NEW Mortgage Exit Fees Discussion

Noz

Peter,

By all means put in a claim but your mortgage was taken out/paid off before the large increases in MEAFs occurred. You'll be look at a very small refund if anything at all.

kernow.man_3

Noz wrote: »

Peter,

By all means put in a claim but your mortgage was taken out/paid off before the large increases in MEAFs occurred. You'll be look at a very small refund if anything at all.

Thanks Noz :beer:

NICW_2

I'm trying to pay off my mortgage with the Yorkshire and they've quoted me £100 "Redemption Admin Fee" and then they've informed me that there are "some legal formalities to be carried out on the redemption" then I can either do it myself, instruct a solicitor or pay them another £100 fee.

My question is that surely the £100 Admin Fee is to do this? If not, then how do they justify charging £100 for admin?

Anyone any views?

malcolmd_2

Hi
Can I ask - how far back can you clain back Mortgage Exit Fees?

itsbeef

I seem to remember 6 years as being the agreed time span that we can challenge the MEAF charges.

Noz

itsbeef wrote: »

I seem to remember 6 years as being the agreed time span that we can challenge the MEAF charges.

Legally that's probably true but lenders are paying out refunds from before that time, however any refunds from then are likely to be very small

astralbee

Noz wrote: »

Legally that's probably true but lenders are paying out refunds from before that time, however any refunds from then are likely to be very small

Yes, there has been some discussion (and some confusion) on this thread about legal and moral matters concerning MEAFS. But surprisingly it seems that neither the lenders nor the customers are rigidly sticking to one stand or the other. Some forum contributers (presumably also consumers) have tried to tell me that I should only expect what I am legally entitled to; meanwhile one of my former lenders appear to have paid me back what I was morally entitled to.

I took an A&L mortgage out in August 2004, when the MEAF had already risen to £295. However, after I lodged a complaint they returned £100 of this because they have been unable to justify their rise from £195 in Febuary 2004 to the £295 just 6 months later. Legally, I wasnt entitled to anything because I had agreed to pay £295! I still think £195 is daylight robbery, as Halifax just gave me a refund that effectively lowered their MEAF to £50, so A&L are no saints. Still... they could have taken the legal hard line, yet didn't.

It seems that so long as you know your rights and are prepared to pursue the refund, you will get at least what you are legally entitled to - and possibly more.

Darrell
:rotfl:

The_Angel_by_Default

I phoned the Halifax regarding the £175 Redemption Admin Fee. Their answer was "we quoted you £175 and you are not entitled to anything back". I know that some of you have had luck in obtaining a refund. Can anybody advise me the next course of action? I was under the impression that everybody was entitled to a refund if they were overcharged? If you were advised of the fee first does that negate your entitlement?

Noz

The_Angel_by_Default wrote: »

I phoned the Halifax regarding the £175 Redemption Admin Fee. Their answer was "we quoted you £175 and you are not entitled to anything back". I know that some of you have had luck in obtaining a refund. Can anybody advise me the next course of action? I was under the impression that everybody was entitled to a refund if they were overcharged? If you were advised of the fee first does that negate your entitlement?

If it is true that your contract stated a £175 fee which was then charged then you have no reason to request a refund as you were not overcharged. Have I understood your circumstances correctly?

astralbee

The_Angel_by_Default wrote: »

I phoned the Halifax regarding the £175 Redemption Admin Fee. Their answer was "we quoted you £175 and you are not entitled to anything back". I know that some of you have had luck in obtaining a refund. Can anybody advise me the next course of action? I was under the impression that everybody was entitled to a refund if they were overcharged? If you were advised of the fee first does that negate your entitlement?

Firstly, is a "redemption admin fee" the same as a MEAF? Just check we are talking about the same thing here.

I got £50 of my MEAF back from Halifax because they quoted me £50 at the start but charged me £100. This was all sorted out in a 5 minute phone call.

So you weren't technically overcharged. BUT...what I have learned, both from this experience successfully getting refunds from 2 past lenders and also from some heated discussions here, is that you should usually get what you are legally entitled to, but you may get more.

The lenders are only obliged to pay back unfairly obtained charges, or else justify the raise. So if they charged you what they quoted at the start of the mortgage then you are not legally entitled to anything. However, if they charged you more than another customer around the same time then perhaps you could argue that they need to justify the higher charge.

I took my mortgage out with Halifax in July 2000 and left in August 2004. That means that they were charging £50 in July 2000 and £100 in August 2004, but that might apply to my particular mortgage product and most lenders have a range of products. Your particular mortgage may have specified a higher charge.

If you are definately talking about a MEAF, and you left the mortage with Halifax inbetween the dates I just mentioned (or you can compare it with someone else's Halifax mortage around the right time) then why not ask them to justify the £175 charge, given that they were charging other customers $X amount to exit their mortgage. Before anyone jumps on this suggestion and tells me that this argument holds no legal weight, I would just like to mention that I got £100 back from A&L even though they charged me what they quoted me! So some lenders are clearly aiming to please their customers (or at least claw back some credibility from the whole MEAF debacle).

Really hope this is of some help to you.

Darrell
:rotfl: