Fixed rate renewal legal query

sean1881

Advice anyone?

We are about to sell our house. We took out a new fixed rate mortgage back in 2006 when we purchased our house. When that fixed rate deal ended in August 2008, we entered into a new fixed rate deal with the same lender.

The new deal was only ever discussed with the lender over the telephone and we did not sign any documents or papers. The lender has records of confirmation discussions only.

My question is this. I would have assumed that such a financial agreement must be signed and sealed under regulations such as the consumer credit act etc, or is it acceptable, as the lender says, that this deal was adequately deal with over the telephone with no paper signing etc on the basis that it merely formed a extension to the original mortgage deal we took out with them in 2006?

I might be clutching at straws, but it seems like a sensible question to ask considering that, by the time the mortgage is settled and the redemption is paid when the house is sold, this second deal will have cost us in excess of £12k more than if we had simply let our original deal expire and had passed on to the standard variable rate, without a sign up fee and without a redemption.

Any advice on the legality of the method of this mortgage agreement will be much appreciated.

Joe_Bloggs

@sean1881
Had you been a MSE forum member in the past then you could have posed the question of whether to stick or twist with a new deal.

I have tried to learn from my mistakes and the biggest step I made was to read the views and experiences of others on this site.
I was on a tracker that hit 6% now I am on SVR of 2% + BofE%.

There have been many marketing campaigns from lenders that say that 'now is the best time to fix!' One of these days they will be right. You pay over the odds for a fix but get some security. A two year fix is very little security as it is too soon over and you may have to pay another fee for the privilege of doing the same.

I hope you get an annual mortgage statement. On this you get a statement of what you have signed up for. If there is a discrepancy on this then you should act, if you recall different (in my view).
I am not a mortgage expert and there may be better suggestions than to ' find you mortgage paper work/ statements etc'


J_B.

opinions4u

If they sent you a letter confirming the new deal and a Key Facts document with it, the lender have acted in an appropriate way. I'm also not aware of any lenders that provide advice over the telephone. So more likely that they've explained the options available and you've made a choice. EDIT: Your previous post says it's Halifax. They don't advise by telephone. They provide an "informed choice".

You need to take a step back and think this through though. You wanted a fixed rate. You asked for a fixed rate. They gave you a fixed rate. After the event you don't like it.

I might be clutching at straws

Indeed you are. Some would also suggest you are extracting the michael.

but it seems like a sensible question to ask considering that, by the time the mortgage is settled and the redemption is paid when the house is sold, this second deal will have cost us in excess of £12k more than if we had simply let our original deal expire and had passed on to the standard variable rate, without a sign up fee and without a redemption.

And if rates had doubled, you'd have saved £12k. It's the nature of the beast. You contracted verbally to the deal. I'm assuming it was confirmed in writing. If you wanted a tracker you should have asked for a tracker.

When you posted a year or so ago, you didn't like the answers. You didn't actually mention at the time that no paperwork had been signed and didn't respond when phrases like "you signed the paperwork" were used.

Here's a long shot. Ask them to provide a copy of the "deed of variation" that committed you to the current fixed rate that you don't like and take things from there. Personally I don't think you've got a leg to stand on as you got exactly what you wanted at the time.

Gorgeous_George

I know nothing about the legal position but this sentence from the post about a year ago amused me...

When so called experts appear on television programmes advising mere mortals such as myself that now would be a wise time to sign up for a new fixed deal, I can only assume they know what they are talking about.

I'd love to see your home. If you buy everything that is advertised as a 'wise' buy you must have more junk even than me.

GG

dwsjarcmcd

Why don't you just speak to your lender about porting your current deal across to your new property and take any additional borrowing at SVR and avoid the redemption charges? If you can't do this for whatever reason, then look at other avenues, but I have to say I agree with opinions4u on this

sean1881

Unbelievable!

All I ask for is a simple opinion and all I get is a load of sarcasm and personal remarks from some, (not all) correspondents, who, no doubt are also apoligists for the way the banks have behaved over the past few years and who also, no doubt foresaw the B of E base rate falling to 200 year record lows!