Mortgage Exit Fees successes and failures

OLDBILL_2

I have tried for a £90 refund from Nationwide for a Mortgage Exit Fee... refused on the grounds it is a fair fee and clearly stated in the documentation. Is there any comeback to that?? I used the template letter given on this site - very disappointed!

MarkyMarkD

Clearly not. There is never any case for a refund if the charge made on redemption equals the amount on your offer documentation.

The "more militant" approach set out in the article is based on tosh logic. An MEAF is not a penalty for redeeming early; it's a charge for redeeming whenever that happens. As such, if the lender charges the amount agreed up-front, they are quite correct.

dunstonh

I have tried for a £90 refund from Nationwide for a Mortgage Exit Fee... refused on the grounds it is a fair fee and clearly stated in the documentation. Is there any comeback to that??

You paid the fee you agreed to pay. So, no. There is no comeback. Nationwide have done exactly what the FSA said they should do.

I used the template letter given on this site - very disappointed!

You should be happy that your lender applied the rules correctly. Something is very wrong with society if people prefer to get compensation for rule breaches rather than have a firm deal with them correctly.

MarkyMarkD

dunstonh wrote: »

You should be happy that your lender applied the rules correctly. Something is very wrong with society if people prefer to get compensation for [strike]rule breaches[/strike] nothing rather than have a firm deal with them correctly.

My suggested reword?

32greeneyes

Success!! Used your template to send a letter to A & L for mortgage exit fees charged in Dec 2007, was charged £95 and current rate is £295. As per the template I asked for the difference plus 4 years interest which was something like £260? Received a letter from Santander (which they are now) and they have refunded into my santander current account £433 which is the full £295 back and 5 years interest!!!! Definately worth the 2nd class stamp and 2 minutes to do the letter. Very Happy Customer!

RamboRodders

hi all,

i never thought this would work, but i rang halifax up about the morgage i settled on over 3 years ago after my divorce, had the morgage a while and had remorgaged a few times, anyay i said i beleived they had over charged me, awomen said they'd look into it, never heard anything for 3 weeks was about to ring them, when yesterday 2 cheques came through the post for £500 :j:rotfl:happy days

thanks for the advice!! i recomend trying this

Di39

Hi, had only heard about this fron MSE, but thought it was worth asking Halifax about fees paid during 3 mortgage 'exits' - in 2005, 2007 and 2010. I am no longer a Halifax customer and could only quickly lay my hands on the latter two roll numbers, but rang anyway and followed Martin's advice from this website: said I'd like to reclaim MEAFs, as per FSA ruling and asked them to confirm what I'd been charged and then refund it. Halifax confirmed all 3 roll numbers to me and said I'd paid £115 and £175, but nothing in 2010 (which digging out my 2010 paperwork confirmed) - and then said that they would escalate to complaints dept to review and contact me back. At 9am next day the complaints person rang, apologised for my inconvenience, etc., confirmed I'd actually been charged two lots of £175 and that they would send me a cheque for the full £350...which arrived yesterday (maybe 7 days later?).

Reading about some other people's experiences here, I couldn't fault the response from Halifax...which is odd as I can't remember them being so great when I was a customer for over a decade

Good luck to others pursuing this (i've told everyone i know!). I'm delighted with my windfall :T and big big thanks to the MSE team :A

Pug4

In a nutshell, these people have offered me the difference between the £150 Banks MEAF and the £195 charged when the account was closed back in 2007 (£45) Their take on the calculated interest over the period goes something on the lines of, because theirs is a discretionary offer, they won't include any interest charges that may have incurred - do you reckon this is fair? (I don't, and I have to respond soon)

dunstonh

Pug4 wrote: »

In a nutshell, these people have offered me the difference between the £150 Banks MEAF and the £195 charged when the account was closed back in 2007 (£45) Their take on the calculated interest over the period goes something on the lines of, because theirs is a discretionary offer, they won't include any interest charges that may have incurred - do you reckon this is fair? (I don't, and I have to respond soon)

Their response matches the requirements the FSA set out. So, it is fair and accurate. If you dont like it you can go to the FOS and wait 8-18 months for them to decide. They may tell them to add interest but is 8% on £45 really worth that sort of delay and is your time worth it?

busybee100

Had an offer of £150 from the Halifax. They say they won't refund the interest because it wasn't a mistake! Personally I think thats rubbish they deliberately took more than they should so they should pay the interest as well. 7 years at 8% on the difference is another £71.

Over to dunstonh