Former infantry soldier Garry McDermott lost his beloved home after the Royal Bank of Scotland seized it when he fell behind in his mortgage payments. This, further to his paperwork being sent to a wrong address. Two years later, the shaken war-wounded is still determined to have justice done.
A dream-come-true home in 2010
The army veteran had witnessed carnage in Armagh during service in Northern Ireland. He saw a man shot in the head and “other things that are too horrible to repeat”. So much so that he later had to be treated for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). But little did he know that his worst nightmare was yet to come. Aged 43 today, this father of two girls left the army in 2003 and bought a house in 2010 for some £170,000. “It was a dream come true”. A short-lived one though. He fell into arrears by £3000 to £4000 when officers from the Royal Bank of Scotland sent court papers to a wrong address and the court case passed without his defence. At the same time, he found out he was suffering from PTSD, and had to make regular journeys to Catterick in England for treatment.
In the ensuing mayhem, the cleaning business he had launched didn’t survive either due to issues with a loan guard that was supposed to cover all issues with his business and cover his monthly mortgage payments. “I have lost everything. This was the last thing I needed. It has been such a worrying time for us all and there is no end in sight”.
Thankfully, Garry secured a council house in extremis after he spoke to Midlothian Council officials. “They saw that I was a forces veteran who was in danger of ending up on the street with my family. They reinstated me on the housing list and we were lucky that a suitable house nearby came up quickly”.
£100 compensation
Today, the ex lance corporal wants the bank to “apologise for the way they have mishandled my case and the poor way they have handled things”. And it indeed seems he will hardly have more than an apology from them. On 27 November, an RBS spokesman said to Scottish newspaper Daily Record that “when a customer falls into financial difficulty we do everything we can to help. We sympathise with the customer but unfortunately there was nothing more we could do. Repossession is only considered as a very last resort.” All he was offered was just £100 compensation for sending the paperwork to the wrong address. “They told me to take it up with the financial ombudsman. It is a total slap in the face.”
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Source : http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/theyve-ruined-life-army-veteran-9346402
