Wisdom and Virtue

Although they say wisdom is knowing what to do next and virtue is doing it, I am hoping this week proves wisdom is also about knowing what not to do next.

During the last week I have made the decision not to do quite a lot.

•  I refused to have another Friends meeting purely to update the committee on how things are progressing with the Summer Ball. I made this decision on the basis that, had some members of the committee been helping me in the first place, they would not be in need of updating.  The consequence of making this decision has been to acquire some much needed time to complete some vital Ball related tasks only a handful of us stalwarts are prepared to progress.
• I declined our business banks proposal for us to enter an IVA to prevent the Bank of Scotland’s continued harassment. I did this on the basis I could not bring myself to do anything which would allow the Bank of Scotland’s heartless behaviour towards my family’s plight to go unnoticed. By making this decision I have, for the first time in three years, acquired a sense of dignity and purpose. By choosing to turn the tables on our oppressor it will be me taking the Bank of Scotland to task rather than them preying on my vulnerability.  
• I did not accept the Inland Revenues Capital Gains Tax calculations for back taxes owed over the last ten years.  I asked them to recalculate in the hope they would see my point view because I could not believe reason would not ultimately win the day.  After a two year battle I am relieved to report this has been the case. Being successful in this instance has given me a confidence in my abilities I have never enjoyed before. I cannot help but regard this by product as an immensely silvery lining to a very dark cloud which has hung over me for some time.
•  I have resisted, on behalf of my thirty year old daughter, the temptation to accept a job offer for less than the maximum advertised.  Knowing her prospective employers had advertised the pay at a higher amount, I could not see why my daughter should accept any less when she was offered the job.  By not jumping at their first proposal, my daughter secured a 6% pay increase as well as better hours from her new employers.
•  I have also refused to listen to any more of my lodger Darryl’s self obsessed hard luck stories.  Logic dictates, as I have never had trouble finding tenants in the past, I should easily be able to improve on Darryl in the future. Within twenty four hours of making this decision I achieved my objective and have given Darryl his marching orders.  This means I will no longer have to root out stinking fish from Darryl’s kitchen cupboard, wash unmentionable stains from his bedding or witness his excrement deposits on my cream carpets.

I cannot think of a better way to end the week!

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Eighteenth century Irish statesman, author orator and political theorist Edmund Burke once said, "Bad things happen when good men do nothing" and I cannot help but wonder if over the last seventeen years of marriage my “doing nothing” was pivotal to our subsequent financial demise.  

When I retired from the financial services industry on grounds of ill health in 1998 I handed the bread-winning reins over to my husband, confident my financial reputation was safe in his hands.  At the time, I was half way through my pregnancy with our second child and suffering from exhaustion and chronic migraine brought on by over work, along with hypothyroidism and something which was later diagnosed as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

At the age of forty and on the recommendation of my very supportive GP, I moved from a business life in the fast lane to one with my family and home at its center.  For the first two years we were supported by my accruals from the insurance industry and an income protection policy which paid out in the event of my ill health.  My husband was confident he could use the time provided by this short-term financial safety net to build a business using the capital we already had and in so doing take over the responsibility of providing for our family.  He showed me his figures for a ten year plan which involved selling our seven bedroom house together with my former matrimonial home to fund a “buy to let” portfolio which was to replace my income.  The balance from the sale was to provide seed money for a property development business he planned to run alongside the lettings business.  His research was extensive and his figures were both realistic and plausible. This supporting evidence, together with his track record for the successful refurbishment of two previous properties led me to believe I could relax into my role of housewife and mother for the first time in my adult life.  
  
Ten years on I was still basking in the knowledge my husband’s carefully constructed business plan had proved to be a successful one.  I was further encouraged to buy into the illusion of affluence when it was suggested we pay school fees well in advance so as to enjoy a discount. We enjoyed regular visits to our beautifully appointed apartment on the Costa Del Sol and commissioned a high quality finish for our sixteenth century grade two listed barn conversion which was to become our home. The sad and untimely demise my mother-in-law from Motor Neurone disease left my husband with additional capital of £200,000 in the summer of 2007 providing me with no reason to think we had any financial problems.

