Pennies from heaven

While one random act of kindness can supposedly change the world, I am delighted to report three random acts of kindness have amounted to a much needed holiday for our family.

When Christmas  2008 came only eight weeks after the Grand Opening, every penny I received in gifts from my family went towards heat, light, food and fuel. We had weekly benefits of £300 a week and nothing to spare for presents let alone luxuries. Our life remained like this for many months leaving me trapped in my beautiful,  but expensive to heat, country home with creditors shouting abuse at my door, debt collection agencies constantly telephoning, baliff visits looming  and no idea where the tunnel was let alone where the light at the end of it might be.

A year later when Christmas came around again we had lost our home but had managed to secure a roof over our head in the form of a drafty, leaky old farmhouse which had stood empty for nearly a year. By this time my husband was working at M & S but we had to use the Christmas money sent to us as gifts to finance the purchase of presents for our children and grandchildren.

This year was completely different.

With rental income from lodgers bridging the gap between torturously cold and bearably comfortable, I felt able, for the first time in three years, to spend the three hundred pounds my father sent us, on a luxury. So, on New Year’s Eve, I paid £321 for five return flights to Spain thanks to my Dad and his wife’s generousity.

Three years ago, within days of discovering our predicament, my father- in -law urged me to take my children away from the continual harassment and verbal abuse which went hand in hand with the demise of our business by moving to his apartment on the Costa del Sol. Not wishing to hide from our financial responsibilites I decided to stay and face the consequences so declined his kind offer to use his well appointed Spanish home complete with car and a full larder. Three years on he was only too happy to make the same offer again but this time for ten days in July.

Hearing the prohibitively expensive transfers from the airport were going to cost nearly as much as our flights, some Spanish resident ex-patriot friends of my father in law, whom we have never meet, offered to bring two cars to Malaga airport to collect us at a fraction of the cost of the commercial transfers available.

Because of these three independent acts of kindness, I, my husband and my children will fly to Spain for a ten day holiday of sun, sand and sea for which we have not paid one penny.  For me, this is a clear indication the “everyday kindness of the back roads more than makes up for the acts of greed in the headlines”.

I do not doubt ex Lloyds Chief Executive Eric Daniel’s holiday plans, along with a fair few other HBOS and Lloyd’s executives, will have used tax-payer paid bonuses to finance much more extravagant and exotic summer breaks for their families than mine. I cannot, however, believe it possible for any of them to be looking forward to their vacation more than I am.

This feeling is priceless.

Beat and retreat

During the past two years it has been difficult to remember happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but instead emerges from the recognition and appreciation what we do but these days, when anyone asks why I remained at my husband's side in the light of such adverse circumstances, I always say with conviction, “Because I am not prepared to lose any more than I already have”.Fully aware my life is far from perfect, I am regularly able to rejoice in the knowledge that, despite the constant prevailing and ill wind from HBOS I have succeeded in keeping my family together but it does not allow me to ignore ever emerging evidence of greed, irresponsible behaviour and double standards employed by Lloyds and HBOS

Annoyed it has proved necessary for Steve Baker to campaign for a parliamentary bill to force banks to prepare accounts reflecting a true and accurate illustration of their previous years trading, which have on occasion been as much twenty five million adrift, I have been nothing short of incensed to discover, despite insisting to me they never write off debt, HBOS have been doing precisiely this for the last two years for debts in Ireland amounting  to 7.2 billion. Yet still Eric Daniels, who has recently declared his remaining Irish loan book 54% impaired, has continued to see fit to ignore my personally addressed letters to him asking for debt forgiveness and instead, sanctioned Merrils Ede to crank up their persecution of me. While I am left crushed under a residential shortfall of £217,000, Eric Daniels has, in contrast, cunningly escaped from under Lloyds and HBOS’s own 289 billion shortfall, happily clutching his 1.45 million pound reward for failure on the back of scurrolous accounts and his “very good year” remark.

