Asking for a friend, you understand.
A friend bought his house in the late 1970s (pre Land Registry here) on
a mortgage from Abbey National.
When the mortgage was paid off, he left the house deeds with Abbey.
Scroll on to today and he wants to sell the house.
Abbey National are long gone, and the trail of takeover and 'rebranding'
is such that he has no idea how to track down those deeds - assuming
they still exist and haven't been lost in the various reshuffles.
The deeds would seem to be the only way he can prove ownership of the house. I don't believe this is a unique problem, so can anyone offer a
way ahead?
Asking for a friend, you understand.The deeds will still exist in one of those storage places like IronMountain
A friend bought his house in the late 1970s (pre Land Registry here) on
a mortgage from Abbey National.
When the mortgage was paid off, he left the house deeds with Abbey.
Scroll on to today and he wants to sell the house.
Abbey National are long gone, and the trail of takeover and 'rebranding'
is such that he has no idea how to track down those deeds - assuming
they still exist and haven't been lost in the various reshuffles.
The deeds would seem to be the only way he can prove ownership of the house. I don't believe this is a unique problem, so can anyone offer a
way ahead?
Asking for a friend, you understand.
A friend bought his house in the late 1970s (pre Land Registry here) on
a mortgage from Abbey National.
When the mortgage was paid off, he left the house deeds with Abbey.
Scroll on to today and he wants to sell the house.
Abbey National are long gone, and the trail of takeover and 'rebranding'
is such that he has no idea how to track down those deeds - assuming
they still exist and haven't been lost in the various reshuffles.
The deeds would seem to be the only way he can prove ownership of the house. I don't believe this is a unique problem, so can anyone offer a
way ahead?
I would expect that Abbey National or their successors would long ago
have told him that they can no longer store the deeds
On 19/02/2025 19:01, Sam Plusnet wrote:
Asking for a friend, you understand.
A friend bought his house in the late 1970s (pre Land Registry here) on
a mortgage from Abbey National.
When the mortgage was paid off, he left the house deeds with Abbey.
Scroll on to today and he wants to sell the house.
Abbey National are long gone, and the trail of takeover and 'rebranding'
is such that he has no idea how to track down those deeds - assuming
they still exist and haven't been lost in the various reshuffles.
Abbey National became Santander Bank.
Only one rebranding that I am aware of at least for bank accounts. It
should be possible to trace them even if local branches have closed.
ISTR they have a duty of care not to lose such important documents.
If all else fails try telling the tale to R4 Consumer Programme "You and Yours" - they love this sort of stuff and once the banks PR damage
limitation team step in things usually start to move.
The deeds would seem to be the only way he can prove ownership of the
house. I don't believe this is a unique problem, so can anyone offer a
way ahead?
Talk to Santander and give them as much info about the former location
of the branch that held the deeds as you can.
Asking for a friend, you understand.
A friend bought his house in the late 1970s (pre Land Registry here) on a mortgage from Abbey National.
When the mortgage was paid off, he left the house deeds with Abbey.
Scroll on to today and he wants to sell the house.
Abbey National are long gone, and the trail of takeover and 'rebranding' is such that he has no idea how to track down those deeds - assuming they
still exist and haven't been lost in the various reshuffles.
The deeds would seem to be the only way he can prove ownership of the house. I don't believe this is a unique problem, so can anyone offer a way ahead?
The Todal wrote:
I would expect that Abbey National or their successors would long ago
have told him that they can no longer store the deeds
I got may parents deeds dating from 1968 (which were on £1 retention)
out f storage last year, buyer insisted that I register title before
sale, rather than they register it as part of sale, cost an extra £500
or so.
On 19/02/2025 19:01, Sam Plusnet wrote:
Asking for a friend, you understand.
A friend bought his house in the late 1970s (pre Land Registry here)
on a mortgage from Abbey National.
When the mortgage was paid off, he left the house deeds with Abbey.
Scroll on to today and he wants to sell the house.
Abbey National are long gone, and the trail of takeover and
'rebranding' is such that he has no idea how to track down those
deeds - assuming they still exist and haven't been lost in the
various reshuffles.
Abbey National became Santander Bank.
Only one rebranding that I am aware of at least for bank accounts. It
should be possible to trace them even if local branches have closed.
