Help needed - Kensington Mortgage Early Repayment Fees

DG123

I had a mortgage with this awful company which I re-paid in full, in 2006 when I sold my house. I was too ill to look into all the details then, and it was a case of sell or we will repossess - they did get to take me to court even though I had sold the house and was two weeks away from completion :mad:

Having recently got a little better, I decided to try and claim the fees from them and sent the letter template from this site (Thankyou :money:)

This is how I have now found out about all the charges I was hit with :-

Advisors visits x 3 - I was never notified of these and no one came to the house, they are also all differing amounts
Solicitors costs x 5
1st Letter Solicitor costs x 2 ?
Monthly arrears fees (even though I had advised of the situation that I was off sick and onSSP and was waiting for my ppp to be approved - it took 4 months)

In all there's approx £1000 worth of charges????? (Not got the final total yet, as I'm not a happy bunny! and keep hitting the calculator in frustration)


I then found the Early Repayment Charge of 6% :mad: I was four months short of 3 years with them. I could not remember ever signing for this. I was given a booklet which I still have, which states 2% in the 3rd year for the ERC.


Looking further at the paperwork I now know why the 6% came as a total shock to me. I have a copy of a schedule to offer letter and special conditions attached to my mortage offer letter, this is a copy of their copy (Kensington mortgages). I've not signed any of it - not even my mortgage offer :think:. neither have Kensington, and no, its not a print out of the letter, it was in my actual mortgage file, which was copied in full ref the Data Protection Act letter Isent

I don't think this mortgage offer/schedule ever arrived at my address - this was a re-mortgage, although I wish I had never heard of TML now know as Kensington.

Is there any possibility I can claim any of these excessive charges back. And how does the unsigned paperwork effect this, especially the 6% Early Repayment Charge.

I could go on about the problems with this company, as I was also sent repossession letters when I was 2 months in arrears, after reading the paperwork my house was being repossessed because of somebody else's mortgage who happened to have my surname (I kid you not :rotfl:) and I was sent all their details attached to the repossesion notice.

I really don't know if some of the above charges belong to that account, as some of the solicitors costs have been refunded, but nothing else - like x2 first letters???

Sorry if this is a little long winded but how do I go on from here?

I should have tackled this before but I have been very ill and am only now in the position to do anything about it.

Any help/advice would be great.

dunstonh

I could not remember ever signing for this.

It would have been on your mortgage agreement. They have been on these offer letters for decades. Some of the early ones were not that clear but for long time now they have been clear and fair.

I have a copy of a schedule to offer letter and special conditions attached to my mortage offer letter, this is a copy of their copy (Kensington mortgages). I've not signed any of it - not even my mortgage offer :think:. neither have Kensington, and no, its not a print out of the letter, it was in my actual mortgage file, which was copied in full ref the Data Protection Act letter Isent

Your copy is rarely signed. That is quite normal.

I don't think this mortgage offer/schedule ever arrived at my address - this was a re-mortgage, although I wish I had never heard of TML now know as Kensington.

If you never got a mortgage offer letter then how do you explain you having your copy?
How would you explain the mortgage being set up as they dont do that until they have the signed copy back.

Is there any possibility I can claim any of these excessive charges back. And how does the unsigned paperwork effect this, especially the 6% Early Repayment Charge.

ERCs are not excessive. They are deemed fair and legal. You get a mortgage on special terms and in return you agree to a tie in. If you repay the mortgage in that tie in period then you pay the ERC. ERCs usually exist because the lender still has to pay the investors that have funded your mortgage or suffer a penalty themselves (especially with lenders that dont use deposits to fund lending).

I will leave the other charges to others. However, the ERC is not something you are likely to have success on.

DG123

Thanks for the info but just to clarify:-

The Mortgage offer and the schedule of special conditions are NOT my copys. I requested all paperwork Kensington held on me via the template letter.

Kensington took the standard 40 days to reply and then sent me a photocopy of my entire file, not a printout but a copy of a paper file, with date stamps and even the black out bit for treasury tag holes .

There is no signed mortgage agreement in their file.

I've never seen this till the copied file was sent to me and its not in my own previous records.

The only signatures held in the file from me are from the initial interview dated 21/5/2003. I've even now asked for a copy of a signed mortgage agreement via phone today but was told I have every thing that they hold on me(and she went through everything, even their uncompleted checklists that they sent me!!). All the woman said was OH!

It would appear I do no have a signed mortgage offer. Any suggestions?

J8ck

On a similar note, I have just requested an Early Settlement Statement from Kensington as I am now in a position to pay them off. Here is the breakdown (roughly) they sent:

Amount payable over remaining term: £4,000
Early settlement rebate: £2700

Balance owing:£1,400
Plus Settlement Fee: £145
Plus Additional Costs/Fees: £2,455
Early Settlement figure: £4,000

Net settlement figure: £4,000

!!!!!! are the additional £2,455 costs/fees!? Will they give me an itemised breakdown if I ask? I have had this loan for nearly 4 years so wonder if I am entitled to rebate.

Wharfeman

First time novice so please be gentle with me !!
I am writing to Kensington Mortgages re: PPI claim and wondered if someone could clarify whether I need to address to Reading or Skipton, North Yorkshire.
Any help greatly appreciated

dunstonh

I am writing to Kensington Mortgages re: PPI claim and wondered if someone could clarify whether I need to address to Reading or Skipton, North Yorkshire.

Kensington wouldnt have sold you PPI. So, you wouldn't complain to them. You would complain to the adviser that sold you the PPI.

Wharfeman

dunstonh wrote: »

Kensington wouldnt have sold you PPI. So, you wouldn't complain to them. You would complain to the adviser that sold you the PPI.

Thanks Dunstonh for your help.
As a first timer PPI claimant could you please advise if their is way to find out who sold me the PPI on this policy.
As I have no paperwork for the policy, except for the reference number, should I contact Kensington and request a SAR ?? Will that show the PPI adviser, or is their another course of action to take.
Again, sorry for being naive, but this is all very new to me.

dunstonh

As a first timer PPI claimant could you please advise if their is way to find out who sold me the PPI on this policy.

You are not a PPI claimant. Be clear on this. You are planning to make a complaint. not a claim. You are going to allege a wrong doing. In your case, your will be alleging that the mortgage broker involved did something wrong.

As I have no paperwork for the policy, except for the reference number, should I contact Kensington and request a SAR ??

Kensington wont know about the PPI. It has nothing to do with them. it will be your broker.

A key thing here is also the date you purchases. The majority of mortgage brokers did not become regulated until January 2005. They dont have to consider pre regulation sales being complained about. Just post January 2005. When did you buy this mortgage?

Wharfeman

The mortgage was taken out in September 2007.

dunstonh

The broker then has to consider your complaint. So, you now need to decide what your complaint is.