Within a year I discovered my husband was contemplating taking his own life with his shotgun and we were one million pounds in the red with not a single asset to our name.

When I exchanged my status as a business woman of integrity for the role of house wife and mother I had no reason to believe that, along with my financial integrity, I was giving up my right to make informed decisions about borrowings in my name.  Now, nearly three years on from the “Grand Opening,” I realize my husband made a permanently life changing decision when he risked my much valued reputation along without our home, our livelihood and our financial future and chose to withhold information from me about our joint borrowings. It is my belief he was suffering from mental health issues resulting from his unresolved grief following the long period of illness and the loss of two of his closest family members. Circumstances of which our lender and mortgage broker were both fully aware of at the time.

However, the Bank of Scotland had no such  excuse and they chose to remove my right to the information which could have saved my home and my financial reputation because I was married to the co- borrower. Instead, through unadulterated negligence, they joined forces with my unstable, grief stricken husband and set in motion a course of events which  I continue to pay the consequences of today.

Having made this enormous contribution to our financial demise the Bank of Scotland  now tell me it is I should who pick up the cost of their mistake. Before this act of gross negligence, I had a good reputation which was threatened by my husband’s bad judgement.  However, the ugly business practices of the Bank of Scotland have not only turned my family’s difficult circumstances into impossible ones, they have also relieved me of my financial reputation along with home and financial future and while it may well be true  bad things happen when good men do nothing, I have learned many things since finding myself in such unfortunate circumstances.  One of them is I am not, and never have been, comfortable with doing nothing.

These days I now find myself wondering what the going rate is for a reputation. To me it was priceless but it is almost certainly worth a lot more than a £217,000 shortfall.

I'm still standing

Recently someone I have never met gave a critique on my writing. On reading this blog she remarked I must be very strong.  Never having thought of myself in these terms, it inspired me to search for a word which described the perception I have of myself. The word resilient was the only one which came to mind.

The Japanese describe resilience as someone “who falls seven times and gets up eight” and without a doubt this resembles the daily routine I have endured for the last two and a half years.  I cannot begin to count the number of times I have been knocked down during this period nor can I recall what mechanism I have employed to get to my feet but thankfully always, within a day or two of all manner of blows, I have been able to find the resources to regain my footing.

This week has been no different. 

On top of the normal madness of running a family with three school age children, arranging a prep school ball for one hundred and fifty people, together with a fair of amount of lodger “patting” and a couple of visits to my eighty four year old mother, I have been asked three enormous questions by our creditors over the last forty eight hours,

·       Heritable bank have asked if I would I like to consider entering into IVA in an effort to thwart the Bank of Scotland’s continued bully boy tactics.

·         Merrils Ede would like to know if I am prepared to be made bankrupt “without further notice” by the Bank of Scotland for not complying with yet more demands relating to making a payment arrangement.

·        The Capital Gains arm of the Inland Revenue would like to know if I am in agreement with the retrospective calculations for a tax demand they have prepared covering the last ten years of non payment.

With resilience as my master, I have begun to assess the pros and cons of going into an IVA and, along with the help of my trusty friend Chris I have, yet again, resisted the underhand comments of the Bank of Scotland’s solicitors Merrils Ede.   I have not, however, done anything with my letter from the Inland Revenue.   For this I require something more than just resilience and for the past few days this attribute, whatever it may be, appears to have deserted me.

My fear is the Inland Revenue will, with one flourish of their bureaucratic pen sweep us into bankruptcy if I am unable to meet their demands.  It is my understanding they take no prisoners and it is for this reason their letter lies neglected in the dark of my office cupboard waiting for strength to join forces with resilience and give me the wherewithal to tackle the six pages of Inland Revenue calculations.  I know I must at all costs produce a reply which avoids another demand for money we do not have. 

