can I claim for late payment charges on mortgage?

mikey2341

Hi All,

A while a go I got in to financial hardship and missed payments on my mortgage, which caused it to go into arrears. I've managed to get my head back above water and paid of the arrears and all is good again.
Looking back at my mortgage statements, I've been charged £35 for every missed payment and then £35 for every leter to tell me this!

Does anyone know the likelyhood of me reclaiming some of these charges???

Cheers

Mikey

dunstonh

Does anyone know the likelyhood of me reclaiming some of these charges???

Possible but low. Mortgage lenders have been more successful in fighting in these charges and have been prepared to go to court to support them. There have been posters here who pursued it through the courts and ended up losing and suffering costs.

Some subprime lenders have had their knuckles rapped on the charges but the prime lenders havent had the same issues.

tifo

you may get some success but depends on who your lender is.

these charges are the same as credit card charges, i.e. for missing a payment and so reg 5(1) UTCCR applies as well as precedents on penalties.

FSA DISP 12.4.1R states that arrears charges should cover costs only and not make a profit.

the problem is that lenders won't give actual breakdowns but only estimates (which of course are around the charge figure) and the Ombudsman or courts are reluctant to challenge these.

if the law and rules were applied as they're meant to be then the banks would not be able to charge these unfair fees.

at the end of the day, the consumer gets screwed everywhere .....