are Santander mortgage arrears charges and legal fees fair? FOS say they are!

A question about : are Santander mortgage arrears charges and legal fees fair? FOS say they are!

I made a claim for a refund of arrears and (some) legal fees from Santander for my mortgage account. They refused to offer a refund and said their charges are fair and reasonable.

I passed the complaint to the FOS and it has not been passed to an Adjudicator.

The Adjudicator has asked many questions in relation to whether the bank treated me fairly whilst I was (am) in arrears and said he cannot look at the arrears charges/fees as he considers them to be fair at Ј35.00 a month (on top the interest they charge on these as part of the monthly mortgage payment on the whole balance) and quoted the 'test case' as one of his reasons. He said the FSA saying charges should cover admin fees is for them to regulate by and the FOS do not set market prices for any bank charges.

This means my complaint will not be investigated as i want it to be and I have around Ј5,000 of charges/fees including interest with more being added on every month.

What can i do as the Adjudicator has already made his mind up before even talking to the bank?

Best answers:

• How charming - the OP asks a question, doesn't like the (well-written, detailed) responses and starts arguing and can't be bothered to thank the person trying to help. Lovely.
• On another note, I have asked the bank for Terms and Conditions of the mortgage account which they've sent me (I still have to look keenly through them) but said they don't have a copy of the application form (which they should keep for 6 years after the account is closed under anti money laundering laws).
  They also refuse to tell me if the mortgage account was sold at any time.
  Where do i stand with this?
• i was told that the lender should keep a copy of the application form for at least 5 years after the last of the transaction on the mortgage i.e. after the mortgage account is closed, under Section 6 of the Money Laundering Regulations 2003.
• the FOS seems more keen on investigating how the account was run (prob to justify the arrears charges the bank applied and which they say are fair). I'm being asked many questions and to provide documents, some of which go back many years. Some of the questions are irrelevant, such as income details and audited accounts, court documents and to explain why and how the account was run the way it was (which resulted in the charges).
  also, they're asking me to explain securitisation to them and why i think the bank may not be in control of everything.
  any advice?
• the FOS say the charges are fair, because they reflect market rates, without obtaining a breakdown or following the law on penalties and unfair terms. They say its outside their remit to investigate such charges but then have commented that they are fair. They say they follow the FSA handbook as guidance but then have not enforced MCOB 12.4.1R (which says arrears charges must reflect admin costs). They say the bank is entitled to charge me the fee because of the conduct of the account (i didn't pay my instalment on time).
  the FSA say i need to get a breakdown from the bank (who won't give this to me) and the FOS won't ask them.
• some people can shout that these arrears charges are unfair and others can shout that they're fair ..... but it comes down to the fact that until the bank provides a breakdown of how they calculate their arrears charges/fees no-one can decide whether they're fair or not, not the FSA, FOS, the court or myself or any other poster. We just don't know.