Ghosts of Christmas Past

Putting the hectic school routine behind me for what will amount to almost a month and consigning my HBOS battling files to a cupboard for a similar period, has meant I have finally been able to turn my attentions to preparations for our much anticipated family focused Christmas. However, being someone who has always enjoyed the pleasure of giving, Christmas continues to prove challenging on this front due to our much reduced financial circumstances. Taking solace in the middle eastern proverb that suggests, “If you have much, give your wealth and if you have little, give your heart” I have endeavoured to do the very best I can with the limited resources available to me by applying a completely different approach to our festive celebrations which makes good use of both my heart and my head.

In the past I would have purchased Christmas wreaths, garlands and table decorations to decorate my home and give to my friends. However this year, instead of parting with any hard earned cash in exchange for these wholesome signs of Christmas, I held a table decoration making lunch for a few of my friends and neighbours. Because foliage arrived with each guest and (courtesy of the M & S waste-sale) I was able to supply the receptacles for our floral masterpieces along with a light lunch, I was also able to create an abundance of decorative displays for no financial outlay.  In addition, my children were kept cheerfully and productively entertained by this hive of kitchen industry which  turned a thrift driven exercise into wonderfully social pre- Christmas event that all those who attended are keen to repeat next year. My home has never been better dressed and friends to whom I have gifted my hand made creations have been delighted with a caringly constructed illustration of just how much I value them.  

In the past I would have not only made a Christmas cake but I would also have bought only the best cuts of meat along with a variety of luxury Christmas produce to share with family and friends over the festive period. This year a close friend arrived mid December with a beautifully decorated Christmas cake she commissioned her daughter in law to make me as a gift and, instead of competing with the supermarket crowds, I have managed to ear mark and freeze M & S waste sale produce over the past few weeks for consumption during the festive period. By avoiding the madness of pre-Christmas shoppers,  not only have I had time to create homemade Christmas fair that has ensured all our  guests have been fed like Kings, but I have achieved this without any extra expense.

In the past I would have tried to fulfil the majority of the requests on my children’s lengthy Christmas lists and yet still regularly failed to deliver something I had not realised they had set their hearts on. This year just as I have done over the past two, I managed my children’s expectations by reminding them of our reduced circumstances in an effort to avoid disappointment.  I asked relatives to gift them money rather than presents and promised my children an opportunity to spend it in the January sales in ensure purchases of even greater value. This has left me free to buy five children and six grandchildren a few inexpensive trinkets I know they will enjoy and in so doing resulted in a happier and more balanced attitude to present giving all round.

And,

In the past I would have happily thrown several pounds at a time into the charitable collection buckets found on every corner during the run up to Christmas.  However, for three years consecutive years I have squirmed in discomfort at my inability to help the less fortunate in any way. Nevertheless, this year my husband and I received the most heart warming opportunity of all time and it gave us the chance to do something positive for those people who, unlike us, will not be sharing in a family focused Christmas this year. Thanks to the compassion of one M & S manager who, no doubt, was equally as disgusted my husband by the mountains of un-purchased fresh turkey he had been instructed to throw away, my husband was permitted to have a trolley full for our personal use. It was in this way we were able, at eleven o’clock on Christmas Eve, to redirect twenty of the thousands of M & S turkeys destined for disposal as compost, to the kitchens for the homeless via a friend.

Mother Teresa once said, “If you can’t feed a hundred people then feed just one.”

I am hoping, thanks to my husband’s efforts, a little humanitarian Christmas spirit and several Marks and Spencer’s turkeys, several hundred truly poverty stricken individuals far less fortunate that ourselves will benefit from a hot meal this Christmas.

Rot and Regulators

Marcus Aurelius once said, “Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth” and having opened an email from the Ombudsman’s adjudicator, I am endeavouring to focus on the wisdom of this Ancient Roman Emperor’s as I contemplate my appointed FOS representative’s thinly veiled words of contempt for my fourteen page letter asking for her help.

While the FSA are happy to spend tax payers money by the million on “shaped” investigative reports that avoid holding RBS executives to account and David Cameron continues to trade on his selective Christian principals to explain how “quick [he] has been to forgive the bankers” along with his “biblical” reasons for not seeking retribution, it seems evident the circling of waggons to protect the select few is high on the Financial Ombudsman’s Service’s agenda too. I have grown used to the obstructive attitude of the complaints business as a result of my pursuit of a full, formal and detailed investigation into the unnecessary forced sale of my home by HBOS.

Since I initially contacted the FOS for their help in April 2011 I have been told,

·       They “cannot interfere with the commercial judgement of a business” despite the fact that it clearly states on their web-based consumer fact sheet that, “In some ways we are like a court of law- and our Ombudsmen are like judges.”

