Mis-sold Mortgage?

bananakinz

We re mortgaged 2 and half years ago to Abbey on a Self Cert mortgage (both hubby and myself self employed).

Nov 06 I moved over to a different fixed rate with Abbey for two years. At the time I asked them if the mortgage was portable as there was a possibility that we would be moving.

I have now sold my house and found another :j

I have phoned Abbey to discover that they no longer do Self Cert Mortgages, and based on our current income we allegedly cannot afford the mortgage we currentl have and have been paying. I do not want to increase our mortgage just transfer to another property.

We were not told last Nov that they no longer accept self cert mortgages, I would not have tied ourselves into a fixed for two years if I had known.

There is an early redemption fee with the fixed that we are on.

In your opinion do you think we could have a case to get the fee refunded or not charged?

dunstonh

We were not told last Nov that they no longer accept self cert mortgages, I would not have tied ourselves into a fixed for two years if I had known.

Did you ask? (portability is different to borrowing a higher amount)

Did you see a mortgage adviser to give you such advice?

If you just told them to change the deal then they will act on your instructions. If you sought advice, then things like this may well of been raised in the advice process.

In your opinion do you think we could have a case to get the fee refunded or not charged?

They have no reason to as they have dont nothing wrong but if you dont ask, you dont get.

bananakinz

thb I didn't ask, or see an advisor I just phoned them and asked them to transfer to another fixed rate deal. I did ask them about portability though, and it seems daft that the mortgage is portable but we do not qualify for a mortgage with them even though we have been paying without delay for so long. They did not go through any sort of affordabily questions over the phone.

JoeK_3

Whilst mortgages are portable, no lender will guarantee to accept you on future income, as people's circumstances can change.

It looks like you will just have to bite the bullet, pay the redemption penalty and find yourself a good self cert mortgage.

JoeK

dunstonh

thb I didn't ask, or see an advisor I just phoned them and asked them to transfer to another fixed rate deal.

Thats known as direct to provider or execution only. You cannot complain about advice if you dont get it. You get less protection under the FOS as well.

I did ask them about portability though, and it seems daft that the mortgage is portable but we do not qualify for a mortgage with them even though we have been paying without delay for so long.

Eligibility for a new mortage is different to having a portable deal.

They did not go through any sort of affordabily questions over the phone.

They dont need to as they are not giving advice or arranging a new mortgage.

Basically, you are going to have to appeal to their good nature and hope for the best.

Mr_helpful

Why do you need to self cert? what has happened to your income from last time.

homer_j_3

You have no grounds for a claim as far as I can see.

Portability is an option that many lenders will offer as part of their features attached with a mortgage.

The feature is never guaranteed as the lender has to have the option to change their lending criteria to manage the risk that they have on their books. They also do not want to have to commit to lending against properties that they would never accept normally.

You therefore cannot rely on portability in your planning when dealing with mortgages. I appreciate that you acted on the basis that the lender told you it was an option and gave you the impression that it would be possible (and maybe there was no reason to think otherwise at the time by the lender) but ultimately they have the right to not honour this.

You could complain to the lender and see if that gets you anyway and see if they have recorded the call but I wouldnt like to say how successful that would be. The FSA cannot make a lender lend you money as they have no power over the lender in this way.

I am sorry to hear that you have found yourself in this position.