective) understanding of how the Court system works.

[zootscoot]

Good luck Warhorse.

 

Another Kensington claimer joins the ranks!

 

 

Would you like your title changing to Warhouse v Kensington?

[WarHorse]

Good luck Warhorse.

 

Another Kensington claimer joins the ranks!

 

 

Would you like your title changing to Warhouse v Kensington?

 

Yes, please!

[WarHorse]

Been out of the loop for a while, but the WarHorse is back on track now. Confirmed that Kensington (who I now believe are MAS? - any1 confirm if this is correct, pls?) have rec'd my DPA let; the 40 days have expired and nothing to date. I will confirm 2moro whether or not the cheque has been cashed & if it has, does any1 have any (nice) suggestions as to where/what is the best course of action?

[mochamoo]

[WarHorse]

Thanks guys & my thanks to mochamoo. Has any1 heard the news on the radio on Friday that Kensington have issued a 'profit warning' statement. Apparently, it is all the fault of us the customers who default, would you believe.

 

On another note, can any1 assist with Particulars of Claim for MCOL, pls? I have other claims but as I had the statements I didnt have to go through the longer route of requesting them, but am now at the stage of filing my MCOL. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[mochamoo]

..

[WarHorse]

Just claiming for the unlawful penalty charges at the moment. Didnt incur ERC, heaven only knows why - could be because gave 3 months notice when requesting redemption figure.

[insider1]

For all who care to read.

 

Kensington are not now, nor ever have been part of MAS or any other lender. KMC, own shares in Money Partners, and also START mortgages in Ireland. They also have an interest in a Swedish company.

To set records straight, all KMC customers have a condition within their loan, which gives consent for KMC to sell, or transfer any account they wish

[mochamoo]

..

[insider1]

Hello Mochamoo

 

I most certainly do not work for Kensington. The information I get is from various websites and from personal experience. For example, go to KMC.co.uk, and click on the Kensington Group link, and this will tell you all about the companies within Kensington.

I found out about LIBOR after complaining about my interest rate, which I thought was originally linked to the Bank of England.

To all who read, I thougt I was doing the right thing about sharing what I know, and I am sorry if I caused anyone to think anything else.

[mochamoo]

..

[kopite71]

Mochamoo.

 

A very well made last post!

[LITTLElottie]

Hello

Regarding kensington and mortgage agency services ltd (MAS). They areboth the same company and actually are both part of Brittannia Building Society (sub-prime section). Check Fisa site to confirm this.

I have been to court with them and this was confirmed by the judge and their brief.

[WarHorse]

Rec'd letter from Kensington who have 'investigated' my complaint and surprise, surprise, they have found it unwarranted. If I take legal action against them, they have threatened me with the enormous costs that they will seek from me should it proceed to Court. Has anyone had a similar letter from them, or having had such a letter proceeded or not. Any advice, please?

[Esio Trot]

Rec'd letter from Kensington who have 'investigated' my complaint and surprise, surprise, they have found it unwarranted. If I take legal action against them, they have threatened me with the enormous costs that they will seek from me should it proceed to Court. Has anyone had a similar letter from them, or having had such a letter proceeded or not. Any advice, please?

 

Difficult to judge on the information in this thread so far. Could you scan your complaint and provide a link (omitting identifying information obviously) or cut and paste using quote /quote [each in square brackets] at the start and finish to format it.

 

Court action or not, you still have the option of the Financial Ombudsman Service (and I think the FOS charge them a few hundred pounds each time a complaint is received )

[WarHorse]

My scanner isnt working at the moment (damn & blast, these wretched things never do when they're needed) so I will have to copy type the entire letter and post it on the site. Bear with me, please while I do this. I took out this mortgage in 1996 - I dont know if mortgages were under the auspices of the FSA then, I thought the FSA guidelines applied to mortgages taken out later than 1996. Any thoughts on this, please. If I complain to the FSA and they make a ruling, am I then bound by that ruling or can I still go ahead & make a claim in Court?

[WarHorse]

The script in the square brackets is the letter rec'd from Kensington. Would welcome comments/suggestions.

 

[i am writing with regards to your complaint received on 10 May 07 concerning your above numbered mortgage account.

 

I understand that you believe the fees applied to your account to be unlawful and I would like to stress to you that this is not the case. As your mortgage provider we are entitled to charge for the services that we provide. We clearly detailed all fees that may become applicable during the lifetime of your mortgage in our Tariff of Fees a copy of which was sent to you prior to the completion of your mortgage account.