If HBOS had not forced the sale on our 16^th century tithe barn during our period of crisis in 2008, we too could have had a retirement to look forward to. Assuming we  sold up when my husband reached age 65 (twenty years hence), its anticipated value would be 3.2 million assuming an average annual compound growth of 7% and a current value of £800,000.  Even with a £795,000 mortgage to deduct and £27,000 of arrears we too could have been looking forward to a substantial lump sum to support us in our old dotage.

Some people may well be enjoying the benefit of HBOS and Lloyds “pray and delay” or “extend and pretend” policies while others appear to have experienced the relief of a “forgive and forget” write offs. For me however, it remains HBOS’s policy only to “beat and retreat” behind their Rottweilers at Merrils Ede Solicitors

And 

At present I am at a complete loss to fathom how I can ever change this.

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.

Perceptions

Whilst I am unsurprised by Rupert Jones’s article in the Guardian stating FSA figures show property repossessions are on the increase, I am amazed twenty two people, who appear not to have been repossessed themselves, have commented so emotively on the subject. Even more remarkable is the fact only one person from the twenty two who had something to say laid any blame at the door of the banks.

If this cross section is anything to go by, the Guardian reading public feel the government and the banks have a lot to answer for but  ultimately it is the individual who is to blame if their houses are repossessed. The commenting public simply believe “chickens have come home to roost” for the irresponsible mortgagees who have over stretched themselves by purchasing houses they could not afford.  In more than one case these errant and homeless individuals are condemned for making a fuss over something which is not even a “life or death” matter and accused of having used yet more taxpayer’s money for personal “bailouts” of futile self created situations.

Financial self interest is well represented in these comments while only minimal amounts of sympathy, very little understanding and virtually no empathy are evident. Bearing in mind it is well documented most repossession cases come about as a direct result of loss of income, I find it extremely unpalatable to discover so many people feel at liberty to cast the first stone. I can only conclude this is because they feel secure in their belief losing a home through repossession is not something which happens to people like them.  I can only wonder if opinions might alter if they were aware of the following;

·        HBOS excluded me from all conversations about arrears on my jointly mortgaged home on the grounds that I am a married woman.

·        HBOS went to court to obtain a possession order for my home based on a report from an HBOS appointed debt counsellor with whom neither my husband nor I have ever had a consultation.

·        HBOS refused to discuss reduced payments or any other options when I discovered our arrears and instead applied for possession through the courts four weeks later.

·        HBOS refused to allow me to agree a three year tenancy for my house with a revenue stream which covered my mortgage interest.  This option was available six months prior to them forcing the sale of my home.

·        HBOS forced a sale on our family’s home of ten years while fully aware of my husband’s health, unresolved grief from the loss of both his brother and mother from Motor Neurone disease and subsequent failure of his business.

·        HBOS carried on with their plans to repossess in spite of knowing my husband was actively looking for employment since his business failed due to the economic recession and the demise of our business bank, Heritable.

·        HBOS turned a mortgage with ten months of arrears into a £217,000 shortfall.

·        HBOS seized a £150,000 share of the equity in my home they had no right to as they did not ensure I was advised to take independent legal advice from my husband when he raised capital against our home for business purposes.

·        HBOS destroyed any chance of capital recovery for us forever yet still feel they can make regular demands for repayment of a shortfall they created by their actions.

·        HBOS have continued to harass and victimised me for two and a half years over money they are fully aware we do not have.

I sit, as ever, in my kitchen wondering if the Guardian readership cross section is truly representative of the masses. If it is, what a shock the masses are going to receive if they, like me, fall foul of HBOS’s illogical, vindictive and discriminatory business practices. They say ones perception of any problem is determined entirely by where you are standing when you perceive it.  I hope those who have seen fit to sit in judgement of the less fortunate may see fit to review their stance when they learn of my experiences at the hands of HBOS,

but,

I won't be holding my breath.