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Horrendous Charges from Alliance and Leicester

2

Comments

  • regularsaver1
    regularsaver1 Posts: 4,930 Forumite
    I thought you said that your bf had received a letter sayiung when his deal was up? - so therefore if he completed before that date the penalties would apply as it was on his original mortgage offer

    The £295 is the current fee is leave the mortgage early - near on every lender charges a fee - C&G do if you are to leave them later

    i think your sol and IFA are at slight fault but couldn't the completion be held out the 10 days?

    I think your bf would have to contact them as it was his mortgage
  • dunstonh
    dunstonh Posts: 120,195 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    So, the adviser started the mortgage with the expectation of it being passed redemption penalty point. As did both of you. So, who's decision was it to advance the completion?
    I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.
  • claires30
    claires30 Posts: 9 Forumite
    What my argument is that had we known about the redemption penalty date we would have left completion til a later date but nobody pointed it out to us. We were pressurised into completing early but had we have known we would have said 'no'. It was all a last minute rush and the buyers said that if we couldn't complete in time (they had the army moving into their house to rent it for 3 years and it was a rental they couldn't afford to turn down) then they would move out of their house anyway.

    The IFA sent the letter before he knew about us moving house. It was this letter that made me think we'd use them again. Surely your argument could be turned around... that since we had received that letter we thought that the redemption period would be up by the time we moved. No mention was ever made. To be honest, i think it's a !!!! up from all sides.. ours, the IFA, solicitors and the only ones to benefit are A&L.
  • claires30
    claires30 Posts: 9 Forumite
    My b/f received a letter from his IFA saying that his 2 year fixed mortgage was soon up (no date mentioned) and that he should come in for a consultation to remortgage. I even pointed out to him, when i went to see him about it, which blinking mortgages we both had, despite the fact that Darren has done his through them. I just don't understand why nobody said 'you know your fixed rate doesn't end til the end of May don't you?'. That's all it would have taken or for the solicitor to say 'did you know you have a substantial redemption penalty?... but nothing. Not one person mentioned it. All the indications from the A&L (telling b/f about new rate) and letter from IFA saying mortgage period ending led us to believe that we were out of the penalty time or certainly would be by the time of completion.

    Claire
  • MarkyMarkD
    MarkyMarkD Posts: 9,912 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Claire

    I think you are flogging a dead horse here.

    Your bf's last annual statement from A&L, all of 5 months ago, would have said "early repayment charge £4k due until 31/05/06".

    He bought this 2 year fixed rate mortgage only 2 years ago (obviously) and must have realised he had a 2 year tie-in on the product.

    The letter from A&L about the new rate (which he'll have just received) will have stated "your fixed rate is ending on 31/05/06 and from that date you will be paying £x.xx".

    It's his responsibility to check the repayment terms. He could have asked the solicitor for a breakdown of the redemption payment, but didn't. He could have asked A&L for a copy of the redemption statement, but didn't.

    Having said all of that, the IFA would be culpable if the original redemption date had been planned to be before 31/05/06 - but you've said it wasn't. Based on all the information you gave the IFA, the charge wouldn't have applied and hence he had no reason to advise you to go to A&L for the new mortgage.

    If you had gone to A&L for the new mortgage, to avoid the charge you would have had to transfer the existing product - all 10 days of it - and then switch to another product (at a charge) after 31/05/06 if you wanted to do so. But you haven't bought the new house yet - so couldn't have transferred the mortgage to the new house.
  • Gorgeous_George
    Gorgeous_George Posts: 7,964 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    We live in a country where everything that happens must be someone else's fault.

    When will we take responsibility for our own actions?

    How do we expect BS's to stay in business if they are to lend at discounted rates and waive early redemption fees?

    :)

    GG
    There are 10 types of people in this world. Those who understand binary and those that don't.
  • [When will we take responsibility for our own actions?]

    I think i have said several times Gorgeous George that my boyfriend was partially to blame. I think you may have felt the same in our position too!

    Thanks for all the advice guys.

    I'm going to bring a close to it all now for fear of getting incredibly angry about the whole situation and wishing to hang draw and quarter all building societies, IFAs, solicitors (although I used to be one.. not conveyancing i hasten to add!)

    It's a hard and expensive lesson to learn, but by god have we learned one.

    Cheers

    Claire
  • Well done Claire,

    you have vented your anger and frustration on here and all points have been covered.

    Take a big breath, blame yourself and your boyfriend, give each other a big hug and then go out today and get drunk and enjoy the footy:beer:

    Move on, move on, move on but remember, forgive but never forget!!!! Don't let it ever happen again;)
  • Sound advice itsakidsworld.

    Cheers for all the advice guys.

    Claire
  • Something else to be aware of which fortunately i have spotted, i have a Alliance and Leicester fixed mortgage. I am about to move and thought the 5 yrs was up on the anniversary of the 5 years i.e.11th August. This is not the case the fix does not end until the 31st of August ie 5yrs and 20 days after i started the mortgage. I would have therefore been hit if i had moved on the 12th. Very sneaky in my opinion.
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