Should we meet bank or insist on dealing through correspondence on mortgage arrears?

M

miss buzzer

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For the past 2&half yrs we were engaged with marp & paying interest & part arrears....financially we are in a better position now to pay our full mortgage plus 50 off arrears...we filled out a new sfs & got a call from the bank to say they want us 2 meet with them regarding our arrears...i refused & said il deal with them through letters,the way we have always done....can we be forced 2 go to the bank or do we have rights to refuse??...might be a silly question but il ask it anyway!!...
 
Not a silly question.
Better to ask a question about a issue before it becomes a problem!

Not a great idea to refuse to meet them outright.
You cannot be forced to meet them in person but saying a flat no...
That could be interpreted as a 'non-cooperative' jesture on their part.

Go and see what they have to say but keep your guard up.

Don't commit to anything in the meeting. Get any proposal in writing and scrutinize it.
 
Agree fully with itsallwrong

If you are in arrears, you are in breach of your contract. The lender is not obliged to give you any deal. They are facilitating you giving you a deal. You should meet them.

Most people complain that they can't get to meet anyone in the bank. Now you are being invited to a meeting and you don't want to go.

If someone was in breach of a contract with me, and told me to write to them, I would say fine. But I would just go legal and cut out the messing.

Brendan
 
With itsallwrong on this;

By all means meet them , but ensure it is a time that suits you, not just them.
They will I suspect, be wishing you to come to a strong arrangement on the arrears.
They may though be offering you some easier alternative payment arrangement.

No harm in talking , but do not verbally agree anything.

I would suspect they will be delighted to see you back on track.
Sounds like a tidying up process for them,

They are hard to trust but keep an open mind, and good luck.
 
Alas,Its possible that the reason the bank wants to meet with you is not to see your pretty face or to improve its inter personal skills, it wants to have an unrecorded meeting with you. Ask them if you can record the meeting
and see what it says.

Its probably still a good idea to attend the meeting but take notes. After the meeting write them a letter outlining what was discussed and agreed at the meeting.
 
Dr.Debt;

And I thought I was wary of Bank officials motives?
Is it not terrible that most trust we had in our Bank Officials has evapourated?

Brendans comments;
Unlike Mr Bank , I would suggest Brendans motives could be trusted,and he would be entitled to get crankey.
 
Thanks a mill for all replies....!!!its just that we hav never had any personal meetings with the bank even when we got into trouble with arrears etc...it was all through phone calls & letters so all of a sudden they want to discuss our sfs in person....i feel its because we are in a better situation now that they just want to take every extra cent we have & make us pay it off the arrears...i dnt feel we are being un coperative because we're paying our full mortgage now plus 50-100 a month off our arrears.....i feel quite nervous at the thoughts of going into the bank to discuss all this..!!!
 
I'd make the following recommendations:

- go to the meeting: if you don't, you break your record of full co-operation, which can only be bad for you
- if you're really uncomfortable at the prospect, bring someone along with you: they don't have to say anything (and really shouldn't), but their physical presence can be a help
- go with the objective of listening to what they have to say, not to reach agreement
- listen to what they have to say: they asked for the meeting
- take plenty of notes, and do so openly. If you have brought someone along, they can help with this.
- outline your own position, as in your original post here: don't forget you're in a much better position that most of the people in arrears. If 50 a month on top of the full repayment amount is all you can afford, then state it
- do not negotiate! if they make a proposal, take a note of it and say you'll get back to them after you've had time to consider
- after the meeting, write up your notes, and send them a copy as a record of the meeting. Put in a statement that unless you hear anything in relation to the notes within 5 days, you will take it that they are agreeing it is an accurate record of the meeting

Good luck!
 
Miss Buzzer,
you could bare all financial details to us here and we can offer opinions on what the
bank are likely to ask or offer you.
But please, be 100% honest with your financial situation.
Not saying you would not be but there is no point being sparse with the details
and telling white lies if it will catch you out with the bank.

The fact of you paying the full amount plus a little more puts you way above an awful lot of people in this country.
That is your shining star when you meet them. Don't be afraid to remind them of that over and over.
They just want you off the arrears book and to keep the organ grinder in the ECB happy.

You are totally anonymous on this board and there are many folks willing to help.
 
details

here we go!!!we have a tracker mortgage,28 yrs left....
monthly
mort 653.39
arrears 7525.12
credit union 100
cabot financial 5.00
personal family loan 100
partners wage after tax 1591.50
carers benefit 820
child benefit 130
electricity 70
gas 130
landline 50
sky tv 28
mobile top up 40
bins 36
tv licence 13.50
foo 400
clothing 100
household maintenance 100
diesel 450
taxi & bus 230
car tax 200
car maintenance/repairs 150
tolls 60
home insurance 25
prescription charges 2
lifestyle xmas etc 300
gym 50
management charges 250
property tax 250
hope that's everything!!!
 
Expenses breakdown looks a little strange i.e. Monthly car tax of 200!! Monthly mgmt charges 250 & property tax 250! Are some of these annual?
 
Might the bank's plan be to bully you off your tracker in return for some deal? You are simply behind the schedule initially agreed for capital repayments due to circumstances beyond your control. In my view the arrears are a bit of a technicality which can be resolved, in your case, with a few mouse clicks.

I may be naive on such matters but I would just ask the bank to recalculate the monthly mortgage repayment based on the outstanding amount over the the originally agreed period . . the arrears would disappear.
 
Sorry yes car tax is 200 every 3 months...the property tax is annually & the management feeson our estate are 250 a year...sorry about that...
 
miss buzzer said:
Sorry yes car tax is 200 every 3 months...the property tax is annually & the management feeson our estate are 250 a year...sorry about that...
Click to expand...

Can you go back on your table and make everything monthly, do it in an excel table first as that will make it easier.
 
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