Mortgage Exit Fees successes and failures

Suewho0

I have had 3 mortgages (and exited on 2 of them). I couldn't remember the account details, but found references on old bank statements which were stored with my on line bank.

On the off chance I wrote to both of them, using the standard letter from this site and adapting it to suit the information I had.

Within a week I had 2 replies. Cheltenham and Gloucester said it was £250 when I took it out and I paid £250, so they did nothing wrong.

Northern Rock said it was £175 when I took it out and I paid £250 to exit. Very sorry, would like to pay me £250 in full and final settlement !!!! Of course I said yes please.

I didn't think I had a chance of getting anything because I had not kept any paperwork and could not remember what I had paid for anything. I chanced my arm and am now £250 better off.

Fantastic !

Steve_xx

Suewho0 wrote: »

Northern Rock said it was £175 when I took it out and I paid £250 to exit. Very sorry, would like to pay me £250 in full and final settlement !!!! Of course I said yes please.

I didn't think I had a chance of getting anything because I had not kept any paperwork and could not remember what I had paid for anything. I chanced my arm and am now £250 better off.

Fantastic !

I wonder how many other people that Northern Rock have relieved of a £75 excess for exiting their mortgage?

It is indeed bizarre that the appropriate regulatory authorities have not, as yet, forced the banks to look back over their customer exit agreements to ensure that overcharges are refunded.

MarkyMarkD

Eh?

Sue didn't say that the £250 was charged after the ruling. Presumably it wasn't. There is no obligation on any lender to go back before the ruling and send money out.

bigfer

I am about to pay off my offset mortgage with IF at the end of the year. I contacted IF to advise them that i would not be paying the mortgage exit fee of £140 on the basis that the original mortgage offer only refers to the 2001 T&C's.

IF said that the exit charges were specified in the accompanying rates leaflet sent with the offer. They probably were, but who keeps that?

I told them that since the sum was not mentioned in the offer or T&C's and no reference was made to the rates leaflet in the offer, they could kiss my dusty swingers.:cool:

I received a letter yesterday from IF saying that they were correct in enforcing the exit charges but as a gesture of goodwill blah blah blah they will not impose the £140 if i contact them before making the final payment.

Dead easy, two phone calls. Check your mortgage offer, not the quotation or confirmation letters. I bet there is no mention of the rates leaflet. Dunno why they don;t specify it in the offer as they seem to reference every other additional charge they can sting you for.

My dusty swingers remain available.....good luck:T

milliebear

can anyone tell me can you try to get back any money on a transfer fee. we are still with the same mortgage company(mansfiels) and when our 3 year deal was up we paid off half of the outstanding morgage and we were gharges £477 transfer fees plus £75redemption admin fees
can we get anything back would anyone know

MarkyMarkD

I don't understand what you mean by "transfer fee". Do you mean a product switch (in which case I don't understand why a redemption admin fee would be charged) or did you actually move house and port the mortgage to a new property (in which case, the redemption admin fee would logically be due, but not sure about "transfer fee")?

Bargainberyl_2

I read your artical today not more than half an hour ago, called the number you gave for the Halifax and couldn't believe it when he looked at my account and told me straight away I had been over charged by £60(4 years ago) and was putting it through to the finance dept to issue a cheque for me - NO PROBLEM ! I have to say thats a first not having to argue and he new exactly what i was talking about for a change!
Well done Halifax,- to all you out there just wondering ...
PICK UP THE PHONE!! :j

Bargainberyl_2

Just call up your motgage provider and they will tell if you have paid exit fees and if you were over charged or not- thats all that I did and it worked.

Lee123cats

Hi,
I wrote to Northern Rock about 2 lots exit fee's. They replied and said they would refund £250 for one of the mortgages as they can find no evidence of telling me about the fees, however, they will not refund the other £250 telling as the charge was fair. The paperwork I have says they would charge that amount if I repaid the mortgage early or switched to another mortgage. We did move home and stayed with them, however, borrowed more money and tied in for 3 years (as opposed to 2) Should I take the £250 and run or should I be fighting for the other £250?
Thanks

dunstonh

Should I take the £250 and run or should I be fighting for the other £250?

You are not entitled to the other £250. The FSA ruling was quite clear. You should pay the figure that was on the agreement at the time of that mortgage (or later purchased deal - whichever was last in cases you had multiple deals over the years).

So, if the offer said £250 and you paid £250 then there is no difference to refund. If it had said £100 and you paid £250 then you would get £150 back. Thats how it works.