I have always believed harnessing resilience will help me acquire the ability to work with adversity in such a way I may come through it unharmed and perhaps even better for the experience. I haveve learned to accept I must face life’s difficulties with courage and patience by refusing to give up so I can rebound from these misfortunes, hardships and traumas to face overwhelming odds again and again. While I appreciate I can never go back to start a new beginning today or any other day I am, at least, able to take solace in the knowledge there is always tomorrow.

Today I am completely overwhelmed but tomorrow I will start a new day and make a new ending.

The Curse of the Strong

The Battle of the Banks has re-commenced today with the help of my loyal and talented letter writing friend, Chris. Despite outwardly embracing this conflict, I know in my heart of hearts, it takes a huge toll on my mental health. The price I usually pay for ignoring my overwhelming urge to either crawl under a stone or run for my life, is my hair loss, my sleep and my concentration.  Today is no exception and the first sign of the stress levels rising is a migraine which has already announced its imminent arrival.

Will power along with a chronic aversion to failure sees me through on days like this. However, it does me no favours.  Outwardly coping there is no indication the receipt of just one such letter has snatched the ground from beneath my feet.  Martin Lewis on the Jeremy Vine show referred to it as the ”Curse of the Strong”.  My decision to face these financial bullies, regardless of the cost to my health, is the only logical choice I have if I am intent on exposing the Bank of Scotland's abdication of all responsibilty for a shortfall their actions created . If I don't "stand and deliver" they will, yet again, get away with sweeping their dirty deeds under the carpet.

Today Merrils Ede’s henchwoman is in my firing line because she, with the Bank of Scotland’s blessing, is attempting to heap sufficient pressure on me to prompt an offer  of either a settlement or a payment arrangement. She is doing this by threatening bankruptcy proceedings again despite having financial eveidence which illustrates we are unable to do either. I have no doubt corresponding in this way also allows her an opportunity to rack up substantial ongoing fees.  It’s a “win win” situation as she stands to earn indefinitely from this unrecoverable debt, safe in the knowledge the Bank of Scotland will continue to pay her as long as she gives them the impression we are withholding payment rather than being, as the CAB have so plainly stated, completely without the means to make any offers.

These are the reasons Merrils Ede should not be wasting theirs and tax payers money chasing us at the Bank of Scotland’s behest and it is this information I intend to share with Ms Rottweiler's boss.

·        The case is in dispute and always has been from before the time Merrils Ede took it on two years ago

·        The CAB have repeatedly told her we have no surplus income or assets with which to offer a settlement and they have repeatedly provided Merrils Ede with evidence to this effect.

·        It is against FSA and OFT guidelines to make payment demands from people who have no means of making payments.

·        The Financial Ombudsman is investigating our case against the Bank of Scotland.

·        Because of our financial demise we are experiencing high levels of stress, as indicated in our doctor’s letters of which they have copies, and therefore our mental health is at risk.

     I suspect the Bank of Scotland appointed henchwoman from Merrils Ede has a personal dislike of people who, like me, are unable to pay their debts.  It wouldn’t surprise me if she has assumed high living and extravagance has been the reason for our shortfall and passed a personal judgement we deserve whatever postal punishment she decides to meter out. Whatever her motivation there is one fundamental principal she has yet to appreciate.

      You cannot get blood from a stone.

Rottweiler's Incorporated

In recognising how hard it is to change oneself it should be easier to understand what little chance there is of changing others. However, this said, should an observation of this nature apply to the perspective of a whole bank and all those employed within it? Is it feasible for one biligerent school of thought to extend, with infectious brainwashing tentacles, into the consciousness of all those individuals commissioned do the Bank of Scotland’s bidding. Is it really possible for an unpleasant mind set on such a scale to be alive and well in the minds of every individual in a company so large?

Today, within the walls of the Bank of Scotland, I am convinced it is.

