MSE News: Halifax to repay £500m to 300,000 mortgage holders

curlygirl1971

mattwmax wrote: »

Leedsit, I hope that they were wrong in what they told you (strange that you get told something where I was just told nothing...) one thing that I have seen on here is that it appears that if you drew more money on your mortgage then updated terms conected to that new money superceded the terms you had before, I think this has screwed people. I am worried as I took out mortgage offers for 3 months in advance that I never drew on to protect me from rising rates, if those mean I don't get a payment I'm going to be gutted.

Clearly I'm no expert or a Halifax employee!; but my understanding is that ANYONE on the relevant terms (2004 v2) is included in the pay-out to some extent or another. The paragraph that caused the confusion and has resulted in the Good-will payout by the Halifax is :-

'We have set a limit on the Halifax SVR so that it will not be more than 2% above BOE Base rate. We can change the 2% limit but, before we do, we will give 30 days notice to customers who pay interest at the SVR, a discounted rate or an added rate and are subject to an early repayment charge.'

People who fall into that last bit (as at Jan 09) seem to have received £250. People who do not fall into that last bit (and therefore did not receive 30 days notice at the time) have received the 1% difference (ie 2.5% not 3.5%).

If someone took out a further advance then it is possible / likely that the mortgage at least in part became subject to new T&C (ie ones that were clearer)

As far as I can see if you received Mortgage Offers but did not take up those offers you should still be on the original terms - check your paperwork. Or you could ring up and ask what version of the T&C your mortgage is subject to (Hopefully 2004 v2)

mattwmax

Just called the Halifax again and was told that all letters will have gone out by 9 May, so I should get something in the next week. Sadly he was unable to tell me what the terms of my mortgage were, but did try to tell me that I was not going to be eligible, but for an incorrect reason, so basically sounds like no one knows what is going on... Anyway, in theory, maximum of a week to wait for the letter.

LondonLass

mattwmax wrote: »

Just called the Halifax again and was told that all letters will have gone out by 9 May, so I should get something in the next week. Sadly he was unable to tell me what the terms of my mortgage were, but did try to tell me that I was not going to be eligible, but for an incorrect reason, so basically sounds like no one knows what is going on... Anyway, in theory, maximum of a week to wait for the letter.

That's what i got! He insisted that because i took out my mortgage after the initial date i would not be eligible for anything despite the wording from the halifax saying that if you paid the SVR at any point between the two dates (with the clause in your offer etc).

curlygirl1971

mattwmax wrote: »

Sadly he was unable to tell me what the terms of my mortgage were, but did try to tell me that I was not going to be eligible, but for an incorrect reason, so basically sounds like no one knows what is going on...

That is utter carp! Of course your mortgage provider should be able to tell you what terms are applied to your mortgage with them (Not ranting at you - at them). Which dept did you speak to - the helpline set up to deal with enquiries regarding the pay-out or the Mortgage team where you would probably have to go through some security details and maybe provide your Mortgage Roll number? When I rang the helpline I just got bog standard responses without them actually looking at my mortgage account.

I noticed my balance (I check it a couple of times a month and keep a note of it) had changed BEFORE I got the letter. Do you know if your balance has changed?

Best of luck

mattwmax

Curlygirl,

I did go through the helpline, although I was then told that another department was dealing with it. I went through security and gave them my mortgage roll number, and asked what version of the terms I was on and he couldn't tell me. In fairness he seemed surprised about this too, and admitted that it would have been useful, but apparently it wasn't there... I am not actually a customer anymore, so I can't check my balance.
Anyway, going to leave it here until I get my letter, hopefully not long now... I have my fingers crossed for £5k, so the £250 will be a bit of a kick in the teeth!

gazmoore77

Hi All, I took out a two year fix in september 2007 (agreed in may) with my ex. We separated in early 2009 and she was removed from the mortgage and replaced by my father in may with a transfer of deed. I have beenon the svr since 01/12/2009 and was expecting a "goodwill" payment. I have received a letter saying that I will not be entitled to a payment under the scheme as for the whole period from 01/01/2009 I was on a product rate which its clearly wrong! I have today phoned the helpline which was anything but helpful and then the mortgage dept who told me that when the transfer of deed went through it was a new loan so I was then subject to new conditions. My mortgage account number has stayed the same and at no point did anyone from the Halifax say that my terms would change our provide me with a copy of the new terms - I keep everything and still have the original terms booklet.
I feel like they are trying to back out of their very public offer so my question is this - how can I move this forward? Who should I complain to and what are my chances? I figure its about two grand which would help a lot to pay off other debts.

Northern_John

I got a letter saying they have credited my mortgage £3125.00

really pleased!!

opinions4u

the mortgage dept who told me that when the transfer of deed went through it was a new loan so I was then subject to new conditions. My mortgage account number has stayed the same and at no point did anyone from the Halifax say that my terms would change our provide me with a copy of the new terms

When a transfer of ownership is agreed, the latest set of Mortgage Conditions applies.

These should (iirc) be provided both to you and the solicitor acting in the transfer. The roll number remains unchanged.

I would suggest that you double check your records, double check your father's records and double check the solicitor's records. If there's still no sign of the booklet complain to them saying you have never been provided with it and believe you should be compensated accordingly.

My guess is that they will be able to demonstrate that they issued it, in which case you're doomed. But if you don't try ...

LondonLass

gazmoore77 wrote: »

Hi All, I took out a two year fix in september 2007 (agreed in may) with my ex. We separated in early 2009 and she was removed from the mortgage and replaced by my father in may with a transfer of deed. I have beenon the svr since 01/12/2009 and was expecting a "goodwill" payment. I have received a letter saying that I will not be entitled to a payment under the scheme as for the whole period from 01/01/2009 I was on a product rate which its clearly wrong! I have today phoned the helpline which was anything but helpful and then the mortgage dept who told me that when the transfer of deed went through it was a new loan so I was then subject to new conditions. My mortgage account number has stayed the same and at no point did anyone from the Halifax say that my terms would change our provide me with a copy of the new terms - I keep everything and still have the original terms booklet.
I feel like they are trying to back out of their very public offer so my question is this - how can I move this forward? Who should I complain to and what are my chances? I figure its about two grand which would help a lot to pay off other debts.

Does this mean that they are writing to all customers to tell them if they are eligible for a goodwill payment? Or did you write to them asking for info and then get this reply?

gazmoore77

LondonLass wrote: »

Does this mean that they are writing to all customers to tell them if they are eligible for a goodwill payment? Or did you write to them asking for info and then get this reply?

Hi Londonlass,
I received a letter end of march/start of april so if you haven't received anything then I'd call them and check they have your right address and ask the question, presuming you fit the criteria of course