RBS Ordered to Abandon Unfair Repossession

Last week, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) was ordered to halt its repossession proceedings against the Addyman family after watchdog labeled it “unfair”. Last September, NatWest, which is a part of the Royal Bank of Scotland group and is 70% owned by taxpayers, demanded that Peter Addyman and his family from Hastings, East Sussex repay 100% of the remaining mortgage in 30 days despite the fact that the family claimed to make all repayments on time. Last December the case was highlighted in The Sunday Times after NatWest demanded the couple to repay £226,000 or face repossession. The bank suspended its proceedings when Which?, the consumer group, intervened and ombudsman’s adjudication was pending. Last week, the Financial Ombudsman Service ruled that it was not satisfied with RBS’ proceedings without giving a proper explanation of its order to repay the mortgage. The Financial Ombudsman Service also said the bank did not treat the couple “fair or reasonable”. Although the bank appealed the ruling immediately, it was upheld by the Ombudsman, Clare Mortimer, who said that in her opinion the couple has already experienced a significant amount of distress and inconvenience. NatWest was ordered to halt the proceedings and pay a certain amount of money in compensation. Moreover, Which? urged the Financial Ombudsman Service to look into RBS, as the consumer group feared that the discussed case was not isolated.