Leaving current mortgage: exit fee & interest charge

gilj

Hi all,

I am in the following position.
Before moving my mortgage I did request (telephone) confirmation about the leaving charges. They told me none applied after the end of my 2 year tracker. Also I did review my mortgage offer and the "exit fee" does not appear anywhere.

Right before completion my new-to-be-lender informed me that Abbey added additional charges to the pending amount of the mortgage. The fees are:
- £ 225: exit fee
- Interest charge for the days beetwen the last payment and the new completion date.

Abbey claims they need 10 working days to clear payments. This forced me to set up the new completion date 10 days after my last payment. We are in 2007 and computers work much faster than that. I think it is a cheeky way to charge me for those extra 10 days.

I find these two charges unfair and moreover I was never told about them by Abbey when I was a "happy customer".

I would appreciate any comments/feedbacks on how to get round, if possible, those two unfair fees (exit + interest).

Many thanks in advance.

Regards

UK007BullDog

Well somewhere on your offer letter will be a note about exit fees. It might not be as much as £225 but they will be on there. Some people have fought and won them over this fee.

But there will be a mention of this fee on the offer letter or the key facts you have received before taking out this mortgage.

All lenders charge this fee.

Check out some of the other posts on this site about the fees and how they claim them back.

gilj

Thanks for the answer.

The booklet they sent me when I signed the mortgage does not include this term.
I was told by Abbey's customer services that in later booklets it appears but in any case they do not specify the amount, they just say that a fee may apply.
I have been reviewing the posts but it seems there's no definitive answer.

What about the "extra interest" charge? Any ideas?

Many thanks

UK007BullDog

Well if you can claim the fee back then they would have to ignore the extra interest.

They should have told you right away of this fee to give you a chance to pay it. Also first time I have ever heard of them charging interest. maybe a new way of ripping off customers that leave?

gilj

My last payment to Abbey was done on 25th february. They claim their systems don't recognise the payment until 10 workings after.

Initially I choose the 26th as the date the new lender would transfer the funds and close Abbeys mortage, but I was told by Abbey that until 11th March they wouldn't know whether I had paid the last payment (25th Feb). So I had to change the date to 12th March. And they are charging interests from 25/02 to 12/03.

Whatever I do they charge me interests?

Am I being teased?

Regards