Halifax Goodwill Payment

bexster1975

Hi all

I got my letter this am confirming £1265 exactly credited to mortgage account. I thought it was a bit cheeky not to ask how we wanted to be credited, but I would have paid it off the mortgage anyway so makes no odds to me.

bexster:j

xxxxxlollyxxxxx

Just wondering if anyone who no longer has their mortgage with Halifax but did at the time has received a payment or a letter yet?

kittiej

I had a letter - £320 will be credited to my account. Sounds paltry but my mortgage was for less than £20k five years ago.

baxxy

£1995 for me... quite happy about that...
I'm still on the Halifax SVR, but i've read the letter twice and looked at halifax website, but still can't get a right answer...
Going forwards... is my interest rate now going to be 2.5%... or will it now forever be 3% above BOE rate?

cloudberry45

My sum was £2800

xxxxxlollyxxxxx

Still not heard anything from Halifax, we no longer have our mortgage with the but when i called them they said they would be looking into repaid mortgages by end April and we will hear from then beginning of May. Anyone else hear anything who no longer has their mortgage with them?

lindos90

Ive just recieved a 'goodwill cheque' from the halifax, and initially thought it was a wind up! Thanks to trusty MSE the mystery is solved! We paid off our mortgage in oct 2009, so looks like they are now looking at this (Lolly have you heard yet?)

The bit that still puzzles me is the term 'goodwill'...does this mean they are not actually obliged to refund me any money and I should be grateful for their honesty, or that the real figure they owe could be more, but they would rather me happily cash the cheque as 'full and final settlement'? Does anyone know how they calculate the figures?

Shouldnt grumble really, im a few quid better off than I was this morning before the cheque arrived, but just want to consider things before cashing the cheque!:)

sujman

I too have just rec'd a goodwill cheque from Halifax, for a mortgage that I moved to another bank, back in August 2009.

I got a cheque for £395 and using some rough and ready calcs, based on what I understand the reasons for the payment is, I reckon the value should be closer too £495. If my workings are right, then looks like they are knocking off a £100 or so from the potential claim value to get the value of the goodwill cheque.

But, as the numbers are close enough, and I wasn't expecting the monies, I am not going to quibble and just cash it.

From experience, banks will never offer 100% of what you are owed, probably 50% or so to start with. In my opinion banks never, never give money away - when they pay unexpectedly, they are only taking pre-emptive measures to protect the total value they may have to pay out.

lindos90

...so the goodwill payment is not accurate? How would I go about trying to calculate it myself to see if its a significant difference?

sujman

lindos90 wrote: »

...so the goodwill payment is not accurate? How would I go about trying to calculate it myself to see if its a significant difference?

I dont think so but at the same time, I am not 100% sure how to calculate the right amount.

I have done my calcs using different sets of assumptions and get different answers!

What I did was look at what actual interest rate I was paying with Halifax between Jan 2009 and August 2009 (when I left). I then looked at the BOE rates and added 2%. I made the assumption that the BOE + 2% was the maximum interest rate I should be paying.

So, January as an example -

In Jan 2009, I was paying 4.75% on my mortgage. As at 01.01.2009, the BOE rate was 2.00%, so 2% + 2% is 4%. Therefore in theory, I was over charged by 0.75%.

I had to guess the value of 1% interest rate charge, using an average of £80k mortgage balance o/standing. £80k x 1% / 12 months = £66.67.

So 0.75% is £66.67 x 0.75 = £50.

So my concusion is that I was 'overcharged' by £50 in January.

If I follow this calcualtion through to August 2009, using the monthly changes in Halifax interest charges now gives me a figure of £520.

If my assumptions and working are about right, then by offering me £395, they are paying less than what is the full value, but this should be expected.

I might ring up the help line and ask how the numbers are calculated and say that I reckon the figure is closer to £600 and see if they automatically up the goodwill payment. Must be worth a try!

It might be like those online gold buyers - they make you a low offer but if you ring up to ask for your gold back, they offer more without much haggling!