Despite the numerous letters I have written requesting I be advised be of their instruction to debt collecting solicitors Merrils Ede’s, Bank of Scotland's reply has not been forthcoming.  Although Merrils Ede solicitors know, through our representative at the Citizen’s Advice Bureau, I am unlikely ever to be in a position to repay any of our creditors, still they persist with their campaign of persecution with the Bank of Scotland’s blessing.

Today the postman brought a threat from Merrils Ede to start legal and bankruptcy proceedings if they do not hear from me within 10 days. They wish me to provide yet more financial evidence to prove I still don’t have any money.  It is clear the full financial fact find, certified by the CAB, and repeatedly sent to them has clearly proven insufficient again.  Regardless of the fact the Office of Fair Trading state this kind of harassment is contrary to their guidelines, the henchwoman at Merrils Ede continues with her crusade to uncover my "undeclared wealth". On their website they proudly state their debt collecting services regard money owed "like their own" and it goes on to say they pursue “can’t pay’s” in the same way as” won’t pays”.  I can certainly endorse this behaviour as the solicitor assigned to my case refuses to accept having no money is a good enough reason for not making a payment arrangement.

The fact  Merrils Ede has been made aware, on numerous occasions, our £217,000 shortfall is unrecoverable appears to be irrelevant. I am now being pursued by them because the CAB recently told them a great many of our creditors have written off and continue to write of our debts on the basis of hardship and compassion. The CAB did this in an effort to persuade the Bank of Scotland to follow suit, however, using only Rottweiler reasoning, the Merrils Ede henchwoman believes debts being forgiven must have resulted in some additional disposable income for her to direct into the Bank of Scotland's and Merrils Ede’s coffers.

I ask myself , “Is it really so hard to understand the reason so many of our debts have been forgiven is not because we have been paying anyone, but  because we have been unable, and continue to be unable, to make any payments to any of our creditors?” How can having a sum written off in these circumstances leaves anything more in the budget for Rottweiler’s incorporated?

This logicless pursuit is undoubtedly a breach of any number of OFT and Ombudsman guidelines and the ongoing bombardment of menacing letters from the Bank of Scotland’s legal representative is yet another source of agitation in a life full of financial instability and pressure. Moreover, Ms Rottweiler's refusal to believe my unredeemable financial position, is nothing short of insulting. 

Tonight, however, I plan to take solace in the words of Pope John XXIII and tomorrow....... well tomorrow, as with every day, I plan to fight back.

"Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do. "- Pope John XXIII

Debts and rubber ducks

Why is it some people, finding they do not know the answer to the question you have asked, simply make up questions they can answer in order to give a reply? I have just spent twenty minutes on the telephone to someone within the debt advisory services who has chosen to do just that. My difficulties seem to arise because I am quite often more knowledgeable than the people from whom I can afford to seek expertise yet I still feel it is necessary to take advice because I don't feel knowledgeable enough to be confident in my decision making without have a sounding board.

This morning’s frustrations have stemmed from my Heritable Hero’s offer to “encourage” the Bank of Scotland to accept an Individual Voluntary Arrangement. This IVA would include my husband’s remaining personal creditors of £73,000, business creditors of £75,000, together with some non hostile credit card debt which is not being pursued as well as our mortgage shortfall of £217,000. Heritable Bank have already agreed to write off our shortfall of £209,000 but have suggested, as an alternative, I consider whether it would be beneficial for me to use Heritable’s offer to force my hostile creditors (Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB, Nat West, MBNA, Abbey National, Cahoot and Capital One) into accepting an IVA. This will not require a monetary outlay, but instead could be a method by which to render them powerless to pursue me.

While putting an end to the financial pressure is a very attractive proposition, I desperately feel the need for an expert to go through the nuts and bolts of it with me so I can make an informed decision.  My layman’s understanding of the rulings are that as long as 75% of my creditors agree, I can pay whatever is acceptable to them (rubber ducks was one suggestion) and be home and dry without any more postal panic, doorstep claw hammer threats or armed police responses ever again.

