Was my £299 re-mortgage "admin" fee unfair?

emma_and_russ

I started a mortgage with the Woolwich in the year 2000. About two years later I decided that I would like to change to their "Open Plan" mortgage instead. They charged me £299 as an "Administration fee" for transferring the mortgage - this was not an early redemption fee. If I remember correctly, this charge didn't apply to new customers. I wrote a letter of complaint at the time saying that I couldn't understand why the admin fee was so high. They replied saying that this was their standard fee for remortgaging for existing customers. I didn't pursue this any further and I don't think I've kept any of these letters. Have I now got any chance of getting any of the £299 back?

toonfish

not a hope in hell.

david29dpo

the bandwagon is full of people trying to claim back fees which are illegal.you have no change trying with one which is legal.get a grip!

emma_and_russ

david29dpo wrote:

the bandwagon is full of people trying to claim back fees which are illegal.you have no change trying with one which is legal.get a grip!

Thanks very much for your reply. I was only asking a genuine question. There was no need for the sarcastic comment. By the way, you might want to learn how to use grammar correctly.

fh97

I had the same issue when i moved mortgages with the same company. I find the £299 fee excessive to say the least.

david29dpo

sometime one has to cruel to be kind.

brasso

david29dpo wrote: »

sometime one has to cruel to be kind.

Perhaps, but this wasn't one of those occasions. There's no justification for your response.

The OP's question was perfectly reasonable. It doesn't cost a financial institution £299 to update a database, which is essentially what this switch in financial products amounts to.

"Administration fee" indeed. It's nonsense.

steffy66_2

i am terribly confused about these mortgage exit fees.Can someone advise me please? My last mortgage although I exited from it early the final fees were broken down below so not sure if I can reclaim any of them back??
In addition to the early repayment charge the following applied:
Redemption charge £120
Sundry Debits £30
the items all came under the heading of Redemption figure
Any advice would be great
Cheers

doitmyself

brasso wrote: »

Perhaps, but this wasn't one of those occasions. There's no justification for your response.

The OP's question was perfectly reasonable. It doesn't cost a financial institution £299 to update a database, which is essentially what this switch in financial products amounts to.

"Administration fee" indeed. It's nonsense.

I asked the same question essentially on a diff thread re. CC bal xfer handling fees and was answered repeatedly and rather tediously, even though it wasn't my question, that they can charge whatever they like. To that extent OP be thankful you were only charged £299. Furthermore there's presumably a (perceived) benefit greater to you than the £299 cost to re-mortgage else you wouldn't have done it.
Re. the fee for re-mortgaging not being applicable to new customers, it wouldn't apply, by definition.
Agree, as another poster here suggested I think that the bandwagon is getting really silly now. I would refer poster #8 to poster #2

brasso

doitmyself wrote: »

Agree, as another poster here suggested I think that the bandwagon is getting really silly now.

Depends which "bandwagon" you're referring to.

The A & L charged me £295 for no other reason than seeing out the term of my mortgage deal and moving to another provider. I don't regard that as a fair charge. They've provided me with no service whatsoever in exchange for what is a very large fee. If someone wants me to give them three hundred quid, fair enough, but y'know, I really wouldn't mind getting something in return. Is that unreasonable? I don't think so, and I've asked them to repay it.

What I'm not so keen on is people claiming back thousands of pounds from banks in charges. Admittedly, I've heard some horror stories about banks charging £30+ per day for several days in a row for the same unpaid DD -- I can't defend that. But some people just seem totally inept at handling their personal finances. Anyone who allows themselves to be charged over £4000 (as some claimants are stating) without ever thinking "hang on, perhaps I'm doing something wrong here..." deserve little sympathy.

These are totally different types of grievance.

doitmyself

Depends which "bandwagon" you're referring to.

The 'lets claim everything back' bandwagon alluded to by david29dpo in post #3

The A & L charged me £295 for no other reason than seeing out the term of my mortgage deal and moving to another provider. I don't regard that as a fair charge. They've provided me with no service whatsoever in exchange for what is a very large fee.

How can you say you have received no service whatsoever? Is your mortgage, almost certainly the single most costly and important financial commitment you have transferred properly and accurately? If so you've received an excellent service.

If someone wants me to give them three hundred quid, fair enough, but y'know, I really wouldn't mind getting something in return. Is that unreasonable? I don't think so, and I've asked them to repay it.

And they will say no, quite rightly. Do you expect to pay nothing here or did you somehow calculate an 'appropriate' fee and detail this in your refund request?

What I'm not so keen on is people claiming back thousands of pounds from banks in charges.

Me neither brasso, but you have had more from A&L in respect of a service than their customers who went a few quid overdrawn and then got charged £30 for a letter telling them so.
The rest of what you said in your last para I concur with totally but that's a different issue (as you said) and we're already off track, apologies to the OP.