ISTR they have a duty of care not to lose such important documents.
If all else fails try telling the tale to R4 Consumer Programme "You
and Yours" - they love this sort of stuff and once the banks PR damage >limitation team step in things usually start to move.
The deeds would seem to be the only way he can prove ownership of
the house. I don't believe this is a unique problem, so can anyone
offer a way ahead?
Talk to Santander and give them as much info about the former location
of the branch that held the deeds as you can.
Martin Brown <'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote:
On 19/02/2025 19:01, Sam Plusnet wrote:
Asking for a friend, you understand.
A friend bought his house in the late 1970s (pre Land Registry here) on
a mortgage from Abbey National.
When the mortgage was paid off, he left the house deeds with Abbey.
Scroll on to today and he wants to sell the house.
Abbey National are long gone, and the trail of takeover and 'rebranding' >>> is such that he has no idea how to track down those deeds - assuming
they still exist and haven't been lost in the various reshuffles.
Abbey National became Santander Bank.
Only one rebranding that I am aware of at least for bank accounts. It
should be possible to trace them even if local branches have closed.
ISTR they have a duty of care not to lose such important documents.
If all else fails try telling the tale to R4 Consumer Programme "You and
Yours" - they love this sort of stuff and once the banks PR damage
limitation team step in things usually start to move.
The deeds would seem to be the only way he can prove ownership of the
house. I don't believe this is a unique problem, so can anyone offer a >>> way ahead?
Talk to Santander and give them as much info about the former location
of the branch that held the deeds as you can.
I doubt very much if the deeds were held locally - ie in the local branch.
Our last mortgage was with a Building Society. We paid it off in a very
short time. The correspondence re the deeds was all with the head office,
who sent us the deeds.
Martin Brown <'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote:
On 19/02/2025 19:01, Sam Plusnet wrote:
Asking for a friend, you understand.
A friend bought his house in the late 1970s (pre Land Registry here) on
a mortgage from Abbey National.
When the mortgage was paid off, he left the house deeds with Abbey.
Scroll on to today and he wants to sell the house.
Abbey National are long gone, and the trail of takeover and 'rebranding' >>> is such that he has no idea how to track down those deeds - assuming
they still exist and haven't been lost in the various reshuffles.
Abbey National became Santander Bank.
Only one rebranding that I am aware of at least for bank accounts. It
should be possible to trace them even if local branches have closed.
ISTR they have a duty of care not to lose such important documents.
If all else fails try telling the tale to R4 Consumer Programme "You and
Yours" - they love this sort of stuff and once the banks PR damage
limitation team step in things usually start to move.
The deeds would seem to be the only way he can prove ownership of the
house. I don't believe this is a unique problem, so can anyone offer a >>> way ahead?
Talk to Santander and give them as much info about the former location
of the branch that held the deeds as you can.
I doubt very much if the deeds were held locally - ie in the local branch.
Our last mortgage was with a Building Society. We paid it off in a very
short time. The correspondence re the deeds was all with the head office,
who sent us the deeds.
Andy Burns wrote:
I got may parents deeds dating from 1968 (which were on £1 retention)
Who was storing the deeds?
I can understand solicitors doing it for a fee
but banks and building societies have long ago refused to store any
deeds when the mortgage has been paid off.
Anyway, I guess everyone will have googled and found this: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/first-registration-of-title- where-deeds-have-been-lost-or-destroyed/practice-guide-2-first- registration-of-title-if-deeds-are-lost-or-destroyed
I doubt very much if the deeds were held locally - ie in the local branch.
On 19/02/2025 22:55, Brian wrote:
Martin Brown <'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote:
On 19/02/2025 19:01, Sam Plusnet wrote:
Asking for a friend, you understand.
A friend bought his house in the late 1970s (pre Land Registry here) on >>>> a mortgage from Abbey National.
When the mortgage was paid off, he left the house deeds with Abbey.
Scroll on to today and he wants to sell the house.
Abbey National are long gone, and the trail of takeover and 'rebranding' >>>> is such that he has no idea how to track down those deeds - assuming
they still exist and haven't been lost in the various reshuffles.
Abbey National became Santander Bank.