But is this the best course of action for me to take right now?

With this question in mind I made National Debt Line my first stop.  After updating my financial fact find and fending off the advisor’s urges to launch into a discussion on bankruptcy with me, I was told I could not consider an IVA without doing an income and expenditure analysis to assess my disposable income. When I explained  they had completely lost sight of the fact I may well be paying in rubber ducks, their rather shirty reply was this was not the normal way to approach an IVA and it was their opinion most people would look at something in the region of twenty pence in the pound.

Having finally got him to accept rubber ducks were precisely the kind of IVA both I and Heritable Bank had in mind, he had to concede this was indeed, technically, a possibility but felt it was imperative I go on hold while they checked with their legal department whether it would be possible for Heritable Bank to make me do this!  It took me several minutes more to convince him nobody was attempting to force me to pay them in rubber ducks, or anything else for that matter.  Finally, broken and confused, but still trying to save face, my advisor agreed to allow me to ask him my question.

“Now you are in possession of all the facts,” I said, “is this a feasible way forward for me right now?”

Of course his answer was, “I couldn’t possibly answer a question of this kind. You will have to ask an insolvency practitioner but remember you will have to pay.”

I have always been aware that the odds of going into a supermarket for a loaf of bread and coming out with just a loaf of bread are three billion to one.  I had foolishly hoped that National Debt Line would have at least allowed me my loaf of bread but I suppose I shouldn't have been looking at a bakery for pearls of wisdom. 

Blood, Fret and Tears

Nobel Peace Prize winner Henry Kissinger once said, "Any fact that needs to be disclosed should be put out now or as quickly as possible, because otherwise the bleeding will never end" and while I appreciate he was referring to damage limitation as US secretary of state, his observations ring equally true for the effects of mental illness and stress.  However, if my own case is anything to go by, the Bank of Scotland, now part of Lloyds Banking Group, have no interest in damage limitation for anyone other than themselves, nor do they consider the toll of the never ending bleed of mental ill health, more commonly known as stress, inflicts on the individuals in their hands.

Our troubles began in 2006 when, having just remortgaged with the Bank of Scotland to fund a building project, both my husband’s mother and brother were simultaneously diagnosed with familial MND. Although they were told MND running in families was almost unheard of, it became blatantly clear (as my husband’s aunt had died from MND twenty years earlier) our family had drawn a very short, and frightening, straw.  Between regular trips to care for our dying relatives my husband made the decision to sell our beautiful sixteenth century home on the completion of the building project as he it wished to become our new home. He believed relocating would provide us with not only a place to live but an income from the annexed accommodation as he feared he too was suffering from the early signs of MND and would soon be paralyzed or on his death bed  just like his forty four year old brother.

When my husbands mother and brother died in March 2007, sadly only three weeks apart, I agreed to put our home on the market knowing only that my husband no longer wished to work in residential property development market. Completely unaware of his health issues and without the knowledge my husband had been late with several mortgage payments in an effort to supplement the cash flow of the other build, I was pleased when a keen cash purchaser was found in November 2007 on the grounds it would simplify life for my husband after such a grueling and emotionally draining year.

However, in just a few short weeks prospects for my husband, me and our three young children completely changed.

·        In January 2008 our purchaser’s purchaser withdrew the offer on their house on the grounds he did not wish to develop their property in a falling market.

·        In March 2008 our purchasers, conveyance solicitors, found a new purchaser but after experiencing a sharp downturn in their turnover, decided to redirect funds originally allocated to the house purchase of our house, to their business.

·        In April 2008 our purchasers applied for a mortgage in order to raise funds to buy our house.

·        In May 2008 our purchaser’s mortgage valuation revealed our house was not worth the agreed £950,000 price they had offered four months earlier but instead was only worth £800,000. This was £225,000 less than our Bank of Scotland mortgage valuation of May 2006.

·        In June 2008, still waiting to see if our purchasers were prepared to proceed at a lower price but with no other prospective buyers in sight, we decided to look for a tenant to cover the monthly mortgage interest payments.

