mortgage advisor failing to return cheque

piltonvet

a few weeks ago a mortgage advisor came round to discuss new deal with a different lender.
agreed to move lenders and fee was 250 quid for him to do all the work.
rand my existing lender to explain i had found a better deal than the one they offered originally ,they then offered me a better deal than the advisor had found ,so rang him to say id changed my mind .
he`d already banked the cheque but said he would return it in a few days, although he didnt have to return the cheque??
to my mind he had done nothing to earn it as of yet.
been two weeks now ,hes been away apparently ,got hold of him again on wed and said he would sort it out as he`d just got back, and he`d just sent a relpy to my email which i didnt get.

whats the next line of action to take
any advice would be great

:beer:

dunstonh

he`d already banked the cheque but said he would return it in a few days, although he didnt have to return the cheque??

He cant return that cheque. He has to wait for yours to clear and he will then send you one of his cheques.

to my mind he had done nothing to earn it as of yet.

Depends on his agreement. It is not unusual to only get a part refund.

piltonvet

cheque cleared last week

GMS

What did the Initial Disclosure Document say regarding fees? Did you sign a fee agreement?

If fees were payable up front and non refundable then you have no right to get the money back. If they were refundable or payable at a certain point i.e upon completion or production of offer etc then you may be entitled to a refund.

If you were not given an IDD then this may be a point to 'negotiate' a refund as you should have been provided with this (assuming a residential mortgage)

bigmatt1174

What GMS has put is spot on - all depends on his IDD - if he gave you one of these and you are not sure which doc it is then look for a key Facts Logo in the corner on the first page - there will be a section on fees and this will also state when the fee is payable and what the fee is payable for.

If the money was only due on completion (but guessing that this is not the case) then you can ask for the money back.

If you still do not get any satisfaction from the advisor then you need to implement the complaints process and to be honest what has happened so far would instigate a complaint under the FSA definition of a complaint.

If he is part of a network (this is easy to identify - on the IDD it will have something along the lines of ABC Mortgages is an authorised representative of XXXXX which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority) in the last but one section of the IDD.

If no IDD has been given this is not right and you need to ask for one ASAP so you have contact details for his firm and how he operates.

Cheers

Matt

piltonvet

i have no documents at all

magpiecottage

Who is the firm involved?