Only one rebranding that I am aware of at least for bank accounts. It
should be possible to trace them even if local branches have closed.
ISTR they have a duty of care not to lose such important documents.
If all else fails try telling the tale to R4 Consumer Programme "You and >>> Yours" - they love this sort of stuff and once the banks PR damage
limitation team step in things usually start to move.
The deeds would seem to be the only way he can prove ownership of the
house. I don't believe this is a unique problem, so can anyone offer a >>>> way ahead?
Talk to Santander and give them as much info about the former location
of the branch that held the deeds as you can.
I doubt very much if the deeds were held locally - ie in the local branch.
My recollection is that they are held centrally but to access them you
need to know the (probably now long defunct) branch that filed them. I noticed recently that my latest bank branch (which I have never visited)
has once again moved even further away by another 20 miles. I can't see
me ever undertaking an 80 mile round trip to visit them can you?
Our last mortgage was with a Building Society. We paid it off in a very
short time. The correspondence re the deeds was all with the head office,
who sent us the deeds.
They wanted to charge me some huge early repayment fee so I did a quick calculation and paid it off to within about £50 outstanding balance and
then left it to fester. Eventually after few years they capitulated and allowed me to terminate early without penalty. I have my deeds.
In some counties it is possible to find a copy of the deeds for a
property in the public records office if you know a seller or buyer's
name and date when the property was sold. A complete facsimile copy of
the deeds at the time of the sale is on file in large storage facilities (ISTR only a few counties do or possibly now did this).
It is very tedious search if you don't have an exact date.
On 20 Feb 2025 at 10:55:07 GMT, "Martin Brown" <'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote:
In some counties it is possible to find a copy of the deeds for a
property in the public records office if you know a seller or buyer's
name and date when the property was sold. A complete facsimile copy of
the deeds at the time of the sale is on file in large storage facilities
(ISTR only a few counties do or possibly now did this).
It is very tedious search if you don't have an exact date.
I think that more or less describes the Land Registry, with the important difference that it is the land registry title and plan entry that is definitive. And they have pretty good searchable maps and address lists. But they appear to keep copies of "deeds" insofar as they contain records of wayleaves, covenants etc.
On 20/02/2025 11:02, Roger Hayter wrote:
On 20 Feb 2025 at 10:55:07 GMT, "Martin Brown" <'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> >> wrote:
In some counties it is possible to find a copy of the deeds for a
property in the public records office if you know a seller or buyer's
name and date when the property was sold. A complete facsimile copy of
the deeds at the time of the sale is on file in large storage facilities >>> (ISTR only a few counties do or possibly now did this).
It is very tedious search if you don't have an exact date.
I think that more or less describes the Land Registry, with the important
difference that it is the land registry title and plan entry that is
definitive. And they have pretty good searchable maps and address lists. But >> they appear to keep copies of "deeds" insofar as they contain records of
wayleaves, covenants etc.
But the Land registry have nothing at all for sales that occurred before
some magic date 1971 rings a bell (they claim to be complete from 1993).
I ran into this when selling my parent's house as executor and had to
engage a solicitor to do the voluntary registration with the Land
Registry to facilitate an efficient sale. The forms were quite daunting
and I wasn't really in the mood for DIY at the time.
Basically without an electronic record at the LR an empty property is >vulnerable to scammers taking possession by tricking the LR into giving >*them* the deeds so you have to be very careful. Several high profile
cases of people having their empty homes stolen like this in the news:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-67356354
Basically without an electronic record at the LR an empty property is vulnerable to scammers taking possession by tricking the LR into giving *them* the deeds so you have to be very careful. Several high profile
cases of people having their empty homes stolen like this in the news:
I get a yearly email saying 'nothings happened'
Martin Brown wrote:While property alert service is useful, you can't use it on unregistered property!
without an electronic record at the LR an empty property is
vulnerable to scammers taking possession by tricking the LR into giving
*them* the deeds so you have to be very careful.
This can be mitigated by registering for
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/property-alert
You don't need to be the owner of the property.
On 19/02/2025 22:55, Brian wrote:
Martin Brown <'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote:
On 19/02/2025 19:01, Sam Plusnet wrote:
Asking for a friend, you understand.
