MSE News: Reclaim unfair mortgage arrears fees, FSA says

chrisharri

Dan_1976 wrote: »

Who is CW?

Yes who is CW? And also I'm not overly happy with vigilant refering to reclaiming as a scam?! How odd.

djpaulc247

Has anyone had any luck reclaiming the arrears fees? I have requested statements of charges added on to my old mortgage account and will send a later requesting the fees be refunded once I have received the statement.

Is there a template letter anywhere on the site like there was for the bank fees?

chrisharri

So far I have recieved the information on past mortgage charges. I have requested that i have a full refund of them, the bank has said no. I have contacted the FOS and they are now dealing with my complaint.

Looby1972

Ken_Stearns wrote: »

I have read in morgage arrears news that you can reclaim charges as far back as you need to. The Onbudsman is saying that I can only cliam 6 years. Anyone know which is rlght. I need to know ASAP what to do.

The FSA stated that you can reclaim back "as far as you like" according to the MSE story, but you must reclaim within 3 years of realising you could do so.

I'm at the stage of court action. GMAC have stated that their refund of £382 was all that I was entitled to, this on a balance of arrears charges which have been deemed as unfair by the FSA of almost £5000. I don't think so - see them in court, which I'm not intimidated by, as I work in one! Lol.

I think most of you should take a look on the Consumer Action Group Forums, if you haven't already - the threads on this have been much more active, and there's a LOT more information on there.

Don't waste your time with the ombudsman - they took 9 months to get back to me to tell me that they were unable to make a decision on my claim; ridiculous. You WILL have to be willing to go to court - over a 90% success rate so far with these claims.

Someone mentioned GMAC saying they would be unsuccessful at getting refunded as the account is closed. Just be aware, these companies are willing to say anything to intimidate you and put you off trying, but the success rate for claims is high, and the FSA has ALREADY RULED that these charges are unfair! They've already been fined, yet it seems they're still trying to defy the FSA.

I'll post updates as any progress is made with my claim.

Looby1972

You're more than welcome. I don't like seeing people being belittled, particularly galling when the other person is misadvising as well! You're not the only one on this thread; he seems to have been having a little poke at a few people, which is just totally unnecessary.

BTW, you're not a dimwit lol. It's confusing, and the people who have gone to court over these charges have largely won, but then seem to go quiet, so there's very little feedback, and little in the way of template letters. It's just been a matter, for me, of doing a lot of research, but if you go to the Consumer Action Group forum you'll get a lot more information and a lot of support as well there from some really well advised and experienced people.

Good luck!

Foreman

I had the instance whereby I had a joint commerical mortgage with my brother. I never realy understood the mortgage and just signed on the dotted line. My brother took responsibility for the mortgage and had all the correspondence sent to him. Unfortunately he passed away last year and I had to deal with the finances. On request of settlement of the mortgage I was shocked to discover over £4,000 in charges for late payments and a settlement figure of £65K for a £40k repayment loan when all repayments had been made. My brother had struggled with repayments, although had made them all but may be a week or a few day late. For each instance he was charged £35, even though he had told the mortgage company he was in hospital and the payments might be made late! They also told me that the mortgage was pre loaded with all the interest, no matter if it was paid off early! I tried to complain to the FSA / ombudsman but they said they were not interested, as it was commercial the lender can do what they want as it is unregulated. I feel cheated by the lender but seem unable to take any action against them. Over £20k in repayments was made to them followed by the £65k in settlement, so in total it cost £85k to borrow just £40k for 5 years!

Thrugelmir

Foreman wrote: »

I tried to complain to the FSA / ombudsman but they said they were not interested, as it was commercial the lender can do what they want as it is unregulated.

You are assumed to be a mature adult when entering into a commercial unregulated agreement. If no independent advice was sought regarding the contract. That's your ommission. Business takes no prisoners.

manicfred

just had a ruling from that ombudsman saying that £40 per month for arrears on my mortgage is FAIR!!!!
they say it would cost that much to monitor it. i think the decision was made between the the bank and ombudsman over a cosy lunch or such like.
no interest either and there is no evidence( paper work) for me to see about the charges. We are taking their word on it!! Anything i said was not believed.
they took thousands off me when they were taking me to court. At one point we had 14 days to get out (court order) with 4 young children and me being bi-polar with rapid cycling.
I see this as a classic example of them and us. We are not meant to have anything then we know our places. Bring on the revolution. front of the queue me, i,ve got nothing to lose.......

Thrugelmir

manicfred wrote: »

just had a ruling from that ombudsman saying that £40 per month for arrears on my mortgage is FAIR!!!!

Why does Starbucks charge £3 for a coffee? Same principles apply.

dunstonh

just had a ruling from that ombudsman saying that £40 per month for arrears on my mortgage is FAIR!!!!

That seems fair enough. £40 is not a lot nowadays.

i think the decision was made between the the bank and ombudsman over a cosy lunch or such like.

Strange comment to make seeing how many cases the FOS uphold against the banks.

no interest either and there is no evidence( paper work) for me to see about the charges. We are taking their word on it!! Anything i said was not believed.

It is sensitive commercial information. You have no right to it. However, the bank would have explained whyh t

We are not meant to have anything then we know our places. Bring on the revolution.

I guess, its late on Saturday and you have been on the juice.