Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Fifteenth century Italian historian, politician, diplomat and philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli once said, “There are three kinds of intelligence: one kind understands things for itself, the other appreciates what others can understand, the third understands neither for itself nor for others. This first kind is excellent, the second good, and the third kind useless” and now I am finally in receipt of the Bank of Scotland full investigation into my overvaluation complaint it is clear I have most definitely had a close but useless encounter of the third kind.

It is a year since I first accused the Bank of Scotland, via the Financial Ombudsman Service,  of overvaluing my home in April 2006 at £925,00 and I have already received an unsolicited £500 for the distress their delay in investigating this matter have caused me. However I am now in receipt of their full report and in it the Bank of Scotland tell me, prior to instructing their surveyor “our systems were updated to show what the estimated value of the home was at the time. This shows that based on the original purchase price of £890,000 in 2004, the value of the home would have increased to £925,000 [in April 2006.] The valuation carried out for your mortgage agreed with the assessment that was entered into our systems during the application process.” 

  

After three more pages of “could haves, would haves” and “should haves” based entirely on this statement I am then told, “To compensate you for the delay it has taken to send this response to you, I have agreed to send you a cheque for £100”. This I have now also received with along a covering letter which states it is in “full and final settlement” of my complaint.

This was my reply,

“Dear [Bank of Scotland investigator],

Re; Bank of Scotland overvaluation complaint

Thank you for your letter dated 17 January 2013.

Unfortunately, I am unable to respond to any of the points you raise in your letter as the “original mortgage application notes that are held on file for this account” are inaccurate.

I purchased the Tithe Barn in 2000 for £250,000 and not in 2004 for £890,000 as stated in your letter.

You say that your “systems were updated to show what the estimated value of the home was at the time”.

I am assuming that the bank used a sophisticated piece of software to update your systems fed by data which you have gleaned from a number of sources.  Please supply copies and evidence of the data you used to “estimate” the value of my home in May 2006 at £925,000 based on a purchase price of £890,000 in 2004.  I am very disappointed, at this stage of the bank’s investigation, to find I am to experience yet further delays due to such fundamental inaccuracies.

You also state at the end of your letter that if I remain unhappy I have the option to contact the FOS as long as I do this within six months of the date of your letter.  Having previously fallen foul of the jurisdiction issue over time limits with the FOS and the Bank of Scotland I would request that you provide me with the information I have asked for within the next 14 days.  If you are unable to do this, I would further request the time limit be extended to the date of your next response to prevent it eating into my six months.  May I also ask you acknowledge receipt of this letter by return of post.

On another point, I have received your letter dated 17 January containing a cheque for £100 in “full and final settlement” of my complaint.  In your other letter of 17 January you state this cheque is “to compensate (me) for the delay it has taken to send this response to (me)”.  Could you please clarify if by accepting this cheque I would be forfeiting any legal rights I may have in the future to pursue this complaint further.  It is my understanding that this would indeed be the case.  I am very unhappy to have been put in this situation, particularly as I have not been given an opportunity to respond fully to your investigations or any time to argue my case.  My issues with the Bank of Scotland have stolen 4 years of my life and as a result my family has experienced huge financial loss.  To jeopardise my complaint with a cheque for £100 is very distressing.  I am returning the letter and attached cheque for the reasons stated above.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

[LAD]

cc Financial Ombudsman Service

Eighteenth century poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic Dr Samuel Johnson once said, “Between falsehood and useless truth there is little difference. As gold which he cannot spend will make no man rich, so knowledge which he cannot apply will make no man wise” and as far as I can see those choosing to employ falsehoods and useless truths at the Bank of Scotland have simply not grasped that the purpose of my complaint is to not to finance the repairs on my car with compensation from their mistakes but instead to encourage them to address my miss-sold mortgage.

Now, once again, I await their reply.

Dead and buried

Finding myself in something of a debt fighting lull as I await the Financial Ombudsman’s findings with regard to my complaint against HBOS, I have used the time to glean as much information as possible about HBOS's dealings to date. To my surprise, my HBOS Harassment page on face book has put me in contact with two other victims of Lloyds and HBOS skulduggery and I have been amazed to hear how much they too have suffered at the hands of this giant, too big to fail institution.