A friend bought his house in the late 1970s (pre Land Registry here) on >>>> a mortgage from Abbey National.
When the mortgage was paid off, he left the house deeds with Abbey.
Scroll on to today and he wants to sell the house.
Abbey National are long gone, and the trail of takeover and 'rebranding' >>>> is such that he has no idea how to track down those deeds - assuming
they still exist and haven't been lost in the various reshuffles.
Abbey National became Santander Bank.
Only one rebranding that I am aware of at least for bank accounts. It
should be possible to trace them even if local branches have closed.
ISTR they have a duty of care not to lose such important documents.
If all else fails try telling the tale to R4 Consumer Programme "You and >>> Yours" - they love this sort of stuff and once the banks PR damage
limitation team step in things usually start to move.
The deeds would seem to be the only way he can prove ownership of the
house. I don't believe this is a unique problem, so can anyone offer a >>>> way ahead?
Talk to Santander and give them as much info about the former location
of the branch that held the deeds as you can.
I doubt very much if the deeds were held locally - ie in the local branch.
My recollection is that they are held centrally but to access them you
need to know the (probably now long defunct) branch that filed them. I noticed recently that my latest bank branch (which I have never visited)
has once again moved even further away by another 20 miles. I can't see
me ever undertaking an 80 mile round trip to visit them can you?
To digress, I have a current account and savings account with the Halifax, which I opened about 10 years ago. I decided not to use those accounts
after a while, and transferred all the money into the main accounts that I use.
I was told that the only way I can close the accounts is to find a Halifax
Martin Brown <'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote:
On 19/02/2025 22:55, Brian wrote:
Martin Brown <'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote:My recollection is that they are held centrally but to access them you
On 19/02/2025 19:01, Sam Plusnet wrote:
Asking for a friend, you understand.
A friend bought his house in the late 1970s (pre Land Registry here) on >>>>> a mortgage from Abbey National.
When the mortgage was paid off, he left the house deeds with Abbey.
Scroll on to today and he wants to sell the house.
Abbey National are long gone, and the trail of takeover and 'rebranding' >>>>> is such that he has no idea how to track down those deeds - assuming >>>>> they still exist and haven't been lost in the various reshuffles.
Abbey National became Santander Bank.
Only one rebranding that I am aware of at least for bank accounts. It
should be possible to trace them even if local branches have closed.
ISTR they have a duty of care not to lose such important documents.
If all else fails try telling the tale to R4 Consumer Programme "You and >>>> Yours" - they love this sort of stuff and once the banks PR damage
limitation team step in things usually start to move.
The deeds would seem to be the only way he can prove ownership of the >>>>> house. I don't believe this is a unique problem, so can anyone offer a >>>>> way ahead?
Talk to Santander and give them as much info about the former location >>>> of the branch that held the deeds as you can.
I doubt very much if the deeds were held locally - ie in the local branch. >>
need to know the (probably now long defunct) branch that filed them. I
noticed recently that my latest bank branch (which I have never visited)
has once again moved even further away by another 20 miles. I can't see
me ever undertaking an 80 mile round trip to visit them can you?
We didn’t deal with a specific branch as I recall. When we made extra payments, we used one which was convenient - one of us just went in with a cheque and the account details. True, this usually led to some ‘confusion’, they often didn’t know how to deal with the paperwork. After
the first couple of times, we started taking in instructions.
As I recall, there was a notional local branch but we never visited it.
On 20/02/2025 13:26, The Todal wrote:
To digress, I have a current account and savings account with the
Halifax, which I opened about 10 years ago. I decided not to use those
accounts after a while, and transferred all the money into the main
accounts that I use.
I was told that the only way I can close the accounts is to find a
Halifax
 The current account should be eligible for a switch, and you might
find one which pays you without needing any direct debits.
On 20/02/2025 13:33, Nick Finnigan wrote:
On 20/02/2025 13:26, The Todal wrote:
  The current account should be eligible for a switch, and you might find >> one which pays you without needing any direct debits.
To digress, I have a current account and savings account with the
Halifax, which I opened about 10 years ago. I decided not to use those
accounts after a while, and transferred all the money into the main
accounts that I use.