·       It is not their job to look back at a situation “with the benefit of hindsight” and change the outcome in spite of their consumer fact sheet stating, where an individual has lost out because of a business’s actions, “we can tell the business what to do to put things right”.

·       They cannot see how “exactly [I] expected [HBOS] to contact me directly” with regard to the mortgage arrears that led to repossession of my home even though I have on good authority HBOS have a legally binding “duty of care” to me in this respect.

·       They cannot see “how it would have been possible for [me] to have dealt with these arrears on my own even if [HBOS] had managed to contact [me] directly” or make use of this information to avoid the repossession of my family home, despite in clearly stating in the HBOS Mortgage Conditions Booklet that letting an HBOS mortgaged property is an option albeit “with the lenders permission”. In fact the FSO’s own technical note explains, in detail, how they investigate a complaint about premature or unnecessary repossession.

·       They “cannot see there is anything to be gained by addressing each of the points within my complaint individually” even though it clearly states in their fact sheet they “don’t take sides and always take a fresh look at the situation.”

Yesterdays FSO correspondence now states,

·        “As [HBOS] initially stated that the complaint was outside of the Financial Ombudsman's jurisdiction, it is likely that this element will need to be dealt with first [and] as such it is likely to be sometime until this is finalised” and my case passed on to an Ombudsman for investigation.

Astounded by the throwing of an HBOS favouring spanner into the works and further outraged because I believed I had addressed the issue of juristiction and laid it to rest at outset, I cannot pretend to be surprised I have unearthed yet more evidence of regulatory tolerance for banker’s criminality. Furthermore I was  completely unprepared to find the Financial Ombudsman Service would, like HBOS’s own complaints department, be unashamed of their tainted allegiances and unrepentant for their acts of discrimination against me to the extent they would put it in writing.

Having compiled my reply I remain in wait, once again, in the hope my HBOS compliant will  receive the airing I believe it deserves while I marvelling at those who believe we are best served by watered down banking reform and regulation. With David Cameron descibing himself as an intermittent but practising Christian who allows himself to “ignore the biblical passages concerning the sick and the poor”  there is little wonder the way is left clear for our regulators to feel empowered to protect the favoured few.  Bureaucratic endorsement of regulatory apathy and injustice for the majority not only ignores basic human values in favour of supporting the prosperity of the self appointed elite but the self-interest of government driven directives to forgive the criminal actions of the casino bankers avoids their prosecution and leaves their swag bags bloated an untouched.

Thomas Jefferson once said,“ Is it less dishonest to do what is wrong because it is not expressly prohibited by written law?” I for one cannot imagine this is a conundrum the greedy bankers, David Cameron or his puppet regulators spend any time whatsoever deliberating over. For the favoured few the law, government guidelines and codes of conduct created for the benefit of the greater good are completely irrelevant.

Needs Must

Emperor Claudius (10 BC- 54 AD) once said “beware, lest in your anxiety to avoid war, you obtain a master” and I appreciate a potential Eurozone collapse together with endless examples of regulatory incompetence in the banking sector means  I will certainly not be alone when it comes to locking horns on every front as I battle against the banks while simultaneously maintaining equilibrium in a life where I have made responsibility to my family my master.

Fully aware there is no such thing as a free lunch when I accepted three bursaries for my youngest daughter and two son’s private education, it was no surprise to discover I had sold my soul to my children’s school when I agreed to become the Chairman of the Friends Committee. This term so far I have given a recruiting speech to parents of the whole school, written the text for the Friends website and school magazine, hosted a quiz night with a sit down meal for thirty and organised fund raising stalls, refreshments and a disco at the schools bonfire night function.

In addition to this I have implemented and run a Christmas Market for twenty stall holders where there were hundreds of children, parents and local people in attendance.

For this event alone I have been required to,

·        supply, print and distribute the advertising material without spending any money

·        plan and set up tables, seating, music and Christmas decorations for the event without any guidance

·        spend thirteen hours on my feet meeting a veritable plethora of Friends and market traders needs with very little assistance

·        referee helpers enlisted to sell refreshments and raffle tickets while thwarting all power struggles and keeping ruffled feathers to minimum

·        eat humble pie as a method of damage limitation when dealing with traders who didn’t check vehicular access to our event in the hope they are not tempted to blacken the school’s reputation because of their own oversights.

During the same period I have written, another letter of complaint, this time to the Department of Energy and Climate Change in response to their ten page letter to me dismissing my case for provision of a new boiler under the governments Energy SavingTrust scheme.

Once again I have,

·        told them they are wrong not to uphold my case of eligibility

·        reminded them their administrative shortcomings should not result in my being disadvantaged

·        requested they send me a copy of the heating and insulation guidelines that were in place at the time of my application

·        enlisted the help of my local MP to ensure I am provided with a meaningful response.

