Martyn Barberry, sales director at Dorset-based Stirling Mortgage Network, obtained the CCJ against Northern Rock after it failed to refund a client’s valuation fee. The judgment was made on 17 August and the Court also issued a Warrant of Execution on 19 August for court bailiffs to collect the outstanding debt, totalling £350, from the lender.
Barberry said the decision to take action against Northern Rock came after a number of errors and poor administration from the firm. He said: “The past 12 months have seen us phoning and e-mailing the lender with a catalogue of errors, only to reach call centre staff who have little or no knowledge of what is going on and then being referred to our business development manager (BDM).
“No messages left on her voicemail were answered, likewise e-mails that were sent to her. One client even had her mortgage completed on the wrong terms and for the past four months has been told the BDM has to correct this.”
“Recently a fee paid for a valuation not carried out has gone unreturned. Despite recorded telephone conversations with the lender over a four-week period advising when the fee would be posted, it did not materialise. Enough was enough and I issued a County Court summons against Northern Rock to cover the debt,” Barberry added.
But Ron Stout, assistant director, PR at Northern Rock, said: “Our records show that a refund was credited to Mr Barberry’s account on 26 July 2005. We rang Mr Barberry on 28 July to confirm that the transaction had taken place. Unfortunately we could not get through to him and left a message on voicemail.
“Mr Barberry says he did not receive this message. We will continue to try to resolve this but at the time Mr Barberry made his court application it appears that he had not checked to see whether the refund had been credited. So far as Mr Barberry’s assertions over certain issues are concerned we are happy to address those directly with him.”