I was told that the only way I can close the accounts is to find a Halifax >>
Thanks, but you're using terminology that I don't understand. Is there a switch that I can operate to close the accounts?
On 20/02/2025 13:33, Nick Finnigan wrote:
On 20/02/2025 13:26, The Todal wrote:
To digress, I have a current account and savings account with the
Halifax, which I opened about 10 years ago. I decided not to use those
accounts after a while, and transferred all the money into the main
accounts that I use.
I was told that the only way I can close the accounts is to find a
Halifax
 The current account should be eligible for a switch, and you might
find one which pays you without needing any direct debits.
Thanks, but you're using terminology that I don't understand. Is there a switch that I can operate to close the accounts?
On 20/02/2025 13:42, The Todal wrote:
On 20/02/2025 13:33, Nick Finnigan wrote:
On 20/02/2025 13:26, The Todal wrote:
To digress, I have a current account and savings account with the
Halifax, which I opened about 10 years ago. I decided not to use
those accounts after a while, and transferred all the money into the
main accounts that I use.
I was told that the only way I can close the accounts is to find a
Halifax
  The current account should be eligible for a switch, and you might
find one which pays you without needing any direct debits.
Thanks, but you're using terminology that I don't understand. Is there
a switch that I can operate to close the accounts?
 You can switch the current account to another bank (closing the
Halifax current account), and then close that new current account, from
home.
e.g. https://www.tsb.co.uk/current-accounts/switcher-spend-and-save.html
Martin Brown <'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote:
On 19/02/2025 22:55, Brian wrote:
Martin Brown <'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote:
My recollection is that they are held centrally but to access them youTalk to Santander and give them as much info about the former location >>>> of the branch that held the deeds as you can.
I doubt very much if the deeds were held locally - ie in the local branch. >>
need to know the (probably now long defunct) branch that filed them. I
noticed recently that my latest bank branch (which I have never visited)
has once again moved even further away by another 20 miles. I can't see
me ever undertaking an 80 mile round trip to visit them can you?
We didn’t deal with a specific branch as I recall. When we made extra payments, we used one which was convenient - one of us just went in with a cheque and the account details. True, this usually led to some ‘confusion’, they often didn’t know how to deal with the paperwork. After
the first couple of times, we started taking in instructions.
As I recall, there was a notional local branch but we never visited it.
On 20/02/2025 13:54, Nick Finnigan wrote:
On 20/02/2025 13:42, The Todal wrote:
On 20/02/2025 13:33, Nick Finnigan wrote:
On 20/02/2025 13:26, The Todal wrote:
To digress, I have a current account and savings account with the
Halifax, which I opened about 10 years ago. I decided not to use
those accounts after a while, and transferred all the money into the >>>> main accounts that I use.
I was told that the only way I can close the accounts is to find a
Halifax
  The current account should be eligible for a switch, and you might >>> find one which pays you without needing any direct debits.
Thanks, but you're using terminology that I don't understand. Is there
a switch that I can operate to close the accounts?
 You can switch the current account to another bank (closing the
Halifax current account), and then close that new current account, from home.
e.g. https://www.tsb.co.uk/current-accounts/switcher-spend-and-save.html
I'm thinking that I'd have to open a new account and switch the Halifax
ones to that account. Do you think I can "switch" to a specific First
Direct account that I have been using for years?
I'm thinking that I'd have to open a new account and switch the Halifax
ones to that account. Do you think I can "switch" to a specific First
Direct account that I have been using for years?
On 19/02/2025 19:01, Sam Plusnet wrote:
I had an Abbey National mortgage, but post Land Registry. They became
Santander, and Santander sent the deeds back at some point as they relied
on Land Registry. Very likely that Santander will happily send them back to >the address.
The Todal <the_todal@icloud.com> wrote:
On 20/02/2025 13:54, Nick Finnigan wrote:
On 20/02/2025 13:42, The Todal wrote:
Thanks, but you're using terminology that I don't understand. Is there >>>> a switch that I can operate to close the accounts?
 You can switch the current account to another bank (closing the
Halifax current account), and then close that new current account, from
home.
e.g. https://www.tsb.co.uk/current-accounts/switcher-spend-and-save.html
I'm thinking that I'd have to open a new account and switch the Halifax
ones to that account. Do you think I can "switch" to a specific First
Direct account that I have been using for years?
https://www.currentaccountswitch.co.uk/
The official switching service will I think only switch to new accounts.
