Mortgage Exit Fees successes and failures

BigDave81

BigDave81 wrote: »

Wahey, cheque turned up from Abbey for £126 on 16/10/09 :beer:
Not a bad turn around at all so thank you MSE!!

Just need to wait for Northern Rock to reply now

Finally got a reply from Northern Rock but to be fair I did query other costs with them as per my previous posts and they sent a 4 page letter in reply.

All queries addressed brilliantly, each query outlined, copies of contract and terms and fees included and I am very happy with it all, they certainly above and beyond in this case.

They refunded me the difference in MEAF from contract and that actually paid which was £35 and also agreed to refund £25 'sundries' charge. The charge related to paying by cheque for first couple of payments and not direct debit but this was their error at the time.

All in all full and final settlement of £60 refund from 2001 mortgage.

So thanks to MSE for £186 I never expected, a very nice result:T:money:

argyle02

Halifax charged me MEAF of £175 - on terms document it said some thing like "a small / reasonable administrative charge would be made" when exiting the mortgage even after the tie in period. I had to call them and write two letters before they relented and refunded it as I pointed out that it wasnt fair to assign an arbitrary charge that they could basically make whatever they wanted to cover the cost of them writing a prewritten letter, or pressing a button on a computer. Funny that they ended up giving the whole amount back - if it had been a reasonable charge like £25 I would have left it - shows what they get for their greed lol!

yrenethbach

I followed Martin's instructions and requested a refund from Abbey regarding my MEAF and received a letter today stating that because I had taken and addition loan to my mortgage and the terms specified a Mortgage Repayment Fee of £225. Are they right in charging this or are they trying go get out of paying a refund???

MarkyMarkD

They are right.

dunstonh

yrenethbach wrote: »

I followed Martin's instructions and requested a refund from Abbey regarding my MEAF and received a letter today stating that because I had taken and addition loan to my mortgage and the terms specified a Mortgage Repayment Fee of £225. Are they right in charging this or are they trying go get out of paying a refund???

The FSA ruling is that you should only be charged the exit fee that was agreed when you purchased the mortgage unless you bought another deal after that in which case those terms apply. So, they are right in your case.

gilligansyle

This was in the weekly email a few weeks ago
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/mortgages/2009/10/mass-refunds-due-for-thousands-of-gmac-mortgage-customers

Today I have received a letter, as a previous GMAC customer and have to contact them to verify my identity and they will send me £108.54

Result!! Thanks MSE

tasty_tango

I sent a letter to the Bradford & Bingley after l read Martin's advice about MEAF's..

I couldn't remember anything about our mortgage nor did l have the reference number, however, it has only taken the B&B just over a week to respond to my request and they have today sent me a refund of £125 after charging us £200 initially..Thus we have now paid an amended MEAF of £75..

Thanks Martin your a star!!!!

Sassy1_2

I had a mortgage with Northern Rock approx 5 or 6 years ago but had no information or paperwork remaining about it, not even the account number. Anyway thought I would give it a shot claiming back my MEAF so I sent the template letter on 15th October with my old address in place of the account number and added the figures which Martin had listed as the various charges Northern Rock have had over the years - £75 as the contract agreement and that I had paid £250 by the time I closed the account (presuming that the figures would more than likely be incorrect in my case and Northern Rock would be able to confirm what my MEAF was and what I actually paid).

Anyway I didn't get any response so on the 12th November I sent them another letter refering to my previous letter with a copy inclosed. Shortly afterwards I received a letter from them saying that they never received my first letter but would now look into my complaint.

On Saturday 28th November I received another letter from them advising that they didn't have a record of what MEAF I had paid and in order to settle my complaint they would as a goodwill gesture offer me a settlement of £250 - result!!!! Posted back my acceptance form on Monday so am now looking forward to receiving my cheque.....so glad I put them figures down now instead of just asking them to confirm what I had paid else they would have just fobbed me off with a sorry we no longer have that information...no doubt. Now I will be £250 richer!!! Cheers so much Martin:-)

hypnobabe

I sent a letter this monday to Dunfermline Building society, and although they were satisfied that the fee of £199 reflected the work done, they refunded £149 today, 'in the spirit of fairness' as the fee at time of mortgaging was £50.
I wouldnt have known to claim if not for this site, so thankyou. Carol

somethingspecial

I have been receiving the Martin's e-mails for a few weeks now but had not come across anything that I would have used, especially as some of the offers do not apply in Northern Ireland. As a keen money saver I would always read the e-mails in the hope that there would be something of interest and today I was not dissappointed.

We remortgaged in 2005 and changed from the Halifax to the Nationwide. So I rang the number listed for the Halifax gave them my mortgage details and was told I had overpaid £100, which they will refund straight into our account.

So one simple phone call has netted £100 - thanks Martin!:j