On top of this, and ever hopeful that the regulatory authorities will eventually step up to the mark in my case against HBOS,  I also have emailed the FOS this week, this time to tell them that according to their latest letter they have,

·        set up a third reference number for my Bank of Scotland complaint that bares no reference to my ongoing dealings with them

·        returned my 14 page letter  to me (which cost me £5.90 to send them by registered post), with a new complaint application form

·        still not replied to this self same letter, which they originally insisted should reach them no later than 7 November or else not be proceeded with  

And,

Faced with over whelming fury on the part of my eldest child (now age thirty four), I have endeavoured to use the best of my literary skills to explain a decision I made twenty three years ago when, at the age of thirty, I chose to keep the details of my first husband’s paranoid schizophrenia and subsequent suicide from our then eleven and eight year old daughters.  At the time I spoke only of his passing.

They say the hardest battle ever to be fought is the one in which you try to be yourself. Ever mindful that I am not a failure just because I continue to fail, I take solace in the fact that “continuing to try” is my success. For this reason I have decided it is time to focus on living simply, loving kindly and caring deeply. With this in mind and for the time being at least, my battles can wait until after I have mastered the fast approaching and much anticipated family Christmas.

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.

Sick and Tired

I recently read that representing an investment banker is not unlike being a street-sweeper at a parade. Not only does it involve watching an endless procession of horse’s arses but one is also responsible for clearing up the mess they make.  Now that Lloyds Banking Group’s Antonio Horta Osorio has recently stepped back from his role of Chief Executive Officer only eight months after his golden hello of £8.3 million; I cannot help but wonder whether the stress of spending his days clearing up the legacy of his predecessor’s mountainous piles of crap have resulted in his health’s undoing.

In spite of one person's suggestion it is the numerous letters of complaint I have sent for his personal attention that have finally pushed Mr Osorio over the edge, my gut feeling is this tennis playing, green tea drinking lawyer’s son has gone medically a-wall for reasons, whatever they may be, which have very little to do with my persecution at the hands of HBOS.  I do not doubt, however, it will be a great comfort for him to know, unlike the many individuals who have been suffering relentless levels of stress at the hands of Lloyds owned HBOS, he has another £15 million coming his way out of the 41% taxpayer owned banking coffers whether he does another days work at Lloyds or not.

Hermocratis once said, “An abundance of gold and silver, makes war, like other things, go smoothly” and I can only hope, in this case, “other things” don’t just apply to Mr Horta Osorio’s personal finances whilst on sick leave.  Without him at the helm, market confidence has already cost Lloyds share holders a £1 billion in fallen share values while a 21% drop in profits for the last quarter takes Lloyds Banking Group’s trading losses for the last nine months down to an unhealthy £3.9 billion.

So, while I wait, penniless and in moderate health to hear how my fourteen page letter of complaint to the Ombudsman’s service is received, it seems that Lloyds Banking Group also wait penniless and in moderate health for a favourable outcome to Horta Osorio’s untimely exodus.  In my case, however, having lost everything three years ago because of HBOS recklessness, I only have the potential for gain whilst it appears on this occasion it is the “ too big to fail” Lloyds Banking Group who have everything to lose.

Now there’s a thought.

Rot and Romans

Roman senator and historian Cornelius Tacitus once said, "A shocking crime was committed on the unscrupulous initiative of a few individuals, with the blessing of more, and amid the passive acquiescence of all" and while I continue to smart from the lack of impartiality, unbridled prejudice and misplaced assumptions of the Financial Ombudsman’s Service towards my HBOS complaint, I cannot help but wonder how much more acquiescence I, along with the “ Occupy” protesters worldwide, am expected to endure at the hands of financial regulatory impotence.

Hearing that St Paul’s Cathedral’s backers are dominated by banking interests worth more than £450 billion, 60% of its financial supporters are linked to finance and a large proportion of the trustees have a direct interest in investment banking, it is little wonder the church, like the politicians whose campaign funding relies on the favours of the corporate elite, are dithering as to which side of the fence they wish to sit on in this high profile battle for an ethical economy. It is also unsurprising to find the Corporation of the City of London’s weapon of choice for the dissolution of the Occupy St Paul’s protesters is health and safety. It is however, nothing short of infuriating to witness the ease with which a mere handful of people are able to put the wheels in motion to guard against a perceived danger via health and safety legislation when it is compared with the softly softly approach that has so far been adopted by regulators and governments alike in the face of an actual, and ongoing, global financial crisis. It is nothing short of ludicrous in the light of widespread public outcry for an urgent solution to halt the banking and corporate elites continued looting of the worlds economy.

After reading both HBOS whistle blower Paul Moore’s article, along with that of former banker John Fullerton, both of which vehemently support the need for a return to an economy where “finance is its servant and not its master”, it is clear that a winter of discontent is not only on the cards for the Occupy movement but it is also on the lips and in the hearts of a collective that is not on the steps of St Paul’s and neither is it outside the New York stock exchange. This cry “for the greed and self interest of the minority to be put aside in favour of an economy that promotes a more equitably shared prosperity and respects the physical limits of our planet” seems to be on the lips of an ever increasing number of individuals.

