Mortgage reclaim/Mis-sold mortgage

Fish80

Hi,

I have just received a call from Fusion Consumer Solutions. After giving them a few details they advised me that I have been over paying on my mortgage and I am probably owed £6,750+ currently.

The reason for this, they said, is that since 31st October 2004 the law has stated that customers need to be advised clearly of all extra charges. So when I chose to have the bank's fee added to my mortgage the bank should have, at that time, advised me that this fee will incur interest. So, for example, if the fee was £2000 and I added that to the mortgage that fee will end up being £47,000+.

This all sounds great. Then came the kicker that this will cost me £499 up front for them to proceed with the claim and WHEN I win, they seemed absolutely sure that I would, they will then take 30% of the £6,750+. I managed to knock them down to £99 up front and then £400 when I win. They say that this is a no win no fee claim so that if I don't win they will refund the £499 (£99 in my case).

Does anyone know if this is legitimate or if this is some kind of scam? They all seemed very legitimate and professional on the phone.

If this is real then does anyone know how hard it would be to claim this money myself by contacting the bank directly and/or going to the Ombudsman for help? I'm not really bothered about the up front fee, I'd happily pay that, it's just the 30% that I'd like to avoid. Seems quite a lot and would result in me only winning about £4,700 instead of £6,750.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

ILW

How can a £2,000 fee become £47,000?

Jimbo1976

I presume that you elected to add this fee to your loan, so your quote (KFI) will have shown the monthly cost of your mortgage (including the interest cost of your capitalised fee)

This would have been confirmed on your mortgage offer letter.

Did you imagine that your lender was giving you a £2000 interest free loan over 25 years?

If you genuinely feel that this was not disclosed and that you have been miss sold after checking your initial documentation then DO NOT go through a claims management company. Complain directly via the Financial Ombudsman Service. You will not have to pay any fees and you will get all of any compensation paid.

If you pay any money to a CMC IMHO you will spend the next 6 months chasing them whilst they fob you off with a never ending stream of excuses.

GMS

If you have £499 to waste then give it to charity. They will be grateful for it and you will feel better having put it to some use.

mrginge

Of course its a scam.
That bit of advice has cost you £200. Please give me your debit card details.

_Andy_

"Does anyone know if this is legitimate or if this is some kind of scam? They all seemed very legitimate and professional on the phone."

LOL!!!!

dunstonh

Mortgage reclaim/Mis-sold mortgage

You cant reclaim a mortgage. The FOS themselves have publicly said that even where a mortgage is miss-sold, they wont be getting their payments back.

After giving them a few details they advised me that I have been over paying on my mortgage and I am probably owed £6,750+ currently.

A random figure made up to entice you. It plays to your greed and is a standard tactic in advance fee fraud.

The reason for this, they said, is that since 31st October 2004 the law has stated that customers need to be advised clearly of all extra charges. So when I chose to have the bank's fee added to my mortgage the bank should have, at that time, advised me that this fee will incur interest. So, for example, if the fee was £2000 and I added that to the mortgage that fee will end up being £47,000+.

The rules changed in October 2004 for the sales of new mortgages and the disclosure requirements when buying a new mortgage. Was yours before or after this date?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with having the arrangement fees added to the mortgage. You should be told it would add interest. The KFI given out on post Oct 2004 cases should mention it. £2000 on a mortgage cannot turn into £47,000. At the most, about £7000 if you are not on a repayment mortgage and never make any interest payments

This all sounds great. Then came the kicker that this will cost me £499 up front for them to proceed with the claim and WHEN I win, they seemed absolutely sure that I would, they will then take 30% of the £6,750+. I managed to knock them down to £99 up front and then £400 when I win. They say that this is a no win no fee claim so that if I don't win they will refund the £499 (£99 in my case).

And that is the second stage of advance fee fraud. After you have your greed tickled by that 6750 they drop in that it costs you £499 up front. You pay the £499 thinking you are going to get £6750. When the money never arrives, you find the company has long gone and taken your £499 with it.

If this is real then does anyone know how hard it would be to claim this money myself by contacting the bank directly and/or going to the Ombudsman for help? I'm not really bothered about the up front fee, I'd happily pay that, it's just the 30% that I'd like to avoid. Seems quite a lot and would result in me only winning about £4,700 instead of £6,750.

Its a scam. There is nothing wrong with adding fees to mortgage. People do it every day. I did it on one of my own mortgage deals and paid it off over a year. It is normal. That said, since October 2004, it should be disclosed that you are paying interest on any fee added to the mortgage. So, check your paperwork. You wont get the fee wiped. You will get the interest wiped if you are one of those rare cases where it wasnt. If you check your mortgage statement you will find how much interest is charged on your fee as its normally in a sub account (e.g. account 99). If your fee was £500, then being charged interest of around £12-15 a year would be normal. If you had your mortgage for 5 years say then you would get around £70 refunded and you would need to pay the fee off now to prevent any more interest being added.

It is probable that you would also have to show you had the savings available to clear the fee rather than add it to mortgage.

They all seemed very legitimate and professional on the phone.

wouldnt be much of a scam if they didnt.

Thieftaker

I would err on the side of caution - a recently bereaved friend has paid this firm upfront by credit card following an unsolicited phone call.
Despite writing to cancel the contract within their cooling off period and on phoning what appears to be a busy call centre, and being promised a re-credit of the monies nothing has arrived back in my friend's account.
I have initiated enquiries to find out if their Ministry of Justice registration is valid....................

Let_Us_See

Greed and gullibilily - a fraudster's delight!



PS. Thieftaker do not hold your breath with MOJ and it should be possible to access their website and check registration yourself. In the past MOJ has been spineless and I suggest your best course of action would be to apply to credit card provider for return of fee.

dunstonh

Let_Us_See wrote: »

Greed and gullibilily - a fraudster's delight!



PS. Thieftaker do not hold your breath with MOJ and it should be possible to access their website and check registration yourself. In the past MOJ has been spineless and I suggest your best course of action would be to apply to credit card provider for return of fee.

As they said on Hustle many times, you cannot con an honest person. Greed and gullibility are needed for advance fee fraud to work.