Arrears charges - letters, phone calls etc

Chriscantrill

Hi

I have been in arrears on my mortgage with the Halifax on and off for a couple of years.

I do my very best to maintain when I can.

As the amount in arrears seems to go up with alarming regularity, even tho I keep paying, I suspect I am being charged per phone call and letter they issue. Their smallest charge is £35.00.

Please does anyone know if these charges are legal? It seems to me that they must be making a very large profit on each one at this level.

In addition, as I am often away from home, they seem to call me daily and I suspect charge me daily for the privilege whether they get to speak with me or not.

As the Halifax is a bank, can I reclaim these charges? This would enable me to actually get more upto date more easily.

Finally, they will not renegotiate my interest rate as the account is in arrears, is this normal?

many thanks for any suggestions

Chris

spurs_nut

Hi

I have been in arrears on my mortgage with the Halifax on and off for a couple of years.

I do my very best to maintain when I can.

Visit the debt free wannabe and tell them your situation

As the amount in arrears seems to go up with alarming regularity, even tho I keep paying, I suspect I am being charged per phone call and letter they issue. Their smallest charge is £35.00.

charges that will be in your contract. If you still have it best to look through now.

Please does anyone know if these charges are legal? It seems to me that they must be making a very large profit on each one at this level.

Yes they are legal. Unfair? Who can say. I would very much doubt you could claim these back unlike bank charges. I would say there is a lot more administration work involved chasing after mortgage debt than there is with going a few quid overdrawn.

In addition, as I am often away from home, they seem to call me daily and I suspect charge me daily for the privilege whether they get to speak with me or not.

Would it not make sense to sit down with the company and come to an arrangement to gets these arrears sorted out? I think that's what the halifax is trying to achieve by phoning while your always out.

As the Halifax is a bank, can I reclaim these charges? This would enable me to actually get more upto date more easily.

Rather than trying to reclaim these charges, go in and speak to them. Tell them to stop anymore charges and come to an agreement in paying back what you owe.

Finally, they will not renegotiate my interest rate as the account is in arrears, is this normal?

I can understand why they won't from a business point of view but this ain't going to help your problem? Going on to an interest only payment may be an option.

many thanks for any suggestions

best of luck

inmypocketnottheirs

Not correct spurs nut. These charges are just as illegal. Just because they are woven in to their terms and conditions does not make them acceptable.

Challenge these charges in exactly the same way as bank/credit cards. The fact that it is a mortgage debt is irrelevant, the punitive nature of these charges is the same. They are unlawful and can not be recovered in a court.

Get these charges refunded to your account (with interest at 8% p.a.) to help reduce your balance and hopefully offset some of the arrears.

Best of luck.

toonfish

alternatively pay your mortgage and avoid them altogether.

spurs_nut

inmypocketnottheirs wrote: »

Not correct spurs nut. These charges are just as illegal. Just because they are woven in to their terms and conditions does not make them acceptable.

Challenge these charges in exactly the same way as bank/credit cards. The fact that it is a mortgage debt is irrelevant, the punitive nature of these charges is the same. They are unlawful and can not be recovered in a court.

Get these charges refunded to your account (with interest at 8% p.a.) to help reduce your balance and hopefully offset some of the arrears.

Best of luck.

Are you 100% sure they are illegal. As in stealing a car?

I would double check if I was you and please...... If you have a source can you post where it says these charges are illegal.

Everyday I see people saying certain charge are illegal because of the bank charges backlash when in fact they are not.

No one has successfully taken any company to court that I know of because of unfair.... sorry illegal charges and won.

Not saying that I don't agree they are unfair and are causing hardship for the op which I totally sympathise with.

However, I think it's wrong to give the poster false hopes that he can get these charges back and to state they are ILLEGAL when they are not! The fsa have deemed them to be unfair. That's far from being a criminal offence!

inmypocketnottheirs

spurs_nut wrote: »

Are you 100% sure they are illegal. As in stealing a car?

I would double check if I was you and please...... If you have a source can you post where it says these charges are illegal.

Everyday I see people saying certain charge are illegal because of the bank charges backlash when in fact they are not.

No one has successfully taken any company to court that I know of because of unfair.... sorry illegal charges and won.

Not saying that I don't agree they are unfair and are causing hardship for the op which I totally sympathise with.

However, I think it's wrong to give the poster false hopes that he can get these charges back and to state they are ILLEGAL when they are not! The fsa have deemed them to be unfair. That's far from being a criminal offence!

My apologies, as I have fallen in to the trap as referring to these charges as illegal. They are in fact unlawful. There is a difference.

But the charges can still be reclaimed in exactly the same manner. How do I know, because I have reclaimed them.

inmypocketnottheirs

spurs_nut wrote: »

Are you 100% sure they are illegal. As in stealing a car?

I would double check if I was you and please...... If you have a source can you post where it says these charges are illegal.

Everyday I see people saying certain charge are illegal because of the bank charges backlash when in fact they are not.

No one has successfully taken any company to court that I know of because of unfair.... sorry illegal charges and won.

Not saying that I don't agree they are unfair and are causing hardship for the op which I totally sympathise with.

However, I think it's wrong to give the poster false hopes that he can get these charges back and to state they are ILLEGAL when they are not! The fsa have deemed them to be unfair. That's far from being a criminal offence!

My apologies, as I have fallen in to the trap as referring to these charges as illegal. They are in fact unlawful. There is a difference.

But the charges can still be reclaimed in exactly the same manner. How do I know, because I have reclaimed them.

They are unlawful because they can not be recovered in a court of law.

spurs_nut

If your thinking of doing just that Op then i would suggest going here and doing all the research you can before even attempting to claim these charges back.

As if it went to court, then the situation could get even more messy.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/

Be very careful, your already in debt and you don't want to make it any worse.

inmypocketnottheirs

spurs_nut wrote: »

If your thinking of doing just that Op then i would suggest going here and doing all the research you can before even attempting to claim these charges back.

As if it went to court, then the situation could get even more messy.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/

Be very careful, your already in debt and you don't want to make it any worse.

I do not see any justification for overlooking these unlawful charges. Just follow the guidelines for getting the charges refunded.

Cute_'n'_Quirky

inmypocketnottheirs wrote: »

Not correct spurs nut. These charges are just as illegal. Just because they are woven in to their terms and conditions does not make them acceptable.

Challenge these charges in exactly the same way as bank/credit cards. The fact that it is a mortgage debt is irrelevant, the punitive nature of these charges is the same. They are unlawful and can not be recovered in a court.

Get these charges refunded to your account (with interest at 8% p.a.) to help reduce your balance and hopefully offset some of the arrears.

Best of luck.

This is not true.

The OP knew when taking out the mortgage that there would be a financial penalty attached to going into arrears.

The Lender would send a letter to the OP as soon as the arrears began which would remind the OP of the charges and would offer to meet with them to come to an arrangement to rectify the situation.

If the OP were to seek recompense through a Court of Law it is doubtful that they would win their case since they knew of the penalties and the charges when signing for the original loan.

The simple answer to this is to pay the mortgage on time.

spurs_nut

inmypocketnottheirs wrote: »

I do not see any justification for overlooking these unlawful charges. Just follow the guidelines for getting the charges refunded.

Think of the worst case scenario.

He asks for the charges back.

They say no

He takes them to court

They agree

He loses

He had to pay court costs as well as all arrears. He can't afford to.

Halifax reposses the house. adding outstanding debt into an unsecured loan.

Hmmmmmm Good enough reason to overlook reclaiming these charges and concentrate on getting the arrears sorted first me thinks.