NEW Mortgage Exit Fees Discussion

Gadgetmad

Martin

Your previous advice and information allowed us to reclaim around £700 worth of bank charges from 1st Direct and Abbey. My wife found a mortgage completion statement from Abbey National that included an entry:

Product Related Charge of £3220

when we switched to Bank of Scotland. I am not sure if this counts as a mortgage exit fee or not. The statement states that this charge may be waived or reduced if a new mortgage is taken out with Abbey National.

Marc.

MarkyMarkD

comet71 wrote: »

We took out our first northern rock mortage over 3 years ago on a fixed rate deal for 2 years with no tie in. Just before the end of the 2 years they wrote to us to to review our mortgage deal and offer us a new one. This review cost us £250.00, we took out a new fixed rate deal over 5 years and this also cost us £695 admin fees. Is a mortgage review fee the same as an exit fee? as we had to pay this to leave our old mortgage with them to take the new deal with them!! Can we claim back the £250?

NO. A mortgage review fee is NOT an exit fee; it's a fee to allow you to take a new product. Northern Rock are confusing people by stating (to more than one person on MSE) that it's a fee to exit the old mortgage - it is NOT and therefore it's not claimable. It's no different to any other product fee.

The reason NR pretend that it's a fee to exit your old deal is because they want to claim they are offering the same deals to new customers as existing borrowers - in fact, existing borrowers pay £250 more as they have to pay the review fee on top of the product fee.

mayb_2

"The reason NR pretend that it's a fee to exit your old deal is because they want to claim they are offering the same deals to new customers as existing borrowers - in fact, existing borrowers pay £250 more as they have to pay the review fee on top of the product fee."

If they tell you it is a fee to exit the mortgage and do not call it anything else then it is an exit fee surely? I would be tempted to pursue it with Northern Rock so that they put it in writing to you that this was not an exit fee and then challenge them on that basis. Was there not some ruling on offering existing customers the same deals as new ones MarkyMarkD?

If you are not happy with the response from your lender the FSA tell me you can apply to the Ombudsman for a ruling on this.

MarkyMarkD

No, there is no ruling about offering existing customers the same deals as new ones. Some lenders (most now, to be honest) do this; others (mainly Abbey now and some of the smaller building societies IIRC) do not. It's up to them.

Whilst I understand your point mayb, and it's an interesting angle, it really isn't an exit fee because it's NOT being paid on redemption. There's absolutely no way the MEAF ruling from the FSA can apply unless the mortgage is being redeemed. The MEAF ruling clearly states that the MEAF is the amount payable ON REDEMPTION.

ama3050

MSE_Martin wrote: »

This discussion relates to Martin's updated

Mortgage Fees Article
(see old discussion thread here)

To discuss or ask a question about the article: click reply

To report your experiences go to the Mortgage Exit Fees successes and failures thread


Extra Note - We have had lots of comments about what is and isn't included as a MEAF. The article has been updated to include the following text:

What a MEAF isn't.... don't get it confused

This is a strict ruling and only applies to exit fees. Application fees and others that are paid when originally getting the mortgage aren't included.

Also while MEAFs sound similar to ‘early repayment fees', commonly known as 'redemption penalties' again they're not the same thing. Early repayment fees are charged if you repay or switch mortgage during a special deal, such as a fixed or discount rate (see the Mortgage Guide / Remortgage Guide for details) whereas exit fees apply at all times.

For full details, see the Mortgage Fees Reclaiming article.

Has anyone had any luck with mortgage exit fees from Verso, now taken over by Platform mortgages. They charged me £135 exit fees and £50 deeds fees. They have only offered me a refund of £35. I have wrote them a second letter asking them to increase the refund and am waiting for a response. Thanks

MelBean

Have just received a cheque today for 220 pounds from Alliance and Leciester a refund of the difference between the unacceptable hike in price of MEAF from 2001 to 2004 when we redeemed our mortgage. Thanks MSE for sound advice a good result for the price of a stamp.

amberrh

I had a mortgage with C&G back in 2000 with my ex husband then we remortgaged in 2002 with Nationwide I think! We split and sold up and paid massive redemption fee (which I know I cannot claim back).I cant find any of our mortgage paperwork except have got the account number for one Im sure.How do I go about/would I be able to write to the companies in regard to getting the paperwork back and finding out about the MEAF charges as Im sure we got stung when we paid off the mortgage! Any advice appreciated! Thanks.

almond

amberrh wrote: »

I had a mortgage with C&G back in 2000 with my ex husband then we remortgaged in 2002 with Nationwide I think! We split and sold up and paid massive redemption fee (which I know I cannot claim back).I cant find any of our mortgage paperwork except have got the account number for one Im sure.How do I go about/would I be able to write to the companies in regard to getting the paperwork back and finding out about the MEAF charges as Im sure we got stung when we paid off the mortgage! Any advice appreciated! Thanks.

hi
all I did was send the template letter stating account no, done this wednesday got the cheque yesterday from leeds, but my problem is
they sent it in joint names so I need to write back asking for them to
sort it out.

TREACLE1961

Hi Can Anyone Help Me Please,
Q1.can I Claim From The Principality B.s They Are Based In Wales?
Q2,can I Get A Copy Of My Final Contract With The Britannia Bs (they Tell Me That The Fee They Charged Me Is The Same As The Fee Quoted When I Took Out The Mortgage)not That I Don't Trust Them.thanks

EverDecreasingCircles

We have just completed a remortgage from C&G to Northern Rock. C&G are still charging their exit fee fo £225 (at 14th March) so I'm off to telephone them...

Jen