While greatly sympathising with their cases, I cannot pretend to have a full grasp of the detail. However, one thread of commonality runs throughout all. It appears no amount of communicating with HBOS or Lloyds has done anything to encourage these ivory towered bully-boys to either look objectively at what is being disputed nor embark on any remedial action for the sake of the individual.

It would seem HBOS has, for some time, had a reputation for steam rollering legal proceedings towards bankruptcy even when they are fully aware of people’s inability to pay. Reports revealing 8 out of 10 such cases should not ever have reached court in the first place do not appear to deter them and  HBOS are equally happy to bring proceedings to court for debts which are in dispute.  I understand from one lady I spoke to HBOS have attempted to repossess her home, through the courts, twenty two times.  Her dispute involves the Reading branch of HBOS where there is an ongoing police investigation which has resulted in several arrests for fraud.

Having already been taken to court to enable HBOS to obtain a possession order with which they beat through a fire sale on my home, I have been told, on more than one occasion, by Merrils Ede, their appointed solicitors, they plan to start legal proceedings towards bankruptcy because I am unable to pay the £217,000 shortfall that the HBOS instructed fire sale created. Like so many other victims of HBOS out there, it seems to be of no relevance this shortfall is in dispute and I am penniless anyway. Baring in mind how much it costs to action these proceedings I did not, until recently even begin to understand the thinking behind court cases of this nature.

However, I am now wondering if the reasoning behind a course of action such as this is simply an attempt by the individuals within HBOS to avoid losing face. I believe its quite possible I, together with all the other victims of HBOS who have disputes, have become an embarrassing legacy which needs to be dispatched, like cannon fodder, through the courts and then buried under an epitaph of “ bad debtors” in the balance sheets. I can only assume dealing with an individual’s dispute or unrecoverable debts in this way is less embarrassing to those at HBOS who have had a part in our creation and perhaps it is for this reason we have been ear marked for legal persecution. I cannot think what other reason there could be behind blindly spending taxpayers and share-holders money on cases which are doomed from the start to reap no reward.

Antonio Horta Osorio may well have asked his executives to bring out their dead but it is my belief  some of these very same people have in fact decided to bury us alive, on mass, in our trenches, without Antonio Horta Osorio ever knowing.

Good News Day

In 1814 Napoleon Bonaparte is reported to have said, “Never awake me when you have good news to announce, because with good news nothing presses; but when you have bad news, arouse me immediately for then there is not an instant to be lost.” Nearly two hundred years on I can whole heartedly relate to these words because for the past two and a half years I have awoken, every morning, with a sense of urgency in the knowledge there is not an instant to be lost when it comes to battling the banks for my family’s future.

During the last three months, if I have not been engaged in combat with HBOS and Lloyds, fulfilling the needs of my children, arranging a fundraising Ball or playing Mrs Mop to my lodgers, my focus has been on writing my blog.  My blog has become my platform and even a point of reference when trying to explain my position to others. Most of all, however, blogging has provided a vehicle by which to record the frustrations of not being heard in the hope that one day I will be.

This weekend, at last, I received not only good news, but evidence I have indeed been been heard and not just on one occasion.  

·        The Financial Ombudsman’s Service confirmed they are happy to receive additional evidence of the ongoing harassment I am still subject to from Merrils Ede solicitors. They have also informed me they anticipate their investigation will take at least eight weeks. This is very encouraging news because, not only does it give me written evidence they are taking my complaint seriously but it also offers my family and I some much needed sanctuary during this summer’s school holidays.

·        My legal friend JS tells me Merrils Ede’s refusal to supply me with the promised internal investigation report into my original complaint about them, warrants a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman. This news is also refreshing because in the past I have been unable to illustrate Merrils Ede’s vindictive attitude and incompetent nature  and because of this have been left completely exposed to their continued harassment.

·        The Office of Fair Trading at Cardiff County Hall has not only replied to my letter of 2009 and apologised profusely for their delay, but expressed grave concern Merrils Ede are, as I informed them, collecting debts without a consumer credit licence as well as flaunting many debt collecting guidelines. Armed with the evidence I have provided them, they plan to investigate Merrils Edes and report their findings to the Law Society. Words do not explain how relieved I am to be finally gathering some officialdom in my arsenal against HBOS and their henchwoman.

