Mortgage Advice

Davidp86

Hi,

I took out my mortgage nearly two years ago now. It is with the Halifax and when I went in I took all my documentation and everything. I had my mortgage promise and everything seemed fine. It was a fixed 5 year mortgage.

Then nothing happened for 2 months I kept calling but couldn't get hold of anyone who was handling my case as the woman who was dealing with it only worked part time. 3 months into this I called again to be told that the woman who had been dealing with my application was now on maternity leave so was no longer dealing with my case so I had been passed onto someone else. When I spoke to this person I was told that due to the length of time that had passed from my initial application the interest rate deal had ended and I now needed to take the same one out with a interest rate of about 2% higher in order to complete the application. As I was desperate to move into my house I said yes and have now been stuck into a 5 year deal at an interest rate of 6.89%.

I am just wondering if anyone else has had experiences like this and if I now just have to wait out my deal or there is something I can do as I was not supposed to have this rate in the first place

Berkshiregirl

You're going to have to stick with the fixed I'm afraid - it's the contract you signed.

Given the length of time that's passed, whatdid you do at the time to complain about this? Did you really leave it three months before calling back again? Did you complain to the Halifax about the way you were being treated?

opinions4u

Davidp86 wrote: »

I took out my mortgage nearly two years ago now. It is with the Halifax and when I went in I took all my documentation and everything. I had my mortgage promise and everything seemed fine. It was a fixed 5 year mortgage.

Did you apply for the mortgage on a specific property at this point and hand over a valution fee? Were you issued with a 'Key Facts' document?

Or did you gest obtain a 'Mortgage Promise' that effectively tells you that they can lend to you but you need to find a property?

Then nothing happened for 2 months I kept calling but couldn't get hold of anyone who was handling my case as the woman who was dealing with it only worked part time. 3 months into this I called again to be told that the woman who had been dealing with my application was now on maternity leave so was no longer dealing with my case so I had been passed onto someone else. When I spoke to this person I was told that due to the length of time that had passed from my initial application the interest rate deal had ended and I now needed to take the same one out with a interest rate of about 2% higher in order to complete the application.

What explanation was given for your application not being processed? Is it because you hadn't made a full application? Is it because the member of staff dealing with it hadn't processed it properly? Was another explanation given?

I don't recall 2% jumps in available fixed rates a couple of years ago. Are you comparing a 5 year fix with a five year fix, or were you originally quoted on a shorter term rate?

As I was desperate to move into my house I said yes and have now been stuck into a 5 year deal at an interest rate of 6.89%.

I am just wondering if anyone else has had experiences like this and if I now just have to wait out my deal or there is something I can do as I was not supposed to have this rate in the first place

The fact the you've left it 2 years doesn't help your case. But if you can show that you'd paid your valuation fee and been issued with the Key Facts document showing the lower rate then you could still ask the question what slowed things down? If it can be shown that Halifax is at fault there is a half decent chance that you could be compensated.

You'd then need to pursue it via the Halifax complaints system and, if you get no success there, take it to the Ombudsman.

My instinct tells me that you hadn't actually made an application at the time you thought you had. It was merely a Mortgage Promise. There was some sort of misunderstanding that was compounded by the staff member's maternity leave.

Davidp86

I had a property that I wanted to buy that is what was on the original mortgage application. They did a promise for me first and when my offer was accepted the week later I then had the full mortgage application draw up.

They were both 5 year fixed deals, all they said was due to the fact that the total application had been over 6 months in length the guarantee for the mortgage had run out and I needed to do a new application hence the higher interest rate.

No I kept in touch but everytime I called they said there had been an 'administrative error' and the file had been lost. This is what I was told after the woman went onto maternity leave. What the Halifax wanted me to do was come in and get a new promise and bring all the P60s and bank statements and everything again. I complained and said I didn't understand why I had to do this again and that's when I was offered the new deal.

No I haven't got the original mortgage application documents as when I did the new application they kept the original one to dispose of.