Hi,
I have a Santander mortgage which started in Jul 10 on a fixed rate deal for 4 years. Early last year my partner moved in and allowed me the fortunate position of paying off a large chunk of the debt. As I did not want to pay the early repayment fees of around £4K, in discussion with a Santander representative, it was suggested to me that I shorten the term of the loan. This allowed me to pay off a large portion, with the advice that when i reached the end of my 'extra' amount, I would change the term back to a longer period and so change the monthly repayment fee back to a managable and sustainable amount.
Well, that was the theory! It has not unfortunately proved to be quite so simple.
I first contacted Santander in early March this year to advise them I'd soon be running out of the extra money so could I put the mortgage back to what it was before. The response: No - you need to go through a complete reapplication process. I was quite surprised at this, but was told that new rules had been put in place since I took out the mortgage. Not to worry - I'm applying for the same mortgage but asking for considerably less money to borrow I thought....
This was done but due to "a Santander IT problem" I was not advised at the end of that hour long telephone application if it was successful. That was on the 28th March 13, and since then I have been chasing them for a response.
Yesterday on contacting Santander again and after going through the obligatory 3 different call centres I uttered the phrase, "I need to speak to Joseph in your Belfast office to speak about my application because from next month I will not be able to afford the current rate". Cue change of tone and I now find myself talking to the collections department!!:mad:
I explained to that (very nice) man that his suggestion of going through all my incomings/outgoings has already been done, but not completed by a colleague. I am advised that unfortunately this is the next course of action. In the meantime though I rang back to try and get through to the Belfast office who'd done the mortgage application and ask what was going on. I am stopped at this point and told, "the Belfast office have advised us that your application has been unsuccessful". :eek: On asking why I have not heard anything or had absolutely no correspondence from Santander since March 28th, I am told they will email Belfast and get them to ring me! (This is the same office who have consistently failed to ring back when they said they would)
And so I am left with the prospect of a mortgage I cannot pay.
Please excuse the slight rant. So now my questions are:
- Has anyone else experienced anything similar?
- Does anyone know if there has been legislation regarding mortgage changes introduced since March 12 (the month I completed the increased mortgage amount application)
- Any advice for moving forward? I sent their customer complaints a detailed email/letter to follow yesterday and so now have the 8 weeks to wait according to the Financial Ombudsman.
It seems barking mad to me that I am suggested a course of action by a Santander rep when I made perfectly clear I could not afford to complete the shortened term completely without changing it back. There was NO suggestion or advice at that point that I would either have to go through the whole application process again, or that they reserved the right to decline changing it back. A bit naive of me perhaps, but most things are in retrospect. But my main complaint is that this is totally at odds with responsible banking!!
Any thoughts or suggestions gratefully received. Thanks for reading.
I have a Santander mortgage which started in Jul 10 on a fixed rate deal for 4 years. Early last year my partner moved in and allowed me the fortunate position of paying off a large chunk of the debt. As I did not want to pay the early repayment fees of around £4K, in discussion with a Santander representative, it was suggested to me that I shorten the term of the loan. This allowed me to pay off a large portion, with the advice that when i reached the end of my 'extra' amount, I would change the term back to a longer period and so change the monthly repayment fee back to a managable and sustainable amount.
Well, that was the theory! It has not unfortunately proved to be quite so simple.
I first contacted Santander in early March this year to advise them I'd soon be running out of the extra money so could I put the mortgage back to what it was before. The response: No - you need to go through a complete reapplication process. I was quite surprised at this, but was told that new rules had been put in place since I took out the mortgage. Not to worry - I'm applying for the same mortgage but asking for considerably less money to borrow I thought....
This was done but due to "a Santander IT problem" I was not advised at the end of that hour long telephone application if it was successful. That was on the 28th March 13, and since then I have been chasing them for a response.
Yesterday on contacting Santander again and after going through the obligatory 3 different call centres I uttered the phrase, "I need to speak to Joseph in your Belfast office to speak about my application because from next month I will not be able to afford the current rate". Cue change of tone and I now find myself talking to the collections department!!:mad:
I explained to that (very nice) man that his suggestion of going through all my incomings/outgoings has already been done, but not completed by a colleague. I am advised that unfortunately this is the next course of action. In the meantime though I rang back to try and get through to the Belfast office who'd done the mortgage application and ask what was going on. I am stopped at this point and told, "the Belfast office have advised us that your application has been unsuccessful". :eek: On asking why I have not heard anything or had absolutely no correspondence from Santander since March 28th, I am told they will email Belfast and get them to ring me! (This is the same office who have consistently failed to ring back when they said they would)
And so I am left with the prospect of a mortgage I cannot pay.
Please excuse the slight rant. So now my questions are:
- Has anyone else experienced anything similar?
- Does anyone know if there has been legislation regarding mortgage changes introduced since March 12 (the month I completed the increased mortgage amount application)
- Any advice for moving forward? I sent their customer complaints a detailed email/letter to follow yesterday and so now have the 8 weeks to wait according to the Financial Ombudsman.
It seems barking mad to me that I am suggested a course of action by a Santander rep when I made perfectly clear I could not afford to complete the shortened term completely without changing it back. There was NO suggestion or advice at that point that I would either have to go through the whole application process again, or that they reserved the right to decline changing it back. A bit naive of me perhaps, but most things are in retrospect. But my main complaint is that this is totally at odds with responsible banking!!
Any thoughts or suggestions gratefully received. Thanks for reading.