Our Morgage Company will not help us

nancyanne

Hi,i have just joined this forum and wonderd if anyone could give us some advice.My husband needed a triple heart bypass about 6 years ago,he lost his job and has only worked on and off part time since then.We took out a remorgage with a company called Swift 1st,the payments to start with were £555 per month but due to all the interest rises over the past 3 or 4 years the repayments have shot up to £782 per month,he has a police pension of £840 per month so that pays the morgage,but we are struggleing.I work part time getting £550 per month but i have to pay council tax and utility,food,clothes,and 2 credit cards,so needless to say its very hard.My husband has twice rang Swift 1st when the interest rates started to fall to ask if we were going to see any benefit,they said no,they are not governed by the banks so the repayments will stay the same.Even though he told them he wasnt working and the only other income was my part time job they were not interested.He asked if they would spread the payments over another 5 years to make the repayments lower but they wouldnt do that either.I just want to know if anyone knows if what their doing is illegal.We do not qualify for any goverment help because of his police pension.Any help appreciated.Anne.:mad:

JustJewels

Number one rule, always, always, always, put everything in writing, and keep copies for your own records.

Complain to Swift 1st in writing, the address is on their website
https://www.swift.co.uk/complaints.asp

Send it Recorded Delivery

Then, when you get their reply, if not helpful, you can always pursue the matter with the Financial Ombudsman. However, the Financial Ombudsman will not look at your case until Swift have had a chance to remedy the situation first.

If its a case of Swift 1st sticking to their guns and refusing to vary the terms of the loan, investigate every option for you to refinance with someone else - taking into account any possible exit fees from Swift etc

nancyanne

Thankyou so much for your reply,we did get a letter from them a couple of days ago and it stated in the letter that they have their overheads to consider and said they were sorry they could not help,i have kept the letter for future reference.I think its a disgrace,these companies that say if you are haveing problems please tell us and we may be able to help,its a joke,they dont care as long as they get their money back.I wish now we had remorgaged through our bank instead of a finance company,never mind you learn by your mistakes.We only have 8 years left and we will be free,i would not recommend Swift to anyone.Thankyou again for your reply.Anne.

Rick62

You've no real cause for complaint, lenders can charge what they like. You could try to complain under 'Treating Customers Fairly' regarding not being willing to talk about increasing the term, but I doubt you would have much luck.

Have you looked into moving your mortgage to another lender, with a better rate and over slightly longer term?

maninthestreet

nancyanne wrote: »

Hi,i have just joined this forum and wonderd if anyone could give us some advice.My husband needed a triple heart bypass about 6 years ago,he lost his job and has only worked on and off part time since then.We took out a remorgage with a company called Swift 1st,the payments to start with were £555 per month but due to all the interest rises over the past 3 or 4 years the repayments have shot up to £782 per month,he has a police pension of £840 per month so that pays the morgage,but we are struggleing.I work part time getting £550 per month but i have to pay council tax and utility,food,clothes,and 2 credit cards,so needless to say its very hard.My husband has twice rang Swift 1st when the interest rates started to fall to ask if we were going to see any benefit,they said no,they are not governed by the banks so the repayments will stay the same.Even though he told them he wasnt working and the only other income was my part time job they were not interested.He asked if they would spread the payments over another 5 years to make the repayments lower but they wouldnt do that either.I just want to know if anyone knows if what their doing is illegal.We do not qualify for any goverment help because of his police pension.Any help appreciated.Anne.:mad:

You don't seem to have told us how much is currently owed on the mortgage.
You also mention 2 credit cards - what is the balance on those cards?
You really need to post a Statement of Affairs, listing all your debts, and you income and outgoings on a monthly basis.

SWIFT_3

You too. I am currently fighting Swift through court. They too have refused any help, thank god the judge thought they should have followed the governments protocol advice. Anway it's not over yet back in court on 7th May. Swift have also put my mortgage up a whopping £300.00 although there have been interest rate cuts. They claim it is because they are a small company, however they are owned by a huge company called Alchemy, this group actively advertises on the web with regard to their growth in the current economic climate. This company make their money through ruthless methods of extorting money .

Peelerfart

Perhaps when other people moan because their banks haven't dropped their SVR by 0.5% when they think they should,perhaps they should read this thread.

I cannot offer any advice or help but good luck in fighting these sharks .

PF