MSE News: Kensington Mortgages to refund over £1m in unfair arrears fees 12 April 2010 at 2:46PM in Mortgages & endowments 16 replies 8.4K views

Former_MSE_Guy

This is the discussion thread for the following MSE News Story:

"The lender has been fined a whopping £1.2m by the FSA for hammering those behind on payments with huge charges ..."

Read the full story:
Kensington Mortgages to refund over £1m in unfair arrears fees

[Deleted User]

This is clearly good news, but I hope I'm not alone in saying I don't understand why this decision hasn't set a precedent for other bank charge claimants?

The FSA has imposed a fine in this case on 'excessive' charges that it deemed punitive. But isn't that exactly the same argument that the FSA failed to uphold in support of those claiming bank excessive bank charges from their banks?

I don't understand the difference here, or am I being stupid? Why can they enforce 'unfairness' in this case but not in others?

ellielou_2

Does anyone know if this includes early repayment charges?

I repayed a mortgage I had with Kensington after only having it for a year & they stung me for almost £8k in early repayment charges.

It was still the better option to move lender though, as I was interest only with them I ended up owing them more at the end of my mortgage due to the way they applied the interest!!!

Still gets me I had to pay them all that money, if I could get the money or some of the money back would be wonderful.

bekki0405_2

Does anyone know how far back I can claim? I was in serious arrears in 2003/4, and was stung with lots of charges. I ended up on a suspended repossession order, and had to sell my house to pay back the charges.
The news story says that the FSA found Kensington had overcharged between Jan 2007 and Oct 2008, so is this the only time you can claim in. If so, I would not be able to claim.

VIGILANT22

ellielou wrote: »

Does anyone know if this includes early repayment charges? QUOTE]

No, erc's are part of the mortgage contract which you initially agreed to.

new_home_owner_3

VIGILANT22 wrote: »

ellielou wrote: »

Does anyone know if this includes early repayment charges? QUOTE]

No, erc's are part of the mortgage contract which you initially agreed to.

I thought your missus had banned you from using the pc??:mad:

smnb08

is it ok to claim if you are no longer a customer of kensington?
was with them from 2005-2008.

VIGILANT22

What fees do you want to claim for?

http://www.kmc.co.uk/spool._2f_kensington_2f_pdf_2f_customers_23_29053_23_File-MediaFile.pdf

magpiecottage

Mortgages became regulated by the FSA on 31 October 2004 and from that point on, subject to the jurisdiction of the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Prior to that, a complaint can only be considered by the Financial Ombudsman Service if the firm you make the complaint against subscribed to the Mortgage Code at the time of the events complained about and would normally only be considered against the standards of that Code.

smnb08

VIGILANT22 wrote: »

What fees do you want to claim for?

http://www.kmc.co.uk/spool._2f_kensington_2f_pdf_2f_customers_23_29053_23_File-MediaFile.pdf

got really excited then as i thought it meant it was for the arrears fees!!
looks like i will only get maybe a returned direct debit fee.
i dont understand why they can say the returned direct debit is unfair but not the monthly arrears fee.

orc_2

smnb08 wrote: »

is it ok to claim if you are no longer a customer of kensington?
was with them from 2005-2008.

Yes. Proceed to make a complaint, (assuming it is for the right type of fees). Don't depend on them getting in touch with you.

Remember that 8% interest should be added by Kensington added the date of any fee charged to the date of refund.