West Bromwich Building Society Tracker Margins Legal Action

Today I had a very good meeting with my MP, Jason McCartney. He very kindly agreed to seeing me after I explained I wasn't happy with the response the West Brom had given him regarding the rate rise. He was very interested to hear that the West Brom reply was misleading at best and I hope I explained clearly what the real problems were and how the effects could stretch far beyond West Brom customers. As you can imagine at this stage his powers to act are limited but he was genuinely willing to help and suggested I find out if any other members of the forum have managed to get any interest from their MP's. If so he would be happy to liaise with them with a view to getting a debate going.

Therefore can I ask has anyone else had a positive response from their MP if so who was it. Perhaps we can get several MP's interested and get a debate going,. Any help would be great.

Finally full marks to Jason McCartney MP Colne Valley, Huddersfield for showing an interest in our case and the help and advice he gave. He is meeting with Steve Baker MP Wycombe on Monday who just happens to be chairman of the all party group for banking and finance where he intends to discuss our case.

Reply to the comment left by "Onslow Clough" at "10/01/2014 - 20:08":

Onslow, well done and thank you for sharing! I too had a positive reply from Justine Greening MP but I haven't followed up with her since she sent me a copy of the laughable WB response back to her just before Christmas (I imagine it's the same one that Jason McCartney and others have had and I forwarded mine to Mark and Justin for their files). She did ask at the time if there was anything else that she could do so she for one is at least aware of the problem and could potentially be a good supporter if we can get other MPs on board. However, with her day job as the Secretary of State for International Development I guess we should have reasonable expectations as to the amount of time she can devote to this matter.

Reply to the comment left by "Mike L" at "10/01/2014 - 20:41":

Thanks Mike, this is what we want. Clearly WB have sent the same stock response to all MP's who have enquired about why the rates were hiked. The trick is to follow this up and ask to speak directly with the MP to discus further. Get them on board and get them talking amongst themselves this could generate a formal debate...

Reply to the comment left by "Onslow Clough" at "10/01/2014 - 20:08":

Hi onslow. I have had a fair amount of correspondence with my MP David blunkett. He seems to have taken quite some interest. He as written to west brom who fobbed him off with another typical non response. Only highlighting what they want to say.

I've written to him again today with some further requests and a suggestion that I could go and meet him. We used to live just around the corner from each other so ill use the ex neighbour card.

I'm sure he would discuss the west brom with your mp.

Dean.

Reply to the comment left by "Mike L" at "10/01/2014 - 20:41":

Well done with your MP Onslow. His advice on how to progress matters is right. WE need a backbencher like him to lead gathering names to support a possible debate.
Ministers senior & junior won't lead neither will those who are eyeing promotion or think they are going to get it. My MP Nadhim Zahawi falls into latter category so he only expressed support to me but did nothing of substance. He might though add his name to supporting a debate.

So through the forum we need a list of MP's for Jason M to approach to support him. A debate in the HofC would be great publicity if nothing else. The breach of contract issue by WB is a great headline. This is all about faith in financial institutions post recession.

Being involved in the ongoing campaign to save 2nd Bn Royal Regiment of Fusiliers from disbandment following the 2010 Defence Review I have witnessed at first hand how a determined backbencher (John Baron) can achieve a lot. Without him the campaign would have got nowhere.

Reply to the comment left by "Richard Adams" at "10/01/2014 - 21:05":

Stewart Jackson has had the same response from WBBS about us heartless greedy landlords stopping the poor pensioners from earning interest, laughable if the government had not changed the pension age I would soon be one of those myself. He has offered to be of further assistance. Please add his name to the list of MPS who should be approached.

Reply to the comment left by "Onslow Clough" at "10/01/2014 - 20:08":

Onslow

My MP Stephen Crabb ( Pembrokeshire ) seemed very concerned and interested but was just put down by WB claims that i agreed to the change in interest in their booklet terms and felt that it was not for him to get involved in an agreement that WB deemed i had made with them despite the fact that i sent him various pointers that we do not agree with WB s view at all . He could obviously see that he was not going to make a difference alone but i do feel that he would support us if there was a way .

Hugh Robertson said he sympathised with the situation we find ourselves in and told us he would do what he could to support us too

Reply to the comment left by "Onslow Clough" at "10/01/2014 - 20:08":

Well done Onslow 🙂

I also like the idea that so many others see the merits in getting a debate going in Parliament.

I think we should ALL attempt to have a meeting with our MP's.

The key messages we need to get across to them are as follows:-

1) West Brom are treating their tracker rate mortgages as Standard Variable Rate mortgages. Some MP's may not know the difference. It is important that we educate them. West Brom offered three types of mortgages, i.e Standard Variable Rate, Tracker and Fixed Rate. We all paid a premium in terms of a fee to have a fixed rate which reverted to a tracker rate mortgage. The tracker rate was a margin over the Bank of England base rate for the remaining term of the loan. West Brom are increasing the margin over the base rate.
2) We are concerned that if West Brom are allowed to get away with this other lenders will follow suit.
3) There are around 2.5 million tracker rate mortgages in the UK
4) Bank of Ireland have done something very similar, not just on mortgages affecting landlords but also homeowners
5) We are concerned that many household will be affected, not just landlords but also their tenants and homeowners too if more lenders follow suit
6) Andrew Tyrie made a stand when the Bank of Ireland made it's move in March 2013. The FCA gave assurances this was a one off but failed to even take independent advice on the legality of the position and chose to do nothing other than to refer the opinion of a barrister representing hundreds of affected borrowers to Bank of Ireland which sought to appoint a QC to provide a very woolly response. It was a total whitewash! Within weeks of the FCA deciding not to take further action West Brom announced their increases.
8) This is NOT merely a commercial decision, it is a case of a Building Society abusing its financial might to trample on a sector of the market to which it became over exposed due to the negligence of its Directors and at the expense of its members.
9) Funds have been raised to take the matter to the Courts but this is very much a David and Goliath battle in terms of financial muscle.
10) Many affected borrowers have not joined the legal action to to the intimidation tactics of the West Brom, i.e. veiled threats to call in mortgages within 28 days. Note that due to the affected mortgages having been taken out at the peak of the property market, many of the affected borrowers are mortgage prisoners due to negative equity, hence selling the property or refinancing is not a viable option.
.

Reply to the comment left by "Mark Alexander" at "11/01/2014 - 11:09":

Will pursue this with mine on the basis that we would like to see this being part of a parliamentary debate on the ethics and standards of WB in particular and largely of any financial institutions looking at following in their footsteps which could potentially unsettle a very large portion of the uk property market in my humble opinion .