But you could switch to a new account at First Direct (for which you already have all the login information) and later close the new account.
But it won't switch savings accounts, so leaves that account unresolved.
If you leave it a few years the accounts will be marked as dormant and be locked from access, but I suppose that doesn't help your executor.
(it's possible a dormant account with zero balance will be automatically closed, but that's up to the bank)
AnthonyL wrote:
Martin Brown wrote:While property alert service is useful, you can't use it on unregistered property!
without an electronic record at the LR an empty property is
vulnerable to scammers taking possession by tricking the LR into giving
*them* the deeds so you have to be very careful.
This can be mitigated by registering for
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/property-alert
You don't need to be the owner of the property.
Asking for a friend, you understand.
A friend bought his house in the late 1970s (pre Land Registry here) on
a mortgage from Abbey National.
When the mortgage was paid off, he left the house deeds with Abbey.
Scroll on to today and he wants to sell the house.
Abbey National are long gone, and the trail of takeover and 'rebranding'
is such that he has no idea how to track down those deeds - assuming
they still exist and haven't been lost in the various reshuffles.
The deeds would seem to be the only way he can prove ownership of the
house. I don't believe this is a unique problem, so can anyone offer a
way ahead?
Also there is an implication when switching accounts like this that it is
the active current account that has your salary/pension paid into it. Otherwise you probably won't qualify for the switching bonus from the receiving bank (it will be in the small print somewhere).
To digress, I have a current account and savings account with the
Halifax, which I opened about 10 years ago. I decided not to use those accounts after a while, and transferred all the money into the main
accounts that I use.
I regularly get correspondence from the Halifax telling me what the
interest rates are, even though they can see that there is no money in
my accounts. I was hoping that they would close the accounts on their
own initiative but they haven't done, and I'm thinking that in the event
of my death the existence of a defunct bank account makes matters more complicated for my beneficiaries. So I went online and asked Halifax to
close these accounts.
I was told that the only way I can close the accounts is to find a
Halifax branch that is still open (none near me) and turn up with two
proofs of identity and persuade the staff to close the accounts. That
seems too much of a faff to me. So I've opted for paperless statements
to reduce the unnecessary incoming paperwork from the Halifax.
On 20/02/2025 13:18, Brian wrote:
Martin Brown <'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote:
On 19/02/2025 22:55, Brian wrote:
Martin Brown <'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote:
Talk to Santander and give them as much info about the former location >>>>> of the branch that held the deeds as you can.
I doubt very much if the deeds were held locally - ie in the local
branch.
My recollection is that they are held centrally but to access them you
need to know the (probably now long defunct) branch that filed them. I
noticed recently that my latest bank branch (which I have never visited) >>> has once again moved even further away by another 20 miles. I can't see
me ever undertaking an 80 mile round trip to visit them can you?
We didn’t deal with a specific branch as I recall. When we made extra
payments, we used one which was convenient - one of us just went in
with a
cheque and the account details. True, this usually led to some
‘confusion’, they often didn’t know how to deal with the paperwork. After
the first couple of times, we started taking in instructions.
As I recall, there was a notional local branch but we never visited it.
You need to remember the address of the branch where you originally went
to fill in the mortgage application in person. That far back in time it
was all done on paper with the bank manager for a small local branch or
a special mortgage person if it was a larger city branch.
Writing to Santander with the right name and address for the property
they provided the mortgage for might be good enough. Unfortunately
mergers and incompatible IT systems mean that customer facing clerks in
the branches stand almost no chance of seeing the right system records.
It is basically a polite letter to head office stuff.
On 20/02/2025 14:00, Martin Brown wrote:
On 20/02/2025 13:18, Brian wrote:
Anecdata suggests that writing to Santander on this topic is unlikely toAs I recall, there was a notional local branch but we never visited it.
You need to remember the address of the branch where you originally
went to fill in the mortgage application in person. That far back in
time it was all done on paper with the bank manager for a small local
branch or a special mortgage person if it was a larger city branch.
