John F Kennedy once said, “The enemy of the truth is
very often not the lie, deliberate, contrived and dishonest but the myth,
persistent, persuasive and unrealistic” and, after five ineffectual years of
mythical post crisis reform and regulation of the UK’s banking sector, the
truth has not only failed to set me free but it has also failed to spark the
Financial Ombudsman Service’s interest or ruffled a single untouchable HBOS or Lloyds Banking Group feather.
In a last ditch attempt to persuade the dismissive
and the disinterested of my sincerity, I have, over the past two weeks, implemented the following;
- Prepared, sworn under oath and sent a statutory
declaration to the FOS reiterating my claim that the mortgage application my broker submitted on line in 2006 contained false information which I did not
supply.
- Sent HBOS’ customer services department my eight
page letter of complaint because, contrary to my expectations, the FOS declined
to ask HBOS to comment on its contents as part of the complaints process
- Simultaneously written to Lloyds Banking Group
customer services, Lloyds Group Chief Executive Officer Antonia Horta Osario
and Lloyds Group Chief Risk Officer Executive Juan Colombas, stating,
“Following the final decision from the FOS on 10
February 2014 it is now my opinion that the contract entered into in 2006 with
the Bank of Scotland by myself and my husband is null and void. This is because
it did not conform to due process and it was granted on false information which
was supplied fraudulently by [a broker] and then negligently verified by HBOS’s
underwriters M**** ******, S** ****** and J** ******.
As a result of the Ombudsman’s findings, together
with information gleaned from a Data Subject Access Request, I am now of the
opinion that I need to make a new complaint.
Yours faithfully”
Life After Debt
And,
- In an effort to understand the consequences a regulated lender
might suffer if they were found not to have complied with FCA rules, spoken at
length with the FCA consumer helpline about my case.
As a result of my endeavours I have been advised;
- The FOS have received my “letter” and attached it to my file. There is no mention of them changing their plans to publish the
ombudsman’s ruling on my case on their website
- HBOS’ Customer Services are unprepared to discuss my
case any further and can only refer me back to the FOS’s recent ruling
- HBOS’ Executive team are in receipt of my letter of
complaint, it is very important to them and they will be responding to it
shortly
And the Financial Conduct Authority informs me;
- The FOS are not empowered to rule or comment on
cases of fraud
- HBOS are duty bound by FCA rules to prove beyond reasonable
doubt they took adequate measures during the underwriting of my mortgage to
verify the information contained in my application was true
- FCA rules run parallel to the law but, as
guidelines, are not legally binding. Lenders are not required to keep compliance
documentation for more than a year and the FCA, having asked for full details
of the alleged perpetrators, strongly recommend I report my findings to Action Fraud or the police.
Thankfully, the tireless support, diligence and expertise of my FB friends has now put the latter very much in hand.
Nineteenth century German born philosopher and
author Arthur Schopenhauer believed, “All truth passes through three stages.
First, it is ridiculed, second, it is violently opposed and third, it is accepted
as being self-evident”. All I can now hope for is that, after six excruciating
years of ridicule and violent opposition, the truth may finally become self
evident in the hands of the Serious Fraud Office.
After all, in the words of Mahatma Gandhi;
“Even if you
are a minority of one, the truth is the truth.”
