Mortgage overpayments shocker

I,_Brian

I have a mortgage at Advantage, which at present costs around £956/month. Since Dec 2006 we agreed - in writing - to pay a direct debit of £1,000/month in order to help pay the mortgage faster.

However, a supposed routine call with Advantage has revealed that they haven't actually been using these overpayments to pay off the mortgage balance as agreed.

Instead, they've just been dumping the overpayments into a separate "credit account" and leaving it there, without actually debiting my outstanding mortgage or even paying interest on the credit.

Got to admit, I'm pretty furious about this - what's the point of agreeing over-payments with a mortgage company if they "forget" to apply the over payments?

Obviously, it works to the advantage of Advantage, who get to claim artificially
high mortgage repayments as well as keep some capital on the side for themselves.

Advantage are part of Morgan Stanley, so I'm pretty disgusted by this service.

After a 40 minute phone call I was told overpayments couldn't be applied to the account, and then finally told they would be back dated and that I would receive confirmation in writing of the changes next week.

Point is, though, if this had happened the other way around Advantage would have slammed with a range a fees and punitive actions.

Do I have any similar options to seek recourse for the maladministration of my mortgage?

(Just to add, the only reason this all came up is because Advantage suddenly claimed I had no contents & buildings cover and therefore immediately placed me on a Lender Interest Only mortgage, charged a new premium and new insurance fee - before I was able to correct them to the fact I still had two months left on the insurance. Am still trying to ensure that is sorted out.).

beecher

I had the same sort of problem with Halifax - I thought I was making overpayments but the money was just sitting there. Was told I have to specifically say that I am making a capital repayment in order for the money to come off immediately, and now do that with no problems.