Mortgages - Higher Lending Charge

kirsty_grier

I took out a 100% mortgage 2 years ago and was charged £2670 higher lending charge - I'm going through all my charges on my mortgage offer and each of them state "this fee is non-refundable" ie the Chaps Fee, Arrangement Fee, Redemption Fee, Valuation Fee etc - but this Higher Lending Charge doesn't state this - does anyone know if I can claim this back at all. My house is now up for sale and I'm trying to cut costs - the value of the property hasn't increased by much but with all these added fees onto the mortgage I'm gonna struggle to walk away without being out of money. I've got an early repayment fee of about £2600 as well.

_Andy_

Why would/should you be able to claim it back?

You took on a mortgage that was a high risk to the lender (being 100% LTV). There is nothing illegal or immoral about the HLCs.

In short, no, you can't claim it back.

dunstonh

does anyone know if I can claim this back at all.

Do you go into Tesco each week asking for your money back on the goods you bought years ago?

_Andy_

dunstonh wrote: »

Do you go into Tesco each week asking for your money back on the goods you bought years ago?

You raise an interesting point though Dunston - I've got a grocery delivery due from Tesco this evening. They've had the neve to charge me £4 for a 'delivery charge'!!! What is the world coming to?!?!?!?! Rip-off Britain I say!!! blah blah..
Can I claim back the delivery charge?

kirsty_grier

1st time i've asked for advice on this forum and i get postings like this. in this day in age when you can reclaim all sorts of charges (bank charges, reduction in council tax bandings, etc) - i thought it might be worth a chance.

mortgage-dunce

Yes, I feel posters have been unnecessarily harsh here. Good luck with selling your house!

cmart021

Some ridiculous posts to what seems to be a genuine question.

Cazza

Hi Kirsty, the reason the other charges say they are non refundable, is becuase you would have actually paid for those upfront, when you took out the mortgage and the fees would have been spent, regardless of whether you actually took out the mortgage and bought the houase or not. With the Higher Lending Charge, this is only paid when you complete and is usually added onto the mortgage, so if you hadn't completed, they wouldn't have charged you that fee.

Unfortunately, the other posters are right, you won't get you money back. It was worth asking, it's just one of those questions which gets asked quite often and winds some people up. Don't take it personally, _Andy_ and dunstonh are able to give very good advice and aren't horrible at all! X

Joe_Bloggs

The FSA describe HLC as an insurance premium. the premium is paid by the borrower for borrowing too much money.

This situation could be better managed to all parties satisfaction, so that the cover is terminated when the mortgage is refinanced with another party. There could be refunds due, if the borrowers could negotiate their own insurance cover. Perhaps this charge could be allied with mortgage repayment insurance cover ! This charge has been abandoned by enlightened lenders, It would be sad to see it still exist in future times.
J_B.