Halifax want to increase my fixed rate payments

drfeelgood10

hi i got a letter today from halifax to advise me that from 1st april 2009 there SVR is changing from 4.0% to 3.5% but as i,m on a fixed rate ( ends in june 2009 ) my payments will not change ,( i understand this thats why i got a fixed rate )
But in than goes on to tell me that my monthly payments will go up by about £9, WHY?
In a leaflet thats sent with says " although the interest rate on your type of mortgage remains fixed the monthly payments can change , this may be because your balance has increased due to ---- ie- 1-missed payments (No) 2-property insurance gone up ( No have insurance elsewhere) 3-mortgage insurance repayments have not been paid ( NO as above ) 4- administration charges have been add for ie missed payments ( No see 1 ) 5-if you have agreed a holiday payment ( No )
so has you can see i can,t understand how they can increase my fixed rate morgage just because they want too ,
any information to lighten this would be a great help . thanks The Doctor

ILW

Give them a call.

Comyface

Do you pay your payments on 28th of the month by DD?

If so, Feb's payment won't have hit your mortgage until 2nd March (as 28/2 was a saturday), making it appear that you had missed February's payment, hence the increase.

Can't think of any other reason. Should sort itself out after March's payment.

I'd give them a bell, though.

opinions4u

Did you pay your product arrangement fee up front, or charge it to the mortgage?

Is there a higher lending charge been added to your mortgage?

Anything that increased your debt over and above the original loan amount will eventually lead to a change in payment.

drfeelgood10

hi and thanks for the help , the arrangment fee was added onto the mortgage but surely this was taken into account when the fixed rate was set , i know this increase is only for 3 months and than the fixed rate ends and than should i leave it at the svr at 3.5% for a while or take a fixed rate again before they go back up . i,m paying now 5.9% the best at the moment with halifax is 4.4%.

opinions4u

drfeelgood10 wrote: »

hi and thanks for the help , the arrangment fee was added onto the mortgage but surely this was taken into account when the fixed rate was set

It certainly didn't used to be. The first time the payment was reviewed would be when the fee (plus interest) would be calculated - over the remaining term of the mortgage.

If my fading memory serves me correctly, the element of monthly payment to repay the fees would be charged at SVR.

Robert_Sterling_3

drfeelgood10 wrote: »

the fixed rate ends and then should i leave it at the svr at 3.5% for a while or take a fixed rate again before they go back up . i,m paying now 5.9% the best at the moment with halifax is 4.4%.

I think that there is a lot to be said for taking a fixed rate.
However without knowing the amount involved or the arrangement fee to be charged, or the length of the fix it is not possible to do any calculations.

Comyface

opinions4u wrote: »

It certainly didn't used to be. The first time the payment was reviewed would be when the fee (plus interest) would be calculated - over the remaining term of the mortgage.

If my fading memory serves me correctly, the element of monthly payment to repay the fees would be charged at SVR.

Yes, that used to be the case, but for the last couple of years at least (probably nearer 3 or 4) the fee can be added to the fixed rate up front and payments calculated based on that.

If the fee was on SVR, that would have caused the monthly payments to change before now.

Dr feelgood - I would say it depends how much you want the security of a fixed rate. Fix it if you don't want your payments to rise to help you budget, stay on SVR for a bit if you're happy to risk it and keep an eye on the rates.

KTF

The Halifax 'system' always appears to get confused when the BoE rate changes. I have a fixed mortgage with them as well and every time the rate changed I got a letter saying my monthly payment was going down.

In the end I got fed up with having to phone them up all the time so cancelled the direct debit and pay by standing order now instead. That way I have control over the payment amount.

MoneyMission

Halifax did the exact same thing to me today too. I gave them a ring and was told that because the 28th of February was a Saturday (this is the date my DD gets taken), they didn't take my DD until the 2nd March which meant I was showing in arrears. Then, they apply the charges across the remaining period of the mortgage which means that the payments go up. I firmly but politely explained that February usually only has 28 days and could they not possibly have forseen this issue? They have reassured me that my DD will be put back down to its usual level and all this will be confirmed in writing asap. I will wait with baited breath.