Mortgage Exit Fees successes and failures

scoobysue_4

hi martin, after being told initially by the halifax on their hotline that i wasnt due a refund i wrote and asked them to look into it for me, its two weeks on but i today got an offer of a goodwill gesture refund of 25.00, not sure what i paid in exit fees as i dont have the paperwork but ive accepted the 25 anyway! if you hadnt highlighted the fact we can claim i wouldnt even have that. thanks again.:j

scoobysue_4

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 had a similar reply from the halifax on their hotline, i paid off my mortgage early (took it out 2000 and paid it off 2003) i wrote to their head office (the address is listed on this thread further back) and after a two week wait i today got a goodwill gesture of a full refund of 25.00 as long as i returned the accompanying letter to say i was accepting it as full and final payment. I have a hunch ive been stuffed but as im not sure what i paid in exit fees anyway im just going to accept the 25.00 as its better off in my pocket than theirs. i would write to them stating your request of having them assess it properly, as for paying for your last statement i cant answer that im afraid, but someone else might be able to tell you. good luck

funkin

After writing to Abbey National at the start of April and receiving a form to complete mid-April, today I got a cheque for £34 pounds through the post.

Cheers Martin.

silvercar

silvercar wrote: »

Very easy phonecall. Apparently Halifax increased the charge from £40 (Jan 1993) to £75 (Jan 2001) so they are sending me a cheque for £35.

Scoobysue and catt, I don't know if my conversation with the Halifax helps you estimate what you paid?

Tesco_points_addict

Just wanted to let yu all know that I received a cheque from Abbey for £4, I disputed this as there was no mention of any exit fee on my paperwork. Mortgage Oct.2002 to Oct 2004. After two months I finally received an offer of the full £99 plus £16 interest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This on top of the £80+ paid out by Barclays, thank you xx

rups

I have been a homeowner for 8 years and am on my 4th mortgage now.

On exiting mortgages with Halifax, Coventry BS & Intelligent Finance I was charged MEAFs and deed dispatch fees. I used the template provided on this site, slightly amended it, and sent it to each of the companies to claim back the MEAFs.

Halifax and IF replied to the first letter basically stating that they had charged what was in my original contract. Coventry wrote back with the same argument but also expressed that their charges were lower than market averages. Whilst this was true, my argument was based on these being penalties that were excessive with respect to the amount of work needed to administer a mortgage redemption.

I wrote back to all 3 again as none of them had answered my original request for a breakdown of how the fee had been spent. Halifax did answer listing what work they carried out to justify the fee and at that point I gave up the fight as the original fee was not large compared to the other two. However, at this point both Coventry and IF gave up the fight and refunded me £140 each. In the case of Coventry this was the full £95 MEAF plus statutory interest at 8%pa. IF refunded me the full MEAF with no interest.

So thanks for your help - £280 for little effort!

:T

kegs_2

No success with Principality, sorry.

ruthieb_3

Thanks to your info, I've managed to reclaim almost £200 in total from 3 old mortgage lenders - hooray! Thanks for the tip!

helena6999

Have had three mortgages over the last few years. Halifax refunded me £75 on the spot from a phonecall. Northern Rock a little more work, but manged to get £95 out of them too. Very happy bunny.
Not sure what to do with C&G? Was quoted the £225 on application, which was what we paid out, when we transferred our mortgage again. Am waiting to see if they will reduce their fees, and then go for it. Does anyone think the wait and see approach is best here??
Helena:j

buck174

As in the story quoted I was also charged the same fees 2 years ago.I part copied MSE's standard letter and within a week had a reply with a very brief form to fill in.
I recieved a refund of £126 within 10 days of my 1st letter :beer: cheers Martin!
I've now got 2 more mortgages to check with Scottish Widows and Standard life.Happy days for consumer revenge:T

draha wrote: »

Hi All

In the two years to Sep 2006, Abbey increased my MEAF from £99 to £225. I wrote one letter asking for a full breakdown, to which they replied that originally there was also an £80 fee "if you wanted Abbey to act in the removal of our charge"--so they're saying the fees were £179 in 2004? I'm not sure what that means, so I've gone and sent the template letter asking for the £126 difference.

Anyone got any further advice?

Thanks
Rich



First Letter
In September 2006 I remortgaged and left Abbey. I was surprised to find that the administration fee Abbey charges for leaving had increased from £99 to £225. I was a loyal customer who made repayments for more than two years, I always maintained my account well, and I did not leave the contract early.

I do not recall Abbey agreeing this rise in fees with me or telling me that exit fees would increase by any objective standard amount at the start of our contract. Abbey also did not give me any other valid reason for the rise.

The rise is more than 130% over less than two and a half years—far greater than inflation. Please provide a breakdown showing what this fee is for.