Mortgage Exit Fees successes and failures

caroline999999

Martin Lewis is a legend!!!

Letter sent to Northern Rock on Saturday 19 April, reply received today confirming that a refund of £65 is due.

I have to sign a declaration confirming that I accept this £65 as full and final settlement and that Northern rock has no further liability. Is this normal?

MarkyMarkD

SkintFlint73 wrote: »

We are in the process of switching our mortgage currently held with the Alliance & Leicester to another one of their mortgages. We specifically asked for a mortgage with no early repayment fees as we have our house up for sale and will hopefully be moving in the next few months.

We have received the paperwork with the new mortgage details on it and we have to sign it and return but there is a section which says- No early repayment charges are payable on this mortgage. A Redemption Administration Charge, currently £295.00, will be payable if you repay this mortgage in full early. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Isn't that the same thing? I wondered if anyone knows the difference and whether they are right to ask for £295.00 following the whole claiming mortgage exit fees back??? Its a lot of money for a bit of paperwork & now we don't know what to do next. Paperwork needs returning by mid if next week.

Thanks in advance!

No, they aren't the same thing. There are no ERCs (Early Repayment Charges) but there is a Mortgage Exit Administration Fee (MEAF).

ERCs are normally payable on concessionary rated mortgages if you exit during the concessionary term; MEAFs are normally payable whenever you redeem a mortgage (although A&L don't charge it at the natural term end of a mortgage).

It's not a fee for a piece of paper; it's part of the cost of the product you are choosing to switch to.

And you would incur an MEAF if you redeemed without switching your product in any case.

elliewild

My dad recently sold the family home and was charged an early repayment fee of £3,000. he was signed off sick and could no longer keep up mortgage repayments with birmingham and midshires (part of the halifax group) after writing them letters about his situation they advised him to sell quickly before he was repossessed. and then charged him this huge amount for exiting. is this legal? are there any templates to get this money back?

dunstonh

elliewild wrote: »

My dad recently sold the family home and was charged an early repayment fee of £3,000. he was signed off sick and could no longer keep up mortgage repayments with birmingham and midshires (part of the halifax group) after writing them letters about his situation they advised him to sell quickly before he was repossessed. and then charged him this huge amount for exiting. is this legal? are there any templates to get this money back?

Totally legal and fair. Your dad entered into a contract with a special deal and tie in. If you repay the mortgage early into the deal there is an early repayment charge. These are disclosed on the contract agreed by your dad.

He was perhaps looking at the lesser of two evils. Repossession would have cost a lot more.

Sue_Birmingham

I paid off my mortgage with the Cheltenham & Gloucester in full in January 2007, paying a mortgage exit fee of £225.
I contacted them by telephone yesterday. They couldn't have been more helpful and as a result I shall have nearly £170 going back into my Lloyds current account within 7 days !
Thanks Martin !!:j

caroline999999

We moved house and ported a C&G mortgage to the new property in 2005. Wasn't sure whether we had paid an exit fee on the initial account, but my statement described the transaction as a new advance for the new property, so thought it was worth a try.

One quick call to C&G and the overpayment of £45 (plus £8 interest) is being transferred into our bank account!
Total of £118 reclaimed from C&G and Northern Rock!!! :j

johnhom

I was charged £192 redemption fee by Woolwich in 2004 when I switched my mortgage. Using the phone number in the table for Barclays/Woolwich, I quoted my account number and they said that I should have paid £65 (I didn't know what it was). They refunded me £151 which comprised of the difference plus interest. The call took just 5-10 minutes. Make sure you have your current bank account details as the transfer is only via BACS.

The best bit about this is getting your money back from the banks instead of it being the other way around! Fantastic!

JamesF2

Spread the word - tell all your friends. I changed mortage back in 2004. I phoned Woolwich yesterday was on hold for ages (but an 08000 number). I tried again later in the day and got straight through. They asked for the account number, names, property address etc. and a few minutes later told me the £195 I had paid should have been £95. So £100 refund plus £14 interest on it's way to my account in 4-5 working days.
The quickest £100 I've ever earnt in my life - thanks Martin :j

Will try Birmingham Midshires next week!

James

fluffycheeseball

I had no documents about my mortgage - I wasn't even sure what year we completed it in but I sent a letter off to Northern Rock a couple of weeks ago and I paid £110 into my bank today!:T Many Thanks for the advice

NC01

I used Martins template and sent to Nationwide I didnt have any ref numbers just sent my name and DOB and my partners and I received a letter back stating I was due a £35 refund, I tried to contest this but they sent leaflets back stating they did not have to but again offered the £35 so I signed the declaration and am awaiting a cheque, thanks Martin £35 for the price of a stamp..