How To Complain To Nationwide About 1.5% Buy To Let Mortgage Penalties
Published: 4 January 2011
By MoneyHighStreet Staff 2 Comments
Updated: 4 January 2011
Our article about Nationwide charging 1.5% for its letting mortgage customers caused a storm of protest from many previously loyal Nationwide customers, as you can see from the comments attached to that post.
Many Nationwide customers have complained about this punitive 1.5% rise in mortgage rates to the Financial Ombudsman, who has now exerted pressure on Nationwide to modify their rate increase policy.
This is on the grounds that customers with fixed rate mortgages cannot move to another mortgage provider if they don’t want to pay the 1.5% penalty, as they will incur an early repayment charge, which is deemed unfair by the Ombudsman.
So what Nationwide are now saying is that they will waive the 1.5% rate increase on fixed rate mortgages until the mortgage ends its fixed rate term and reverts to a standard variable rate mortgage which does not attract an early repayment penalty if the account is moved to another mortgage company.
It appears from those commenting about this, that fixed rate mortgage customers are not being hit with this rate rise from Nationwide, but what about those who still feel aggrieved by the Nationwides’ decision to charge these rate increases?
For example, standard variable rate mortgage customers will be incurring these charges soon, if they are not already.
If you want to complain to Nationwide then you must follow a clear procedure that is tracked within the building society and has escalation points that receive attention from senior managers. As a final port of call, the Financial Ombudsman will be involved.
This is how you complain to Nationwide about their 1.5% mortgage rate rise if you are letting out your property.
- Either visit your local Nationwide branch or call their customer services department on 08457 302010 to register your complaint.
- Explain clearly and politely what your complaint is. Ensure that it is logged and that you are given a complaint reference number. Ask to speak to a supervisor if necessary.
- You should receive a letter from Nationwide within seven days. This may contain their response to your complaint. If you are unhappy with their response then request that the complaint is escalated to a senior manager.
- Nationwide promise to respond to the complaint at senior management level within a further 28 days. If you are still not happy, then escalate the complaint to the member service department. You will be given their address by Nationwide. If you are not, then ask for it.
- There is a further 56 day window for the member service department to respond. If you remain dissatisfied then you can take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman, see address below.
You could, of course, just speak to the Financial Ombudsman directly, however by following the complaints procedure outlined above, senior Nationwide managers will get visibility of your complaints and will be able to gauge the extent of unhappiness from their customers who were previously content with Nationwide.
This is how to contact the Financial Ombudsman Service:
Financial Ombudsman Service
South Quay Plaza
183 Marsh Wall
London
E14 9SR
0845 080 1800
I sent the following e-mail to the MD and received a smarmy reply that there was nothing they could do. Fortunately we have a fixed rate mortgage so the increase has been waived for a few years however the cynicism of the Nationwide in trying this on is disgusting. I did however enjoy writing the e-mail – it gave me a certain satisfaction:
Subject – Thoroughly Satisfied Customer
Dear Mr. Beale,
According to the Nationwide’s marketing such an animal does exist. However you would be very hard pressed to find one in our household.
We have just been informed that the Nationwide, in an act that would not seem out of the place amongst the cowboys of the wild west, are raising our fixed-term mortgage rate by 1.5% as of December. This is of course because we are renting out our flat with your permission for which we are eternally grateful.
I won’t bore you with our details, I imagine you really couldn’t care less and frankly I’d be amazed if you are still reading this e-mail at this stage. Suffice to say that we renewed our mortgage last year for a 5 year fixed term to ensure, like the good god-fearing and credit-rate fearing customers we are that we could cover our costs whatever happened. Little did we know that the Nationwide was going to pretend to be a ruthless bank and impose this hugely unfair hike on us.
Let’s be honest Mr. Beale, you and I know that you are acting legally and in the best interests of your profits and the protestations of a despondent customer will always amount to nothing. I see that you came out with the good old excuse about covering administration costs to justify this move. I am just as cynical as you Mr. Beale and know that you need to recoup fallen margins from overselling SVR mortgages. We are also more than aware that losing our custom would amount to a bonus for you since you consider people like us a higher risk and therefore touched by the devil.
I just have 2 requests Mr. Beale. Firstly that you explain to me how you think this is fair. We lived in our flat for 16 months before I was offered a job in France. This is by no means a permanent arrangement and we have always intended to return to our beloved flat in leafy Highgate village. You in your infinite wisdom have now removed this possibility from us and we are forced to sell up having struggled to get on the slippery housing ladder in the first instance. You have treated us Mr. Beale like a quiet, sensitive poet would be treated in the shower cubicle of a maximum security gaol.
My second request is that you at least give us a glimmer of hope, some way we might possibly be able to keep hold of the flat. Your Customer Services team kindly suggested we change it to a 45-year mortgage. Now I know the retirement age will increase by the time our beleaguered generation struggles towards eternal rest but surely you wouldn’t advise people to still have a mortgage when they are not actually receiving an income in their old age. Wasn’t it advice like that that got people in your profession into trouble not long ago and caused the housing crisis from which you have emerged smelling of roses and ordinary people have emerged with their trousers round their ankles and a vague feeling of being violated. I’d just love to receive a kind word from you, a pat on the shoulder and a possible solution to the horrendous situation you have caused with your thirst for profit.
Sorry to go on so much Mr. Beale but you see I am incandescent with rage against you and what you are doing to us. You needn’t worry, you will soon be rid of us I hope – fingers crossed we will sell the flat and cross your dirty palms with a hefty early-settlement fee. I will however dedicate a disproportionate amount of my time to dissuading people from ever getting involved with the Nationwide. You will never notice it but you can rest assured that each time I turn someone away from your establishment I will go to bed with a lightness of heart and sleep the sleep of the just.
Building societies always seemed to be one rung up the ladder from the dregs of society such as banks, politicians and lawyers however you have now slipped down into that quagmire of filth and immorality. Your soul seems to be in danger Mr. Beale – perhaps you should look for redemption.
Yours sincerely
Hi Chris
I am looking to rent my property as me and my partner are re-locating to another town for family reasons. We do not have enough equity to sell so the only other option is to rent in the short term with a view to selling up next year. we still have 1 year left to run on our fixed rate term. However when I spoke to a Nationwide rep on the phone they insisted that this 1.5% rise would occur after 6 months on rental as “we would be deemed a risk”. Can you please tell me how I complain about this with a view to this penalty being waived?
Many thanks in advance
Marc