NEW Mortgage Exit Fees Discussion

MARTIMAN

mrs_bunny wrote: »

can any MSE help??? Have been offered £44 from Abbey for mortgage which ran from July 93 to Dec 05. They state the exit fee would have been £99, although it says on several sites that Abbey put fee up from £99 to £225 in May 2005. Are they trying to diddle me or what ?? ps have no paperwork to check amount - are they really always honest in the amount they tell you you paid??

My mortgage with the Abbey was from 2002 to 2005 Dec, & I received £130 from them.

heligo

Hello again Everyone,

I have just spoken to Barclays regarding my soon-to-be-redeemed mortgage, and they point out that my contract probably stipulates a variable MEAF, (and indeed it does - "...an administration fee will be charged according to the Company's tariff current at the time of repayment, currently £150"...- this in 1999).

Does this mean I'm stuck with the £275 they currently charge?

I've read through every post, and this doesn't sem to be mentioned anywhere else.....

Thanks for any help - this is a really useful forum

regards/H

MarkyMarkD

No, heligo. You should get refunded down to £150.

mrnomoneybags

I am about to move away from NORTHERN ROCK and phone about the £250 Exit fee i was told it was on my paperwork from 2005 and it stands as is.

BUT the lady told me that i can pay my mortgage up all except £1 then pay them £90 to look after the deeds ....... then i can ask for the deeds back when ever i like ........ thus not paying the exit fee.

Anybody else heard of this.

thanks

-Tom

Noz

Similar schemes exist with other lenders, I don't know NR's exact costings but that does sound plausible

welnik

I do love Martin Lewis! I have saved so much money and made a load to from reading the helpful stuff on this file.

Sent off a letter to Halifax as I redeemed my mortgage with them last year. Couldnt find my original offer of mortgage or any info so I guessed at a figure to see what would happen.

10 days later and I have a letter which is worded in an interesting manner

"The fees we charge were detailed in the information which accompanied your mortgage offer. This information also explained how we are able to vary the fees charged in certain circumstances. As a gesture of goodwill I would like to reduce your fee to £75.00 which was the fee applicable when you took out your mortgage"

They have then asked me to sign to say I am willing to accept their offer of £100. Which obviously I am.

Interesting comments though!

cheers martin!

Wel

Marky_Mark_5

I'm a little confused as to whether I am in a position to reclaim unfair charges. Last year I switched my mortgage (within Skipton Building Society) from a flexible to fixed rate product.

When I switched in March '06 I was charged an early repayment charge of £4834 and a 'completion fee' of £449. Thought nothing of it at the time and it wasn't explained fully to me (although of course I did sign a contract authorising the switch)...in all my naivety I was desperate to switch away as quickly as possible from the flexible product which had crept up to a whopping 6.69%.

When I first applied for the flexible mortgage in October '04 I was charged a £399 'completion fee'.

What are these completion fees? Why would I be charged twice, and why is there a £100 difference? Lastly, if I do bring this up with the Building Society, do you have any tips for approaching them by phone?

welnik

Marky_Mark wrote: »

I'm a little confused as to whether I am in a position to reclaim unfair charges. Last year I switched my mortgage (within Skipton Building Society) from a flexible to fixed rate product.

When I switched in March '06 I was charged an early repayment charge of £4834 and a 'completion fee' of £449. Thought nothing of it at the time and it wasn't explained fully to me (although of course I did sign a contract authorising the switch)...in all my naivety I was desperate to switch away as quickly as possible from the flexible product which had crept up to a whopping 6.69%.

When I first applied for the flexible mortgage in October '04 I was charged a £399 'completion fee'.

What are these completion fees? Why would I be charged twice, and why is there a £100 difference? Lastly, if I do bring this up with the Building Society, do you have any tips for approaching them by phone?

You need to check the paperwork you received and see what the £4834 is actually for. I was under the impression that an exit fee is when you leave the lender and go elsewhere. Could be wrong though. I had a Halifax mortgage and when I came to the end of the product I paid a fee for a new product and that was all.

Noz

Marky_Mark wrote: »

I'm a little confused as to whether I am in a position to reclaim unfair charges. Last year I switched my mortgage (within Skipton Building Society) from a flexible to fixed rate product.

When I switched in March '06 I was charged an early repayment charge of £4834 and a 'completion fee' of £449. Thought nothing of it at the time and it wasn't explained fully to me (although of course I did sign a contract authorising the switch)...in all my naivety I was desperate to switch away as quickly as possible from the flexible product which had crept up to a whopping 6.69%.

When I first applied for the flexible mortgage in October '04 I was charged a £399 'completion fee'.

What are these completion fees? Why would I be charged twice, and why is there a £100 difference? Lastly, if I do bring this up with the Building Society, do you have any tips for approaching them by phone?

Early repayment charges are not MEAFs and can not be reclaimed.

The 'completion fees' sound to me like another term for arrangements fees - the value of which depends on what product you choose which would explain the £100 difference as the fees relate to two difference products - if this is the case, they can not also be reclaimed.

MarkyMarkD

Marky_Mark (my slightly abbreviated namesake)

Noz is quite right. The reason you've paid two completion fees is that they are product related and you have had two products.

Your logic behind paying the £4834 penalty to switch products honestly has to be flawed. If you chose the flexible product in the first place for good reasons, paying a HUGE amount to get out of it into a fixed rate is madness. If you needed certainty, you should have fixed your rate in the first place.

And now that you've fixed, you've lost the flexibility you thought was worthwhile in the first place.

How long were you tied in for, AFTER March 2006, and what rate are you paying on the fix (and till when) and what rate would you be paying on the flexible mortgage?