However, while every one of these instances has strengthened my resolve to return to the fight fortified, nothing has lifted my spirits more than the email I received this weekend from journalist, broadcaster and reporter Ian Fraser. In it was the link to his latest blog which was, for the most part, about my continued persecution at the hands of Lloyds and HBOS. He urged Chief Executive Antonio Horta Osorio to address “the sins of the past” if he is to live up to his comment “bring out your dead” as the pre-requisite to the massive clean up operation he plans to implement at Lloyds and HBOS.   I cannot thank Ian enough for illustrating my circumstances and can only hope through his words I may finally be heard.

For me, this weekend has most definitely been one which has been packed with good news and if Napoleon Bonaparte believed this warrants a lie in, who am I to argue? Here’s hoping Ian Fraser feels he’s earned a lie in too.

Unequal Opportunities

Having just read Ian Fraser’s blog of 25 June 2011 about my ongoing unpalatable predicament, I was astonished to discover the persecution I have suffered at the hands of HBOS over the last two and a half years has less to do with my husband having borrowed too much and a lot to do with the fact our £217,000 disputed shortfall is insufficient to qualify for forgiveness.  Having told me at least ten times they will never write off shortfalls it appears HBOS are more than happy to do exactly this, but only for a select few and only if your face fits.

One way one can qualify for debt forgiveness from HBOS is to borrow, like Sir David Murray of Murray International Holdings, 759 million.  In these circumstances, like Sir David, I may well have qualified for a shortfall write off 150 million when my husband’s property business took a nose dive due to the economic recession and the demise of his bank Heritable. I may also have been able to keep my home into the bargain.  Alternatively I could have secured debt forgiveness from HBOS if, instead of my children’s home being at risk, I was a struggling “buy to let” borrower in Ireland with a shortfall.  However, being a fifty three year old mother of three young children with a husband suffering from unresolved grief and depression, I am told it is out of the question. In fact it is regularly intimated by Merrils Ede solicitors that I am delusional to keep asking. For me the line from HBOS has always been to stop asking for a write off that they are never going to grant and, pay up.

I have spent the last three years overwrought with fear for my family’s future while continually being hounded and ridiculed by Lloyds, HBOS and their appointed debt collection henchwoman at Merrils Ede solicitors. They continue to harass us for money they know we simply do not have and yet now, thanks to Ian Fraser’s blog naming a few of the tycoons who have enjoyed substantial shortfall write offs, I have realized I am actually up against a well established two tier system of favoritism for the select few.

Sir David Murray said “The one thing you can’t buy at a time like this is experience” as he looked ahead with bullish confidence.  I beg to differ.  I suspect the one thing I couldn’t buy at the time was a face which would fit. Because of this, while Sir Murray looks to a future with HBOS’s help, I, with the help of my husband and three children, packed up our home into a friend’s horse box  when HBOS forced a sale on my house and left every chance of economic recovery for my family behind.

They say God has no favorites but it is clear HBOS most certainly does.  

The Emperor's New Clothes

On occasion I am asked why I exchanged a lucrative career in the Financial Services Industry for the life of a housewife and mother. I am uncomfortable when I am faced with no alternative but to explain as failure on any level does not sit well with me. Admitting that my health failed, albeit in a non life threatening way, when undiagnosed Hypothyroidism, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, twice weekly migraines, high blood pressure and Alopecia Totalis finally caught up with me at the age of forty is no exception. 

In 1998, on my GP's instructions, I walked away from a job which provided substantial returns in exchange for an unsustainable pace and instead I chose to spend the past twelve years living an "alternative" lifestyle in an effort to accommodate my physical shortcomings by way of a less stressful life. As a result my hair grew back, my blood pressure settled, I no longer fell asleep the moment I sat down and I was much happier knowing I had time to surcombe to bouts of ill health when they occurred.

In October 2008 this changed.

Forced by circumstance to once again endure unhealthily high levels of stress when I become a one woman debt fighting machine immediately highlighted my inadequacies. Within a matter of days it plunged me back into a regime of daily migraine, sudden weight loss, insomnia, panic attacks and chronic Alopecia. Managing these health issues while simultaneously trying acquire up to date knowledge of the financial services industry guidelines and regulations has made it all the more arduous to access my own rusty knowledge of the industry let alone retain it but despite the shackles of these infuriating limitations, I  remained committed to saving my family from the ongoing persecution of HBOS. To this end I have been exploring the world of finance via archived newspaper articles. During my research I came across the words of ex- HBOS risk management executive and whistleblower Paul Moore and was nothing short of astounded to discover just what HBOS had been up to.

