halifax mortgage advisor totally messes up-what now??

leoetal19

I got a phone call from Halifax in January to ask if I wanted to meet their mortgage advisor to review my mortgage. I agreed to this as I had decided to ask for a 2 month mortgage holiday to help fund a new bathroom which I desperately needed (my mum bought me the suit for a 50th gift so this was for labour and fittings etc).
When I got there the Halifax trained and very experienced advisor looked at my account and said I had ‘overpaid’ £1011 on my mortgage (this was a payment from Halifax paid the year before due to a mistake on their part). She advised me not to take the break but to cancel the next month’s mortgage payment and then pay part the following month ie to not pay £1000 in total; this would mean I wasn’t in arrears due to the overpayment and would give me the ££ for the bathroom.
Now I took her advice; SHE cancelled the February payment and I went in and paid cash for part of the March payment on 28th February; all good I thought.
While I was with her she advised me to take a further advance on my mortgage and pay off my credit card balance, I did this-meaning I can’t take a mortgage holiday for a further 6 months.
Last Thursday I get a letter from Halifax saying I am £1000 in arrears and when I rang and explained they said she was wrong to tell me I had any credit in my account. The guy I spoke to talked to their complaints people and offered me £100 by way of compensation; I refused as I was horrified by all this (and to be honest he said even he thought that was a joke offer as they were totally to blame for this situation)-I have NEVER EVER in almost 30 years been in mortgage arrears. They were supposed to ring me in the last few days and haven’t; I am going to ring tomorrow –what do people think I should be entitled to here?? It all seems so appalling on their part ???

Thrugelmir

Take the £100.

After all its only cost you inconvenience. No financial loss.

Taking it further may result in a smaller final settlement.

Annisele

I might also be asking Halifax what it has reported to the credit reference agencies.

If it's told them you're in arrears with your mortgage, that'll have a negative effect on your ability to get credit.

Personally I wouldn't be bothered about monetary compensation (though I'd take the £100 if it was offered), but I would be worried about my credit rating.

leoetal19

hi
they already agreed to ensure no black marks on the credit file; thanks for the advice folks; jut need to agree how to pay the arrears off now
cheers

Goldiegirl

The problem is that the Halifax's year end is 31st January

Any mortgage that is showing in advance on 31 st January is reset to 'clear'

Therefore, any underpayment of the contractual monthly payment after 31st January will result in the mortgage falling into arrears.

When I worked for the Halifax, advisors were not encouraged to bring customers attention to 'advances' to avoid the situation the OP is in

opinions4u

£100 and everything showing in order sounds good to me.

leoetal19

Goldiegirl wrote: »

The problem is that the Halifax's year end is 31st January

Any mortgage that is showing in advance on 31 st January is reset to 'clear'

Therefore, any underpayment of the contractual monthly payment after 31st January will result in the mortgage falling into arrears.

When I worked for the Halifax, advisors were not encouraged to bring customers attention to 'advances' to avoid the situation the OP is in

thnaks thats helpful and does explain better how it all happened; thanks

ithink

Advances should not be cleared even after a year end. I too have advances with Halifax and they are still present now and have been for over 2 years. Im still entitled to use these as the MA described (underpay to the amount of the previous overpayment) what does clear these though is a further advance. So if this was completed before you used the overpayments this could have caused the issue. But agree £100 seems fair and id make sure you get confirmation your credit record has been corrected!

cripes_2

Yeah - The halifax are not very good! I had something similar with a loan, check all the CRA and ensure the markers are removed (they said they were removed but they were not)

They offered me £300 compo but I refused that and took complaint to the ombudsman, but as a footnote i have all my banking accounts with hfx and if you complain they just throw money at you..

ive had about £500 out of them (not inc the £300 they offered me) since august...