Mortgage Exit Fees successes and failures

Noz

catt wrote: »

I telephoned the Halifax dedicated line to claim my refund. Having redeemed my mortgage in 2003 and not having any records to hand, I was informed that I had not been charged any redemption fee because I had held the mortgage for ten years.

Is that true?
I asked for written confirmation and was told I would have to write in.

Worth a letter to make absolutely sure? Should I ask for a copy of my closing statement or will they charge me a tenner for that?

I've heard of that before regarding being charged no redemption fee - its entirely your choice if you want to write in. Closing statements are free I think from Halifax but only they can tell you that.

Noz

Park_Ranger wrote: »

I took out a mortgage with Bank Of Ireland Mortgages back in 1992 and the MEAF quoted in the deed was £90. On repayment in 2004 I was charged £145, so on the face of it I should have a claim for £55. However my bank have just replied to my letter and refused to pay anything. Their argument is that over the years I've changed mortgage products and each time signed a variation to the mortgage deed, and that any claim relates to the situation when the last one was signed not the initial mortgage deed. The last variation was in 2002 and at that time the MEAF was £145.
I haven't got copies of the variations to hand but, if my memory serves me correctly they were one page documents that contained not a lot more than details of the t&c's that applied to the new product and most certainly did not specify an increase in the MEAF. Apparently the practice of basing any refund on the fee in force at the last variation has been agreed with the FSA.
Has anyone come across this before?

It's certainly been discussed. Unfortunately only yourself can check if you agreed to higher MEAFs.

Park_Ranger_2

Noz wrote: »

It's certainly been discussed. Unfortunately only yourself can check if you agreed to higher MEAFs.

Thanks Noz.
My copies are probably in a box somewhere, and as I presume I'll have to pay a fee to get duplicates it's probably not worth it. Anyway, I'm almost certain that the variations did not refer directly to the MEAF but they probably sent a Key Facts booklet which seems to what they're relying on. Think I'll make a quick call to the regulator on Monday though just to verify their approach.
Still, on the positive side I saved more money by being on the discounted rates.

G_Aldridge

After reading about Mortgage exit fees on this site. I decided to go for the Northern Rock who stung me really badly (serveral years ago) when they refused me (unles I paid serveral thousands pounds) to come out of my fixed rate mortgage of 7.5% when interest rates were at around 3%.

I wrote to them , at the address on this site, they wrote back saying yes we overcharged you by 95 pounds.

I wrote back to them stating that their exit fees were very high 140 & 150 pounds so I asked them to justify this (info of this site) and could I have my interest please.

They wrote back saying, completely blanking my questions and reiterated that 95 pounds was the amount owed.

I wrote again stating that I wanted my questions answered and asking them if this is their final response (after this you can take it further - this information is on NR's internal complaints policy that they kindly sent to me)
and stated that I would pursue if necessary through the small claims court.

Then to my amazement NR caved in and they refunded all charges some 385 pounds !:T

So keep at them and thank you Martin Lewis - top man

Cheers

Gary

Stephie19

Just to say thank you for all the free advice offered on this site...........maybe there is such a thing as 'a free lunch'..............Just had a cheque back from Northern Rock for £55 from our mortgage that we redeemed last August. I used the template letter and for minimal effort a cheque almost by return post, ok only £55 but MY money not theirs.
Keep up the good work...........also enjoy your slots on GMTV.
Thanks again.

Pennylane

Thanks Martin! Received a cheque from A & L for £220 - saw you on TV and then came on here ... so thanks very much! A & L dealt with it quickly and politely too. We have other accounts with them so it would have been nice if they had told us about this I think ... but you can't win 'em all!!

angie_d_3

Hi all

After reading the article on the mortgage exit fee I have just had the easiest experience and the quickest way to get money back (I am chuffed !!)

I took out a mortgage with the Woowich in 1994 & redeemed in 2002. Have just rang the helpline to be told "yes, we overcharged you and will refund with interest, directly intoyour bank account within the next 5 days".

Fantastic, it may only be £45.00 plus interest but every bit helps.

Thanks to all whoposted their info ....

paddio

I came across this website and, using the template letter, I wrote to Abbey on 22 May 2007 to complain about the £225 I was charged when I moved my mortgage. Within a week, I received a letter requesting further information (dates, etc). I was sure I was wasting my time (and the letter seemed to indicate this), however, I sent them the information they asked for and, this morning, (23 June 2007) I received a cheque for £126. It was that easy! Thanks Martin, you really are a Money Saving Expert....well done & keep up the good work. Paddio.
:T

magmc

I used your letter to reclaim MEF from Northern Rock they charged me £250 and it should have been £50. I sent your letter and within 5 days they sent me a form and said that I was quite right they did owe me £200. I sent back the signed form and within 5 days had cheque for £200. So thank you as I did not know anything about the money until I signed up for your email's.:j

Curv

DH successfully reclaimed £74.00 from Yorkshire Building Society after reading Martin's article... it's going straight into our Mortgage Pig

Thanks, Martin

*mwah*