West Bromwich Building Society Tracker Margins Legal Action

Reply to the comment left by "Mark Alexander" at "29/11/2013 - 17:09":

So how do i make a contribution to the marketing fund Mark ?

Doh - i just found a place to register my interest ... its odd how i can't see what is in front of my eyes !! .. its been a long week....

Reply to the comment left by "Dean " at "29/11/2013 - 16:35":

My only concern with raising the entry price is it may prove a disincentive for people to join the class action. There will be people still flip-flopping about pitching in at £240 per mortgage but if the entry cost increases significantly beyond that, it may cause people to believe (however mistakenly) that they can't afford to be part of the class action even though it will cost them far more to not sign up. There may be others (freeloaders) labouring under the belief that we can pony up all the money required to litigate and they can somehow magically reap the rewards without lifting a finger.

What we need to do is strike the right balance between making the individual cost of opting into the class action attractive enough for people to pay in without it appearing prohibitively expensive for people to think they can't afford to join the class action. I know it's not rocket science that the cost of joining the class action is a pittance compared to the cost of having to pay the increased tracker differential but as the saying goes, there's nowt as queer as folk and people do sometimes behave in a strange and irrational way.

In the run up to Christmas, people will be strapped for cash and with the increased margin kicking in on Monday, there will be people who will be thinking about batoning down the hatches and penny-pinching instead of joining the class action and fighting the West Brom. Some of this apathy will originate from ignorance given the fact that class actions are relatively rare in the UK compared to the US. Some of it is cultural, the "British stiff upper lip" or it may just be a misplaced sense of stoicism where people will just get on with things and not complain it in the face of adversity. These are the kinds of things that banks and other financial institutions as well as companies bet on. It's basic human psychology and they are (excuse the pun) banking on it.

What we have to do is convince those flip-flopping over whether to join that joining is their best bet for restitution. We have to convince those with misplaced stoicism that there's nothing wrong with fighting that which is unjust, in fact, it is morally right to fight injustice. We have to convince those who are afraid that the West Bromwich will target them if they stick their heads above the parapet that the veiled threats of the West Brom that they have the power to call in loans is nothing more than smoke and mirrors. I have the power to take off all my clothes, cover myself from head to toe in custard and go running down the street singing "God save the Queen!" but it doesn't mean I'm going to do it (unless of course we win at court in which case I'll be doing my best impression of that naked greased up deaf guy from Family Guy). It is a game of Poker and financial institutions just happen to be better at bluffing.

As can be seen from some of the comments on this site, there are people who are still only just receiving the notification letters that their tracker margins are being increased. We need to give these people enough time to get on board the class action before increasing the entry cost. We also need to allow for plenty of time for people to find their way to this website by doing as much as we can to publicise our efforts and the class action. If people don't know about the class action it naturally follows that they can't join it.

So we only need another 1.9% of the 6700, that's easier to get than say 50% so 4.3 is a wow factor in my book.
Turns out you gave a constructive comment Mervyn

Reply to the comment left by "The Man From Nowhere" at "29/11/2013 - 19:24":

Totally agree , but at some stage we will be so close to the money that we can afford to increase the price. It's not right that those who risked their money early on and have done all they can to raise awareness should pay the same as those who have waited until it looks like a banker then drop in.

How many bookmakers will give you 20/1 on the grand national runner at the beginning of the race and still offer 20/1 as it jumps the final hurdle 5 lengths in front ?

We do have to leave it as long as possible for those who have not found us yet or do not even know west brom are dipping into their pockets but there needs to be a limit.

Reply to the comment left by "ian " at "29/11/2013 - 19:26":

We also need to remember that it's supposed to be 6700 affected borrowers. So more likely to be nearer 8000 maybe more affected mortgages.

So yes you could say only 3.5% signed up.

Or you could say great. We still have 96.5% still to go at.

Better than being where we are now with 96.5 % in and only 3.5% to go at.

It's all good in my book.

Mark,
Can you tell us how you understand the decision will be made :
* wether to increase the entry charge
* when to increase it and
* by how much ?

Reply to the comment left by "ian " at "29/11/2013 - 19:26":

Your welcome.
I had no idea this forum was limited just to constructive comments.

I don't think it's about percentages of people who have or haven't signed up it's about the fact that we are going to reach our target... As others have pointed out already... that is the true achievement.... Even if there is a shortfall i will gladly contribute extra... We've come too far to stop now.

I too think that in a way Mervyn is spot on. (I’ve actually found some of your posts quite motivational - in a negative reinforcement type of way, but that may be too deep for here ☺ ). There is certainly plenty more work for us all to do and we mustn’t become complacent on the back of the amazing success we’ve had to date.

The WB directors must realize by now that their Plan A hasn’t worked and that they’re looking to get a good hiding in court. They must now be hoping to limit the damage to just those accounts that are signed up to the class action.

Therefore the more we get to join the more we spread the cost amongst ourselves and the more we increase it for Worst Brom. Each additional name is a bonus both ways. And, as Mervyn has nicely pointed out, there are still loads of names out there to find and add. Lovely!