Debt Sentences

If Albert Einstein once thought our technology exceeded our humanity, I can only imagine what he would say of our banking culture today.  This week alone I have read an open letter of resignation from a Goldman Sachs executive director speaking of toxic investment practises along with an ex banker's declaration stating his “mildly revolting” earnings pale into insignificance when compared with the current “completely obscene” remunerations of his untalented former colleagues.  In these circumstancest is not difficult to conclude a bland, mediocre man at the helm of the FSA has been essential to ensure this unregulated reign of economic terror has continued for as long as it has.

On hearing these revelations from within the financial sector it has been no surprise to also hear the FSA’s lengthy and expensive investigation into the Bank of Scotland has finally confirmed precisely what so many of us already knew via a government commissioned report which exposes gross misconduct on the part of the Bank of Scotland’s board of directors. At long last the way has been paved for a much overdue wave of criminal prosecutions against the too big to fail perpitraitors of these economic crimes.

Yet, despite evidence of banking fraud finally reaching the public domain, I am still facing a fight to obtain a full Financial Ombudsman’s investigation in to my own case because this very same infamous banking giant has chosen to make use of an FSA jurisdiction clause to thwart further assessment of my complaint. This clause dictates an individual has only a six months to bring a case to the Financial Ombudsman’s Service while, in contrast, the Bank of Scotland have jurisdiction for twelve years to pursue me for a debt they have both created and, despite their denials, continued to correspond with me about for three years.

It has also come to light that if I sign to accept their jurasdiction arguement and agree to their “goodwill” offer to remove Merrels Ede solicitors from my case giving me eighteen months respite from their pursuit, I could well be acting to my detriment in more ways than one. Tempting though it is to obtain this guarantee from the Bank of Scotland, it is my belief signing an agreement of this nature will in itself be an admission of my responsibility for a debt I have always believed the Bank of Scotland created and not me. Furthermore, not only will my signature amount to an admission of this liability but it will also re-calibrate the twelve year clock from the day I put my mark on the Bank of Scotland's document and  in so doing extend their jurisdication for my pursuit by another three years. At present I stand three years into this debt sentence.

Equally infuriating is the fact that the Bank of Scotland are to not to receive so much as a slap on the wrist from the FOS for setting their brutish debt collectors  on me, because, in spite of being in receipt of more than twenty letters from myself and the CAB explaining, in detail, my reduced financial circumstances, the FOS are happy to believe the Bank of Scotland were not fully aware of my position. It is said banks who have been the subject of bailouts are continuing to prove the economic theory of moral hazard true in that those who go unpunished because of  government rescue packages continue to make the same mistakes. If my case is anything to go by, the Bank of Scotland are no exception to this rule and are now, more than ever, keen to lay the blame firmly at the door of the individual while using every rouse they can to wriggle out of their moral obligations to the victims of their greedy, self actuating behaviour.

So, as the school holidays approach and my case remains unresolved, I am forced once again, to negotiate with a very disgruntled Financial Ombudsman’s adjudicator who never fails to go to great lengths to be more than fair to my gigantic adversary. Explaining my desperate need for unencumbered child free time to give my case the attention it deserves, I have (thankfully) secured her reluctant consent for an extension to her deadline. This will give me a much needed opportunity to take advice and pursue some FSA technicalities of my own. However, I am told the price I have paid for this opportunity is I will never secure this kind of consideration from her again.

George Bernard Shaw once said, “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man” and despite recommendations from many who know me, along with a fair few from those who don’t, it seems acting beyond the reason of others is the only way left for me to secure progress towards a debt free life for my family.

But,

Thanks to my FOS extension, I now have four debt fighting free weeks to spend with my children and in the words of the reggae band playing outside the Radio Four Workshop for script writers I went to this weekend, I say to all those who have expressed concern for me this week,

“Don’t worry, be happy, every little thing is going to be alright!”

...and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Bob Marley is right.

Lemmings and lethargy

George Bernard Shaw once said, “The single biggest problem with communication is the assumption that it takes place” and I have to admit that the last few days have proved successful communication is most definitely the exception rather than the rule.

