Halifax mistake! advice please

SPOTTEDCUP

currently have our house up for sale got outstanding mortgage balance 1st sep 2009 payed 4 further payments since and just checked balance again and and was told they had made a mistake:mad:

1sept £88500 owed
5th dec £90592 after paying 4 more £550

halifax have listened to the call and admitted there mistake this means were 3-4k short and will have to pull our house of the market for 4-6 months leaving us to pay soliciter and e/a fees
can i claim back my losses from halifax through the ombudsman

notisis

Is there an early repayment charge? If so when does it expire? If not for a couple 4 months then by the time you find a buyer and then actually complete it may not be an issue and you haven't lost anything. I would imagine the details of your original mortgage (key facts) would give that info but a call to Halifax would confirm when the early repayment charge ends as I note you mention pulling the house off the market for 4 to 6 months. You can still market during this period but would not want completion until after.

If you haven't actually found a buyer yet then I don't see how you will have incurred any solicitors' fees. Any ground work that has been done in readiness for any sale should be offset against any bill for when you do sell assuming you use the same solicitor. As for estate agents' fees - in England they don't charge until you actually make a sale. Are you talking about fees for a HIP? This should remain valid for 12 months but you may be required to update certain aspects of it if you delay placing your home on the market for a long time.

opinions4u

SPOTTEDCUP wrote: »

halifax have listened to the call and admitted there mistake this means were 3-4k short and will have to pull our house of the market for 4-6 months leaving us to pay soliciter and e/a fees

Please can you clarify what costs you have actually incurred?

How much has your solicitor charged you?
What will the estate agent charge you if you withdraw the property form the market?

can i claim back my losses from halifax through the ombudsman

You must first exhaust the Halifax complaints procedure before taking it to the Ombudsman. Once you bring the Ombudsman in to play, resolution will be slow.

Have Halifax explained why there is a difference in figures?

- it could be that they have provided the balance outstanding without ERC.
- it could be that they have provided the balance outstanding without interest accrued in the current financial year.
- it could just be a !!!! up!

Depending on the question you asked, the first two answers may actually be (technically) correct, if unhelpful for your specific circumstances. In that case I don't see that Halifax are necessarily liable for any expenses incurred.

It all depends on the conversation you've had. If you asked for a current balance, rather than a redemption figure, they may just have given you a current balance.

I would suggest that you clarify to Halifax the amounts that you're out of pocket by and explain why those costs had to be incurred now, rather than when a sales was agreed and ask them to reimburse.

Where I live all the estate agents are no sale / no pay and I wouldn't engage a solicitor until I had a buyer. So while I'd be annoyed at being given a misleading mortgage balance I wouldn't actually be disadvantaged by it.

SPOTTEDCUP

we were on a 3 year fixed which has finished, now on svr
e/a fees £150 if we take house of the market

solicitor done some work on the house we were looking at dispute over planning permission and land boundries would expect a bill £300+

if halifax had given correct fiqure we would of waited till after easter to put our house up for sale as we are right on the limit for a 20% deposit

opinions4u

SPOTTEDCUP wrote: »

e/a fees £150 if we take house of the market

You could possibly claim for that. Although how soon will you find a buyer? You might be better leaving the property on the market.

solicitor done some work on the house we were looking at dispute over planning permission and land boundries would expect a bill £300+

Nothing to do with your settlement figure though. It's work that would have had to be done sooner or later.