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

mattwmax

helpmysis wrote: »

Now I'm confused.....

Just called the Halifax again as I have still not heard anything and was told I do not qualify. When I asked why she said because when I took out the mortgage it didn't start out on SVR??!! I said I didn't think that was part of the criteria, you just had to have been on SVR at some point during the dates given.

Our facts: Mortgage offer Feb 2007, fixed rate until Feb 2009, then went onto SVR until Feb 2010 when we moved lenders. Got the mortgage conditions 2004 v2.

Can anyone shed any light, are they just making it up as they go along??!!

This is very similar to mine and I have been told that I qualify (I've never seen a mortgage that starts on the SVR...) Unless you took out more money during the period which would have updated your conditions then you should be OK to get something, keep pushing and ask to get it escalated, it appears that there are some people that know what's going on, but you don't get to talk to them unless you ask.

helpmysis

mattwmax wrote: »

This is very similar to mine and I have been told that I qualify (I've never seen a mortgage that starts on the SVR...) Unless you took out more money during the period which would have updated your conditions then you should be OK to get something, keep pushing and ask to get it escalated, it appears that there are some people that know what's going on, but you don't get to talk to them unless you ask.

Thanks Matt. Someone is supposed to be calling me back - they can't tell me when though.

I wouldn't pursue it unless I thought I was in the right, the reason they gave is just not justified!!

mr_luvpants

We sold our house in December 2009 and since then we have moved to Australia. Today my mum has contacted us and said that the Halifax has sent us a goodwill payment of £300. our mortgage was for £112k and we had the mortgage for 2 years. I am still not 100% sure why we got this payment but after reading this thread it does not seem a lot compared to some other people. I am not sure whether to contest it or just be grateful as we were not expecting anything. Any advice would be gratefully received. I have not got our originalpaperwork as we got rid of all unnecessary paperwork when we immigrated.

Thanks in advance

John

curlygirl1971

The Halifax SVR was set at 3.5% in January 2009 (from top of my head)

Your/our mortgage terms talked about a cap on the SVR which if in place would have meant they would only charge 2.5% during the time period in question. However there was a clause in the terms to say that they could adjust the cap....and they did.....they charged 3.5%. The good-will payments are made in acknowledgement of the badly worded condition in their terms.

The good-will payment represents the 1% interest difference for every month you were on the SVR between January 2009 and December 2009

I checked the amount I received and it was pretty accurate to the nearest £10 (I have a mortgage calculation spreadsheet and kept all original paperwork)

mr_luvpants

Can I ask l Please, is your mortgage and payment comparable to mine?

John

curlygirl1971

Hi,

No it isn't. My mortgage was probably around £50k when I went onto the SVR and I have been on it since Feb 09. (So 25/26 months upto when they they made the payments.) My payment was £860. All these figs are from memory so not 100%

Can you remember when you came off your product deal and went on to the SVR?

mr_luvpants

We came off the deal and onto svr in august 2009.

John

curlygirl1971

I've just run some figures through my mortgage calculator...........this is just rough workings based on presumptions!

I don't know what your mortgage value was when you went onto the SVR....which is crucial to the calculation. I don't know what your standard monthly payments were at this point. I don't know if you ever added to your mortgage (in which case this would effect your goodwill payout)

You mention the figure £112000 - was this the closing balance of your mortgage in December 2009? Taking this figure and working it back, if we presume your Mortgage Balance in August 09 was around £114500 and your monthly repayments were £730.00 on 3.5% then you will have paid roughly £1660 in interest between August and December 09 and your balance at this point would be around £112k. If 2.5% SVR had been applied instead then you would have paid roughly £1200.00 in interest. £1660 - £1200 = £460.00

So if your mortgage balance at August 09 was less than £114500 then obviously you would have been paying less interest and therefore the difference would have been less. I suspect the £300 is about right.

Remember that many people on here have HUGE mortgages and were on the SVR for the whole of the affected period - January 2009 through to March 2011 - 26 Months instead of the 4/5 months you were

HTH

mr_luvpants

Bloody he'll! Did not expect you to do that so much kudos. Thank you. I think that I'll ask me mum to cash the cheque and get back to me BBQ and trying to surf.

John

mattwmax

Just got my letter!

You'll see from post on previous page that they told me I was eligible, but for a much smaller amount than I was expecting, as they had moved me onto new conditions incorrectly. Well I just got a cheque for £4200, again a bit less than I was expecting, but then I read that it was in addition to the £1075 cheque I had "already received" (which I haven't), as they admitted that they had been incorrect in moving me onto the new conditions. I also got a 4 page print out with all of the calculations month by month, which no one else seems to have gotten by the sounds of things.

But basically it looks like battle finally won, just need to get that other cheque, it's worth getting things escalated as there are some people there that do know what is going on it's just a fight to get there.

Many thanks to all the posters who found stuff out that I used and good luck to all those still struggling with this.