Writing to Santander with the right name and address for the property
they provided the mortgage for might be good enough. Unfortunately
mergers and incompatible IT systems mean that customer facing clerks
in the branches stand almost no chance of seeing the right system
records.
It is basically a polite letter to head office stuff.
be successful. I have heard claims that letters from Solicitors produce
no response.
On 20/02/2025 14:00, Martin Brown wrote:
On 20/02/2025 13:18, Brian wrote:Anecdata suggests that writing to Santander on this topic is unlikely to
Martin Brown <'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote:
On 19/02/2025 22:55, Brian wrote:
Martin Brown <'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote:
Talk to Santander and give them as much info about the former location >>>>>> of the branch that held the deeds as you can.
I doubt very much if the deeds were held locally - ie in the local
branch.
My recollection is that they are held centrally but to access them you >>>> need to know the (probably now long defunct) branch that filed them. I >>>> noticed recently that my latest bank branch (which I have never visited) >>>> has once again moved even further away by another 20 miles. I can't see >>>> me ever undertaking an 80 mile round trip to visit them can you?
We didn’t deal with a specific branch as I recall. When we made extra >>> payments, we used one which was convenient - one of us just went in
with a
cheque and the account details. True, this usually led to some
‘confusion’, they often didn’t know how to deal with the paperwork. After
the first couple of times, we started taking in instructions.
As I recall, there was a notional local branch but we never visited it.
You need to remember the address of the branch where you originally went
to fill in the mortgage application in person. That far back in time it
was all done on paper with the bank manager for a small local branch or
a special mortgage person if it was a larger city branch.
Writing to Santander with the right name and address for the property
they provided the mortgage for might be good enough. Unfortunately
mergers and incompatible IT systems mean that customer facing clerks in
the branches stand almost no chance of seeing the right system records.
It is basically a polite letter to head office stuff.
be successful. I have heard claims that letters from Solicitors produce
no response.
On 20/02/2025 18:50, Sam Plusnet wrote:
On 20/02/2025 14:00, Martin Brown wrote:
On 20/02/2025 13:18, Brian wrote:
Anecdata suggests that writing to Santander on this topic is unlikely toAs I recall, there was a notional local branch but we never visited it. >>>You need to remember the address of the branch where you originally
went to fill in the mortgage application in person. That far back in
time it was all done on paper with the bank manager for a small local
branch or a special mortgage person if it was a larger city branch.
Writing to Santander with the right name and address for the property
they provided the mortgage for might be good enough. Unfortunately
mergers and incompatible IT systems mean that customer facing clerks
in the branches stand almost no chance of seeing the right system
records.
It is basically a polite letter to head office stuff.
be successful. I have heard claims that letters from Solicitors produce
no response.
Even so you need to jump through that particular hoop using their
complaints procedures before you start down any other more aggressive
track. This smells to me a lot like user error and the documents were actually returned to the OP and are now down the back of a sofa.
Santander is one of the last banks standing on my High Street.
On 20 Feb 2025 at 19:02:44 GMT, "Martin Brown" <'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote:
On 20/02/2025 18:50, Sam Plusnet wrote:
On 20/02/2025 14:00, Martin Brown wrote:
On 20/02/2025 13:18, Brian wrote:
Anecdata suggests that writing to Santander on this topic is unlikely to >>> be successful. I have heard claims that letters from Solicitors produce >>> no response.As I recall, there was a notional local branch but we never visited it. >>>>You need to remember the address of the branch where you originally
went to fill in the mortgage application in person. That far back in
time it was all done on paper with the bank manager for a small local
branch or a special mortgage person if it was a larger city branch.
Writing to Santander with the right name and address for the property
they provided the mortgage for might be good enough. Unfortunately
mergers and incompatible IT systems mean that customer facing clerks
in the branches stand almost no chance of seeing the right system
records.
It is basically a polite letter to head office stuff.
Even so you need to jump through that particular hoop using their
complaints procedures before you start down any other more aggressive
track. This smells to me a lot like user error and the documents were
actually returned to the OP and are now down the back of a sofa.
But having accepted the principle that people are useless at the long term protection of documents and offered to keep his, might it not have been negligent of them to have sent them back to a person without steps to help them select another storage facility?
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