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

pompeyfaith

It will be interesting to see how customers are treated if they went into arrears during this period - especially if the extra 1% caused it. The charges for veing in arrears can end up being quite substantial. Even worse, I wonder if anyone had their home repossessed and/or their lives ruined due to being a bit short on the mortgage repayments for a while. Compensation for something like that should run into big money IMO. It won't though as they usually wriggle out of coughing up for collateral damage.

That is a very valid point and is the reason they have reached agreement with the regulators as they know full well the consequences there action over the SVR can lead too.

As always it is damage limitation in that they caused the damage and now wish to bail out for the least amount possible.

Treating Customers fairly lol yeh right if you say so

curlygirl1971

morgaln wrote: »

I'm in the same position as you, had a 'product transfer offer' in 2006 for a 3 year tracker mortgage. I rang the Halifax helpline to see if it relevant to my mortgage, to be told that as my mortgage was originally taken out in 1996 then I would revert to the old mortgage conditions. I checked the wording again and rang back explaining that my new offer stated that I would now revert to the new terms and conditions at the end of the tracker. The lady went off and checked again and admitted that she had got it wrong and that my case would be looked at.

I would suggest that if anyone has an old Halifax mortgage and changed anything within the timescales that have been mentioned then make a call (I wonder if Halifax are hoping that as all the information being given out is relating to NEW mortgages that they hope that those who altered their mortgage could be left out)!

Morgaln - thanks for that. Was going to ring the helpline later to ask same question. My paperwork definitely says the new conditions are applicable.

PDCE

beecher2 wrote: »

Not from what they say on their website - your deal was a few months too early.

But the information they gave us at the time was that the interest rate would not go over 2% when it reverted to SVR. Is it best to contact Halifax direct or the FSA about this?

pompeyfaith

http://www.which.co.uk/news/2011/02/halifax-to-pay-out-500m-after-mortgage-confusion-245418/

Extract:

It will pay £250 to all customers locked into the SVR by charges. Customers who are not locked in will receive the difference between the amount of mortgage interest they have been charged since 1 January 2009 and what they would have paid if the interest rate had been capped at 2% above base rate.
Former customers will receive a cheque. Current customers will have their mortgage balance reduced by the amount but can ask for the compensation by cheque instead.

curlygirl1971

morgaln wrote: »

I'm in the same position as you, had a 'product transfer offer' in 2006 for a 3 year tracker mortgage. I rang the Halifax helpline to see if it relevant to my mortgage, to be told that as my mortgage was originally taken out in 1996 then I would revert to the old mortgage conditions. I checked the wording again and rang back explaining that my new offer stated that I would now revert to the new terms and conditions at the end of the tracker. The lady went off and checked again and admitted that she had got it wrong and that my case would be looked at.

I would suggest that if anyone has an old Halifax mortgage and changed anything within the timescales that have been mentioned then make a call (I wonder if Halifax are hoping that as all the information being given out is relating to NEW mortgages that they hope that those who altered their mortgage could be left out)!

I called them and asked if a 'Product Transfer Offer' was the same as a Mortgage Offer and would it be included in the scheme. Obviously the are just giving out generic answers at present rather than answers tailored to individuals. He told me (not quoting word for word here).....that a PTO often meant a change in terms* to the mortgage product and those change in terms if they occured within the correct period could mean that the mortgage is eligible. I asked how each case would be reviewed - does their system spit out people who fit the criteria? No - they have a team manually reviewing each case.

* Trouble is - despite having every other bit of paper relating to my mortgage since I took it out - I just don't seem to have the original mortgage offer with the original terms - so I can see if the terms did change or not.

I'm not hugely confident in the answer I was given in terms of accuracy. I'm not saying the guy I spoke to wasn't helpful or doesn't know his stuff but this is happened in the past - where one person has told me one thing and then I've had another answer from someone else - they answer the questions to the best of their ability/knowledge but I guess it's all down to inside out knowledge of products / procedures / systems / interpretation.

I will see if I get a letter in April and if not, will follow it up from there

LDJ2009

">



This is from page 3 (of 8) from my mortgage offer dated the 13th June 2007.

Hope the info is of some use. Sorry it's slightly blurry but i haven't got a scanner at the moment so had to take a photo of the letter.

curlygirl1971

So, as I was an existing customer that had come to the end of a product term and was looking to go onto another deal, I have a Product Transfer Offer from December 2005.....not a Mortgage Offer. I'm not sure if the terms in the PTO are the same as the terms in the Mortgage Offers of the same time.

With regard to the SVR it says:-

'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.'

It doesn't mention the word 'cap' at any point

Does anyone have a Mortgage Offer from the relevant period - does the wording re. the SVR differ to that which I've quoted?

Any further info would be much appreciated

curlygirl1971

Bless you LDJ2009!!

Yep, the wording is the same

Really appreciate that. Feel a bit better about it now

pompeyfaith

* Trouble is - despite having every other bit of paper relating to my mortgage since I took it out - I just don't seem to have the original mortgage offer with the original terms - so I can see if the terms did change or not.

Curlygirl,

SAR the Halifax for a copy

art200380

Hi

I think we are one of the affected customers. It will be great if we do get the difference of the 1% interest back for those 27mths (Jan 09 to Apr 11), so can't wait for the letter to see.

In addition does anyone know if this also means that our SVR with Halifax will revert to 2.5% (currently, until BOE base rate goes up) from April 2011 onwards? Surely they can't admit they caused confusion and refund us the additional interest paid, for a 27 month period, and then just contine charging those customers BOE base rate + 3% (not + 2%)?