Having already lost his job as a result of his attempts to warn the HBOS board their lending strategy was critically flawed, Mr Moore bravely ignored a gagging order to expose the relentlessly irresponsible behavior of his HBOS colleagues.  His revelations provided me with an extremely enlightening insight into how my husband was able secure the levels of borrowing he did and also explained the short-term financial motivation behind the board's endorsement of these economically dangerous lending policies. Coupled with the shockingly inadequate aspects of corporate and regulatory governance which permitted an HBOS sales culture specifically designed to harvest short term gain regardless of the cost to customers and shareholders to go unchecked, it became clear from what Moore was saying, it was not just our home and our financial future which had been steered towards the rocks by HBOS, but that of the economy as a whole.

Convinced even non bankers with no risk management expertise would recognize the pitfalls of lending “money to people who have no jobs, no provable income and no assets” Paul Moore firmly believes the current financial crisis has come about as a direct result of "an Emperor’s New Clothes attitude within HBOS”. He says anyone “not blinded by money, power and pride felt unable to speak up for fear of stepping out of line with the rest of the lemmings who were busy organizing themselves to run over the cliff edge” behind their sweet talking CEO. 

This was a complete revelation to me.

However, despite this newly acquired insight and amid widespread reports Lloyds/HBOS' new CEO Antonio Horta Osorio plans for "a new beginning", I am still left completely unable to comprehend why HBOS, now publicly exposed for their recklessness and under official investigation, has seen fit to instruct both their collections and their legal departments to hound my family for a £217,000 shortfall which they created, risking further scrutiny and investigation and yet more bad press.

An ancient Arabian proverb suggests, "There are many ways to recognize foolish behavior, anger without cause; speech without profit; change without progress; inquiry without object" and because HBOS and their henchmen continue to employ each and every one of these traits to hound and harass their victims for no logical reason, I can only conclude they remain committed to seeking counsel from fools in preference to heeding the wise words of their former head of corporate risk management, Paul Moore. 

This does not bode at all well for any of us.

Loveless letters

Another letter from Merrils Ede solicitors has landed on my doorstep and my stomach does an involuntary flip when I spot the corporate frank declaring its origins. Even though I know this letter has arrived as a result of one I sent to them last week, it still sends my adrenalin rushing into overdrive as I prepare myself for yet another round of vindictive abuse from this HBOS appointed henchwoman and her colleagues.

Today these Rottweilers have written to refuse an answer to my enquiry as to whether the Bank of Scotland has instructed them to issue bankruptcy proceedings “without further notice”  as intimated in their last letter. Although I explained I require this information for my Ombudsman complaint,  I have been denied the answer, yet again, on the grounds my request is merely repetitive delaying tactics.   I believe this accusation can only be a Freudian slip on the part of Merrils Ede as it is they who are employing delaying tactics when it comes to making it clear to HBOS we are genuinely without funds. Why resolve this unpleasant situation for me when, by dragging their feet and making repeated demands for money they know we have not got, gives them an infinite number of opportunities to milk their extremely lucrative HBOS cash cow to the tune of £180 per letter?

No doubt Merrils Ede are further frustrated by the fact the Ombudsman has now taken my case and in so doing rendered my file non income producing for them. However, what I find frustrating is, because of a legislative loop-hole, Merrils Edes are unanswerable to anyone for their blatant flaunting of FSA, Office of Fair Trading and government guidelines because they are solicitors. The Solicitors Regulatory Association agrees what they are doing is unpleasant but not illegal and so, in the name of HBOS, they have carte blanche to employ whatever tactics they wish without fear of losing their licence to practice. Little wonder they are happy to say on their website they collect money for their clients irrespective of whether the individuals are “can’t pays” or "won't pays”.

I understand Confucius said, “To see what is right, and not do it is want of courage or of principle.”  And it seems to me the Bank of Scotland has decided to set its stall out with people who have neither. All I can hope for is my courage and principles, along with the Ombudsman sense of what is right, will ultimately win the day.