Are there any happy endings?
Readers occasionally ask if there are any happy endings to the customer tales features on the site. There are and I've just added updates to the Repossession Tales section that show determined customers winning through - totally and partially - in Tale 2 and Tale 8.

I do hear about others as well but often cannot publish them because the lenders have been so appalling that I can't publish anything without seeing proof. That's because I could face a libel action. The only way to beat that is to have copies of the letters to support the story should a lender accuse me of printing libelous material.

Many people also get shortfall claims written off or down to a couple of grand. They let me know and then never make contact again. I suspect most of them just want to put it all behind them, which is understandable in the circumstances. Unfortunately, it does mean I don't get copies of the letters that I can publish to show other customers that they can come through it all too.

I do also have letters from one case where the lender was so appalling and fought the customer so hard that the pile of letters will take me months to scan and code up into web pages. But I will...

Do lenders read this site?
Some people have mentioned that lenders or their lawyers might keep an eye on the site. I'm sure they do: the site has been mentioned in various Internet magazines, trade newsletters, the Independent, The Guardian and various local newspapers. I phrase some advice to readers carefully to avoid damaging their chances and deal with others by private email to get around this. But the site is really about showing you what your rights are and encouraging you to use them.

Royal Bank of Scotland breaches the banking code
The Royal Bank of Scotland told one customer that it would probably close her bank account if she pursued her claim that the bank had overcharged her by over £6,500 in a nine month period.

She had backed up her claim with an independent audit by Bankcalc but that didn't convince the Royal Bank of Scotland. It took the Sunday Times to persuade the bank that hinting to a customer that it will close her account is not an appropriate way to respond when you have ripped them off for £6,500. The British Bankers Association called it a blatant breach of the banking code.

Changes to the site
I've added a service that puts people looking for mortgages into contact with brokers and lenders who specialise in loans to the self-employed and credit-impaired. I'm thinking of doing something similar that will put people in touch with debt counsellors, lawyers that handle mortgage-related issues and mortgage account-auditing companies. Let me know if you fit into any of these categories and I'll add you to a list.

I've also made a few design changes to the site and improved the error-handling in the advisor tools (a bit... if you don't select a lender in the arrears advisor tool, it will still complain at you).

I've added a couple of new sources of help in the various help pages.

[ends]

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