·        In July 2008 our mortgage payments rose from £2,400 a month to over £5,000 per month when our two year fixed rate ended.

·         In August 2008 our purchasers formally withdrew their offer.

·      In September 2008 a tenant was secured for our property at £2,200 per month but the Bank of Scotland rejected our proposal to tenant our home and make part payments.

·        In October 2008 the funding for our building project dried up when our business bank went into administration and as a consequence my husband became unemployed.

·        In October 2008 I discovered my husband had not been opening the post or paying the mortgage for more than sixth months leaving us £27,000 in arrears. I took over the running of our finances and the responsibility for the post.

·        In October 2008 my husband confessed, had he not discovered his life assurance had lapsed, he had every intention of committing suicide.

·        In October 2008 my husband and I visited our doctor and were told he was suffering from symptoms of extreme stress and unresolved grief but thankfully not MND.

·        In October 2008 I told the Bank of Scotland I had not been privy to any conversations or received any communication from them concerning our arrears.

·        In November 2008 I again offered the Bank of Scotland monthly payments of £2,200 as interest rates had fallen and my husband had found part-time employment in a local supermarket. My proposal was rejected once again, this time on the grounds it was too late.

·        In November 2008 Bank of Scotland applied for and were granted a possession order for my home. I sat, alone, in front of the judge and wept.

·        In April 2009 the Bank of Scotland sold our home for £665,000 leaving us with a £217,000 shortfall.

·        In April 2009 the Bank of Scotland instructed their solicitors Merrils Ede to pursue us for the repayment of a £217,000 shortfall from my husband’s salary of £12,000 per year.

·        In April 2009 and in complete contrast, our business bank Heritable agreed to complete and sell our unfinished building project and write off the £209,000 shortfall on compassionate grounds.

• In  June 2009 I was told I would most probably have a case against the Bank of Scotland for their lack of duty of care and their over valuation of my property at outset. To date I have been unable to secure anyone to take my case forward without funding.

Throughout the following year, with the charitable help of the CAB’s debt consultants, a total of £800,000 of my husband’s business and personal debt was written off on grounds of compassion and hardship. The Bank of Scotland and their parent company Lloyds Banking Group are alone in their decision to perpetuate our purgatory with their unrelenting harassment for repayment. In desperation, I have tried  to enlist the help of the Financial Ombudsman Service only to be told the Bank of Scotland are contractually at liberty to pursue us for a shortfall regardless of the manner in which it was created . They FOS have also advised me the Bank of Scotland plan to argue that my case is both out of jurisdiction on timescale and without  legal substance. The Bank of Scotland are adamant the regulatory and government initiatives to encourage banking forbearance in cases such as ours are merely unenforceable guidelines, codes of conduct and protocols which are not legally binding. The Financial Ombudsman agrees with them.

Had the Bank of Scotland accepted our offer of rental income against our mortgage payments in September 2008 we would still have a home to return to today. The rental would have provided sufficient income to cover the interest on our mortgage as well as a substantial contribution towards the arrears. However,  instead, the Bank of Scotland chose to use the possession order they acquired through the courts to push through the forced sale of our home in April 2009. In doing so they created a huge deficit by way of a £217,000 shortfall which, from outset, they were fully aware was and is beyond us to resolve.

After three years of continued persecution and, according to my advisors, a further nine years to go before the Bank of Scotland are themselves out of jurisdiction, it seems they are nothing short of hell bent on driving both my husband and I to our stress related deaths before they will reconsider their position. To date I have lost my all my hair, my eyebrows and my eyelashes along with forty pounds in weight while my husband regularly alternates between uncontrollable rage and suicidal despondency. Our children often refer with sadness to happier times before we lost our home.

In the words of Nobel Peace Prize winner Henry Kissinger, and in the absence of any money, I can only conclude the Bank of Scotland are determined to ensure our “bleeding will never end".