West Bromwich Building Society Tracker Margins Legal Action

...some appear to be rattled by this clause - a clarification of it would definitely help long term. Perhaps Justine could look at possibility of including this clause as well as tracker change in our claim. This will also stop WB from taking any action till the court's ruling...

Oh go on then...and there was this from the BBC on same topic... "West Brom was one of the worst offenders":
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/inside_money/3171015.stm

Reply to the comment left by "Incensed Landlord" at "21/11/2013 - 11:59":

I understand your point and respect your decision.

On a wider note, I do agree with the general sentiment regarding the 28 day call in clause. However, I feel it is my duty to pass on vital information such as this "warts and all" so that people can make their own decisions with the benefit of full knowledge.

The 1% of information I am holding back is personal to me and my own back up strategy. I need to remain mindful that I am probably "West Brom's Most Wanted".
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Reply to the comment left by "Concerned Landlord" at "21/11/2013 - 11:51":

I got a "1.9%" letter yesterday as well.

So that's one down and two to go.

Here's a thought - these letters are simply dated "November" but they won't get away with that.

I believe I am correct in saying that they have to give two weeks (ten working days?) notice for a change in the direct debit amount.

If your collection date is not more than two weeks in the future then perhaps a further harrying tactic is to write to them pointing out that they have not given the requisite notice as legally required and perhaps complain to your bank under the direct debit guarantee as well.

It may not affect the outcome of the big legal battle but anything that we can do to bog them down in extra administration has got to be good.

Unfortunately, this does not apply to me as my payments are collected towards the end of the month so they still have another three weeks in which to serve all of the letters but I put this out there as an idea for anybody for whom the dates work out and fancies a bit of light harrying to keep them on their toes.

If I was given a 28 day notice.... I would get tenants to sign a long contract ( back dated) then they could keep the, in slight neg equity house. One less headache! I have enough properties and won't be requiring any further mortgages/loans so not bothered about how it's affected my credit status. WBBS - not bothered in the slightest!

Reply to the comment left by "Mark Alexander" at "21/11/2013 - 12:33":

Mark, regarding insurance indemnity, my understanding from your posts is that the insurance company will get all the awards if we win?!

If that is the case, I together with at least 100 others perhaps would want to underwrite this - requiring each to put in £1000, the court award will then be divided amongst this group and others will get the benefit of not paying for the insurance.

Any thoughts will be more than welcome...

Reply to the comment left by "Concerned Landlord" at "21/11/2013 - 12:55":

That could be considered a collective investment under the FCA rules and would certainly be covered by financial promotions regulations and I suspect other insurance based regulatory issues too. I might be interested in something similar myself but I certainly don't have the FCA permissions to organise something like this.
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I think we are all going to need a good night’s sleep tonight!!! The blogs last night and today were all amazing. Everyone is fighting this from their own perspective but it is all pulling together now and the most important thing is, as Dean said in his great blog, that we get more people to pay up.

Mark’s idea of having a cut off date for inclusion in the Class Action is a great one and I suggest that the cut off date should be 48 hours after getting Counsel’s final opinion. Mark will know when as soon as Counsels final opinion has been obtained and can post the cut off date along with the bank details (again) for anyone who takes quite that long to get off the fence. If they miss his post and subsequently miss the deadline then the only option will be to pay more. Therefore, the only way to be certain to get in at the current pricing will be to take action now.

One thing I do think needs explaining is that a Class Action suit has a two pronged effect. The first is that the decision provides case law and if achieved that it would be wonderful because it should and I repeat should deter any other financial institution from trying this on. There is no guarantee that another bank/building society wont try a slightly different twist but even if they do I think the principle should have been made.

A successful result will also mean that anyone who has signed up to the Class Action suit in advance and is named as a Plaintiff will benefit from any decision ie that the interest rate will not go up. I wonder if everyone realises that anyone who has not signed up will not benefit directly.

The only remedy they will have is either to group together with others (for which they will presumably need a forum otherwise how will they find each other and I think they might find Property 118 unavailable) and launch another Class Action suit that will rely on the decision that has been achieved. They will then have to hope that WBBS settle without another Court case. Their only other alternative will be to launch individual legal claims against WBBS. Whilst on the one hand I cannot resist the image of WBBS facing a thousand or more individual Court cases, anyone who thinks that it is a good idea to sit this out and wait until there is a decision must be nuts as either way their costs will be far more than the £240 per mortgage currently being sought per affected account.

The time to sit on the fence has passed. What Mark and Property 118 are doing is providing the simplest, cheapest and, hopefully, successful solution to a problem which is happening now. Seeing how some people are sitting on the fence reminds me of an old Jewish proverb where a man is drowning and he sees a raft within swimming distance but is too lazy to swim to it. He continues to sink and then he sees a boat in the distance but he cannot be bothered to scream. He dies and when he gets to Heaven he says to the Angels “I have no faith in Heaven at all; why did you let me die”. The Angels reply “we sent a raft; we sent a boat – all we wanted was a response from you”. If you are contemplating joining the campaign group remember Mark is the raft, Property 118 is the boat; if you don’t do your bit don’t complain!!!

A final point – if anyone is still in doubt about how a Class Action suit works or what it can achieve get the film Erin Brockovitch and watch it. This was pretty much the first really successful Class Action suit in the States and it led to a complete change in the way most legal cases are pursued against big companies.

Reply to the comment left by "Annette Stone" at "21/11/2013 - 13:13":

...perhaps people on this forum who have not joined in, would enlighten the rest of us as to what is stopping them joining...

Reply to the comment left by "Annette Stone" at "21/11/2013 - 13:13":

Erin Brockovitch is one of my all time favourite films, what a fantastic recommendation. I think I will watch it again myself this weekend. If ever any of us need some extra inspiration then watch this film. It's 2 hours long and you don't even have to rent a copy these days, you can watch the full film on your PC, Mac, Laptop or Tablet on YouTube these days, see >>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTtBf56cJoc

Your post has inspired me Annette. If Justin is agreeable to the strategy I suggested regarding deadlines and entry costs I will combine that with your suggestions above. That should certainly give the "fence sitters" yet another VERY good reason to get involved and take action NOW 🙂
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