 

You signed your mortgage Offer on 29 April 1996. By signing the Offer you agreed to become bound by all Terms and Conditions, which included any additional administration fees that may become applicable during the term of your mortgage. I confirm that I have also reviewed your mortgage file in full, and have been unable to see that you raised any concern about any our fees prior to the mortgage completing.

 

If you held any concerns regarding the fees that were disclosed to you in our Tariff, prior to completion, you did not have to proceed with the mortgage. As you raised no concerns we took this to mean that you were happy to proceed with our Offer, whilst being aware of our Tariff of Fees.

 

In the event that a direct debit is cancelled or rejected, we have to undertake additional work on your behalf, and in accordance with the Tariff of Fees it is necessary for us to make a charge for this. The additional work includes but is not restricted to the following :

• Issuing correspondence to notify a customer of a failed payment
  
• Additional telephone communication to establish if a customer is able to maintain the contractually due payment.
  
• If necessary, arranging and processing payments to be made by an alternative method.
  
• Processing a new Direct Debit mandate.

I therefore feel that we are justified in applying fees in relation to the direct debits that were returned unpaid.

 

As regards to the Monthly Arrears Fee (MAF), I would like to stress that we assist a variety of different customers whose needs are not catered for by high street lenders. Our customers include self-employed, contact workers and people who had credit problems in the past. Consequently, arrears management is crucial, and as such, we proactively seek to enter into an early dialogue with customers that fall into arrears to try and get them back on tract. In short, we probably act earlier and do more than most high street lenders with regards to arrears management.

 

We are aware of the recent Office of Fair Trading report and of our obligations both under the rules imposed by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and under general law such as the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations (UTCCR). We can confirm that all of the fees we charge reflect a reasonable estimate of the costs we incur.

 

Our MAF is charged to all account that are one or more months in arrears. The MAF represents a reasonable estimate of the costs we incur as a result of the additional administration that is undertaken on accounts that reach this stage. The MAF is not an itemised charge (we do not charge individually for each letter or telephone call) but rather an estimate based on planned activity, which we feel reasonably covers our expected costs. The only exception to this is the telephone calls made outside of normal business hours. We believe that a standard monthly fee is fairer to the customer and avoids charges becoming excessive.

 

The amount of the MAF is based on the total cost of managing accounts in arrears, and is applied to all accounts equally that fall into this position.

The additional work that is involved with accounts that fall into arrears includes, but is not restricted to, the following:

• Proactively communicating with the customer by both telephone and post to find out why a customer is having difficulty making their payments, and to agree a way forward to clear the arrears within their budget.
  
• Issuing additional correspondence designed to keep customers fully aware of the current status of their mortgage.
  
• Liaising with third parties such as debt counsellors and litigation solicitors to aid in the recovery process.
  
• The administration required in reviewing and providing documentation to such parties.
  
• On-going management of the arrears position, which includes reviewing the payment history and the maintenance of any previously agreed arrangement, in order to consider any required action going forward.
  
• Running systems for managing and reporting on loans in arrears. Kensington securitises most of its loans and has detailed reporting obligations.

The fees that we apply are comparable with those of other institutions in the market, and in consideration of all the above we believe that the MAF we apply is in accordance with FSA regulations and the UTCCR.

 

In view of the above, I am unable to consider refunding any fees applied to your account and whilst I understand that this may not be the answer you were looking for, I trust I have explained our position accordingly.

We note that you have stated that if you do not receive a positive response you will issue legal proceedings.

 

We confirm that any claim you issue will be vigorously defended and that we will seek an order from the Court seeking recovery from you of any costs incurred by us in defending the action.

 

Whilst there are normally three stages to our complaints procedure, due to the nature of your complaint, I feel it would be beneficial to both parties to treat this letter as our final response. This means if you are unhappy with my response to your complaint, you are free at this stage to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) for an independent adjudication.

 

If you intend raising that matter with the FOS, you must do so within 6 months of the date of this letter. Please find enclosed a copy of the FOS leaflet for your reference.

Yours, etc. ]

[WarHorse]

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/6986-data-protection-act-non.html

 

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/6971-data-protection-act-non.html

 

You could try this route, does your mortgae company have the legal fee's clause? Not sure if that would apply to this?

 

What's a legal fee's clause?