I, for one, sincerely hope my reply to the Financial Ombudsman’s adjudicator in which I request she adhere to FSO's words of intent as stated in their own mission statement will play its part in facilitating a regulatory change. Regulatory change that not only prevents the sweeping of the 99%’s interests under the carpet in favour of keeping the rich and powerful sweet but instead takes those responsible to task and passes judgement on them in a real and consequential manner.

Tacitus also said, “The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws”. So I wish to declare that I, housewife and mother of five, grandmother of six, Chairman of the Friends of my children's school and debt fighter extraordinaire, with the help of my trusty friend and confidant Chris (mother of one) plan to make sure these numerous laws are used to serve and protect me from the corrupt. For this reason my fourteen page letter to the Financial Ombudsman’s Service took Chris and I three whole days to write. I can't imagine the FOS are going to have much fun reading it but I live in hope that, at the very least, it starts the meaningful dialogue for which I have waited so long.

Blissful budgets

Ever mindful that my children’s school holidays should focus on quality family time and not my battle with the banks, it is always my intention to keep my ongoing traumas to within the hours that my children are at school. I believe strictly adhering to this regime for the past three years has not only enabled me to compartmentalise “my work” at the debt fighting coal face at a safe distance from family life, but it has also preserved my sanity, my strength and secured the re-growth of my hair.

Carefully planning my tiny half term budget to attain maximum reward from an income that amounts to little more than 15% of that which we enjoyed before the demise of my husband’s property business I have,

·        Entertained friends and family on a number of occasions courtesy of the plentiful and economically helpful M & S staff waste sale

·        Arranged two cinema trips for early morning showings courtesy of pre-purchased and hugely discounted tickets financed by my mother

·        Repeatedly invited my children’s school friends to visit in an effort to breathe new life into our favourite board and card games.

Although our life style has changed dramatically since the days of the pre-credit crunch melt down of the property market, I take pride in the knowledge we have lived without discomfort and within our means since the terrifying loss of 85% of our income and 100% of our assets in 2008. Resigned to the harsh reality we are no closer to paying off the million pound deficit we were left with, I am thankful our losses have not increased and am relieved that all but a handful of our creditors have accepted pursuing us will be costly and futile.

In contrast to the satisfying peace and quiet of my modest life I am acutely aware Occupy Wall Street protesters and right wing Tea party campaigners alike are far from satisfied that the US government is taking any meaningful steps towards cutting its coat according to the available cloth.  Both factions continue to be incensed by an untenable situation created entirely by the greedy casino banker’s courtship of subprime lending. As a consequence of this flawed mortgage business together with their hoodwinking of governments and institutions alike into believing their lending books were, in fact, perfectly safe vehicles for the cautious investor, the subsequent government banking bailouts have taken the US national debt to an unprecedented fifteen trillion dollars leaving this unwieldy super power teetering on the verge of global default.

While US politicians attempt to thrash out a solution to government cash flow issues which, if put in household terms, involve expenditure of nearly twice the budget and with only 10% in cut backs to help balance the books, I have been forced to break my holiday embargo on my own credit crunch war due to one of the very banks who actively tailored their lending portfolio to suit subprime borrowers and then required a government bailout of 3.55 billion dollars in November 2008 because of their recklessness. US based Capital One have not only authorised the sending of three letters to me over this half term period but left me feeling both anxious and confused over their content.

This week alone Capital One tell me they are,

·        Happy to look into why they have been instructed to pursue us in the light of receipt of the copy letter they sent me last year stating their decision was not to pursue us. I am asked to “bare with them” while the matter is investigated.

·        Instructing immediate court action as I have repeatedly failed to communicate with them and have left them no alternative.

·        Employing the services of a doorstep collection agent, an action which I, so say, have brought on myself by making no attempt to respond to their numerous attempts to contact me.

Incensed by three such conflicting pieces of correspondence I rang Capital One’s UK agent and asked them which letter I should regard as an accurate indication of their intentions only to be told it was impossible to know as Capital One do not reply to their letters!

I can only conclude, just like their UK counterparts who also chose to romance subprime lending and create fictitious lending book valuations, Capital One are far too busy to deal with their correspondence.  I have little doubt their days are taken up with counting the benefits of privatising the gains they have secured from their government bailouts while the rest of us mere mortals are left smarting from the global fallout of their nationalised debts.

I was interested to read the words of ancient Roman lawyer and statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero who said,

“The budget should be balanced. Public debt should be reduced. The arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed, lest Rome become bankrupt.”

I feel safe to say this is evidence that some things never change.