This week I have endeavoured to,

·        Acquire M&S vouchers I have been allocated as part of a marketing promotion only to be told I have already received them

·        Repair my car via my insurance following a “no fault accident” after two months of waiting only to be repeatedly told I have still have to pay the excess

·        Secure a bursary figure from my daughter’s prospective senior school only to be told, for reasons they were not at liberty to disclose, they are unable to provide one at present  

·        Persuade my sixteen year old son to secure me an appointment with his Maths “re-sit” teacher on parents evening to be told by him that re-sit students do not have tuition or teachers

·        Explain to the Financial Ombudsman’s adjudicator that they must have received my reply concerning my HBOS complaint because they have not only acknowledged its receipt by letter but have also signed for it on its delivery by registered post

Knowing full well that, “If you hold a cat by the tail you learn things you cannot learn any other way”, I have since discovered;  

·        M & S voucher distributors would prefer to accuse me of theft than admit they have not done their job

·        Motor insurance claim departments have absolutely no sense of urgency and must now join the ranks of my ever increasing list of letters of complaint

·        Acquiring background information as to how, why and to whom bursaries for education are awarded from a neighbouring and competing independent school, has encouraged my daughter’s prospective school to revisit their decision to with hold the original level of bursary they were prepared to make available for my daughter's education

·        Emailing my son’s sixth form tutor not only reveals a completely different interpretation of the academic commitment required to improve an AS Maths grade at re-sit from that of my son's but it has also highlighted a distinct lack of pro-activeness on his part

·        Putting the FSO’s administrative shortcomings in writing, quoting times and dates of supporting documentary evidence has had my adjudicator hopping around in snooty embarrassment while suggesting my case in referred to her superior rather than make any further fobs off's herself

Napoleon Bonaparte said, “Never ascribe malice to that which can be better described as incompetence” and as I strive daily for a conscious competence that will carry me through my battle with HBOS, combat the disinterest of the Financial Ombudsman Service and help me make the most of our reduced financial circumstances for the sake of my family, I cannot help lament the lack of mindful leadership that has left me dealing with more than my fair share of lemmings this week. While I accept that experience has always proved to be a brutal but effective teacher, I can only hope by learning from yesterday and yet continuing to live for today I will eventually achieve results that will provide hope for our future.

Rights and Wrongs

It appears that George Bernard Shaw was right when he said, “The golden rule is there are no rules,” but knowing this does not make it any less disappointing to find that the Financial Ombudsman Service is upholding Shaw’s theory in regard to my case against HBOS.

The problem with rules are they only work when we all agree to abide by them and it is on days like this I am reminded of just how insignificant my one woman battle of the banks is to anyone but me. Although I have always hoped that my decision to fight HBOS would give me an opportunity to be heard, I never pretended to think my personal plight would be of sufficient interest to make National Headlines or make an impact on banking policy.  I did, however, battle on in the belief that by going through the right channels, remaining persistent and keeping to the rules I would eventually be able to reveal HBOS as negligent in their duty of care to me and brutish in their pursuit of a debt they chose to create and saddle me with.

I hoped my refusal to be swept under the carpet like so many other HBOS misdemeanours might eventually shame them into acting with compassion and integrity. I thought quoting the rules and the guidelines laid down by their own governing bodies would force them into reconsidering the merits of pursuing a mortgage shortfall of £217,000 that they chose to create and hoped it might prevent them wasting more time and money bullying me for something I do not have. I believed the Financial Ombudsman’s Service would help me seek HBOS explanations to my questions about their negligent procedures, discriminatory actions and reluctance to follow guidelines.

Nothing could have been further from the truth.

I was completely unprepared to find that the Ombudsman’s reply, although very sympathetic, was not unlike a reply I received from HBOS’s former debt collecting agent Merrils Ede.  In both letters I am told it is not necessary to answer my questions regarding HBOS’s duty of care or their flaunting of FSA and government guidelines. The inference is I am merely wasting my time and theirs and moreover should be grateful of the eighteen months respite from debt collecting HBOS harassment for which they have already secured an offer.

So here I am again, back on the self same precipice but this time even more astounded that discriminatory practices and negligence are not something anyone, including the Financial Ombudsman, feel able or willing to comment on.

Realising I have not only been baring my soul to a toothless Financial Ombudsman but also an Ombudsman who is most definitely not neutral I am now faced with a very big question.

What do I do next?