High Mortgage Fees

vivera01

In February I applied for a mortgage with Alliance and Leicester via a mortgage broker. Everything was approved in principle but has taken until today for the final offer to come through. This was due in equal parts to an inefficient broker and very poor customer service from A&L (lost copies of documents etc).

When I applied, the number of available products for those with only a 15% deposit was virtually nil, and I had to commit to paying a mortage fee of £3500 which has been added to the mortgage. Now that the market has picked up, however, there are lots of different products with much lower fees and even A & L seem to be charging £995 for the same product I've been offered.

Should I go back to A & L and renegotiate the fee or would I have to go through the application process again?

dunstonh

Mortgage products are priced in many different ways. A common difference is that the high fee versions carry lower rates and low/no fee versions carry higher rates.

Would the alternative mortgage deals be better value for you over the term compared to the earlier one?

magpiecottage

There do seem to be more products about now and it is possible that the law of supply and demand has pushed prices down.

Ordinarily, my view would be that you agreed to the deal at the time and the fact that you could now get something cheaper is immaterial.

However, if A&L really is responsible for the delay, then you do have grounds for complaint on the basis of "distress and inconvenience" and any wasted costs due to the purchase falling through etc.

It is possible that A&L might then decide simply to offer you the deal on the current basis if you prefer.

That might in turn cause the broker to pursue you for the fee he expected to get so you may then find yourself in a dispute with him.

So no definitive answers on this, I'm afraid but I hope that is helpful.

vivera01

Thanks very much for your answers.

I think I will contact them and try to renegotiate. You are right in that the monthly payment is quite low, and only by changing providers may I find a better deal. I couldn't go through the stress again I'm afraid!