Banks

I hate them.

Myself and Mrs FE having been trying to get the eldest daughter and her Fiancée's feet, on the housing ladder.

Well they approached  a well known high street bank for a mortgage and were assured that a mortgage was just about guaranteed. But with strings. In order that they would be granted the mortgage I would be required to lodge a substantial amount of dosh in one of the banks deposit accounts for 36 months.

Now of course the bank had to have the property valued to assess the worth of the property, against the 90% they were willing to lend.

They forgot.

Because of the delay another buyer jumped in with a higher offer. Well the daughter put in a higher offer, not vastly higher than her original bid, but higher than the other bidder.

Job done you say.

Nope.

Now the bank wouldn’t lend for the extra price. Apart from the fact that it took weeks to come to the decision, they’d been sitting on my money in one of their holding accounts all that time.

It looks like the problem is maybe resolved as I’ve informed them that I’ll add another substantial amount to the deposit and the bank has agreed in principal. I’m not holding my breath though, as all the way through there has been other issues which I can only put down to sheer incompetence.

Hopefully exchange of contracts will be Tuesday.

Oh and if I was to see a prancing black horse in the high street, I’d shoot it.

Sometime I’ll do a post about when I helped out on a forum to assist those who had their lives ruined by bank charges. I’ve never seen so many ruined lives as then.

A Hero, Nattie

I am proud and humble that I have worked with him in the relentless quest to help those in need from the completely ridiculous charges the banks were charging their customers for even minor infractions on their account. Yes, I know that he has breeched his terms and conditions, but I have read hundreds, no thousands, of posts of people who were trapped in a never ending spiral by the exorbitant charges. I helped in as much as I could but Nattie was able to give us advance warning, wherever possible, of a change in tactics by his bank.

He is the rarest of creatures: a decent, likeable banker. For more than two years Tim Keirman was the mystery guardian angel of the bank charges campaign. While still working for NatWest he helped thousands of customers get their money back by posting anonymous guidance on consumer forum websites, much to the chagrin of his employers. Last week, his identity was finally discovered by the bank. Its revenge was swift, and savage.

Mr Keirman, a 34-year-old cashier and MoneySense adviser for NatWest's Cambridge branch since 1998, yesterday revealed his identity to the IoS. After a disciplinary hearing last Wednesday, he was sacked for gross misconduct.

Mr Keirman dedicated his spare time to helping customers navigate the bureaucracy needed to get their money back by offering targeted advice and leaking internal guideline documents.

Marc Gander of the website Consumer Action Group said: "People see him as a hero. He was tremendously helpful."

Mr Keirman said yesterday: "It was good to get a sense that I was helping someone. I didn't agree with our charging structure and there were a number of times when I heard the charges were ruining lives."

A spokeswoman for NatWest said last night: "We can confirm that a member of NatWest staff has recently been dismissed for gross misconduct for releasing confidential internal information without authorisation to a third party."

The banking crisis is not over. The banks made £3 billion out of their charging regime last year and are most likely to lose the test case that is due for resolution in the next few months. This means that they will have to pay back the overcharging, not just for that year but also forthe preceding 5 years.

We are screwed yet again, as they are bound to winge for more money from the the taxpayer.

Don't you dare say It's my fault