Mis Sold/ Advised Mortgage

DIYnovise

Some advise would be great please I have no idea where to start. I have used the same'reliable' independent mortgage broker a few times now. Early this year I sold my house and had an offer accepted on another. I was only 2 years into a 3 year Halifax mortgage so decided to port my existing deal as to not incur a repayment fee. Unfortunately 3 weeks before completion we had a full structural survey indicating the property thatw e was going to purchase had up to £80k worth of structural damage. We pulled out, but beacuse we had a cash buyer we still went through with our sale and moved into rented. We thus incurred a £2800 early repayment fee.

Whilst in rented we approached our broker to find us another mortgage. I had already found a pretty good deal with Nationwide. However our broker advised her that she had called the Halifax and if we ''had a new mortage agreed within 3 months'' we would receive our late payment fee back. I queried this and have email evidence of her reply whether this was indeed 'agreed' within 3 month or 'completed' within 3 months. She said she has spoken with the Halifax and documented in her notes it was only to be 'agreed'. Again, I have this as documented evidence.


We completed in 3 month and 1 week, called ;up the Halifax only to be informed that we was not able to claim this fee as the rules were we had to 'complete' within 3 months.


I reported this to my broker she made a complaint to the Halifax who said they have no evidence of her call and so would not refund us our money. The broker has washed her hands with us and has told us to approach Ombudsman about Halifax. I dont think this would do us any good as neither Halifax or I have evidence about their misconduct. I do however have several emails and even my brokers own notes detailing thier advise to us.


Who am I to approach about reclaiming this fee? We could have easily moved in 2 weeks earlier and legitimately claimed it back as we had no chain but due to our brokers advise we did'nt..


Many thanks

ACG

Your complaint is with your broker not Halifax.

You should have received an IDD document. In here towards the back it should state what to do in the event of a complaint - it would usually have a phone number/address.

DIYnovise

Many thanks

Where would I find the IDD would that be from the broker or Halifax


Regards

ACG

From your broker, its a requirement to give you the document.

Here is an examples from a lenders. It will look similar, albeit without the lenders logo on it:
http://www.leedsbuildingsociety.co.uk/insurance/pdf/key-facts-insurance-services.pdf

vectistim

Also, have a read through of the original mortgage T&Cs I'm sure some lenders (used to?) have a 3-6 month gap mentioned in there.

Senior_Paper_Monitor

As you took the decision to continue with sale and incur the penalty costs before the broker told you of the opportunity it will be hard to prove financial loss (the basis of any successful complaint/claim).

That said I can understand your annoyance - and I also have some sympathy for the broker who misunderstood or was given incorrect information from Halifax (although the 'completion' component is normal where the waiver between sale/purchase is available and I would expect a broker to expect that, although bad information from a helpdesk is a common problem).

My feeling is that if you go the 'complaint process' particularly if the broker is a 'network member' ('appointed representative of') they will follow PI driven procedure and point you to head office and the subsequent complaint may not be successful (for the reason above).

I do however suspect that the broker may be willing to negotiate a fee/commission waiver outside the complaint process (no-one likes to receive formal complaints and it costs the broker time and money win or lose) on your current deal - I suspect we would take that approach if we felt we were at least part at fault morally.

ACG

I disagree, if he has evidence the broker has said on application rather than completion then the broker should be compensating him for any financial loss - it might not be the full £2,900 as we do not know the details regarding the other offer.

If the broker has been given incorrect info (which as we both know can and does happen), this should either be in a recorded phone call or an email somewhere... whenever i ask a lender for info like this, i ask them to put it in an email to me. The odd exception being when it comes from one of the better BDMs.

DIYnovise

Thank you

I can see your point regarding losing the fee regardless however


1) We would have chosen a cheaper mortgage with Nationwide had we not been able to claim back the penalty. We was advised by the broker though that if we went back with the Halifax that although we would pay £1500 over 3 years more than what we would with Nationwide the £2800 reclaimed redemption fee would negate that!


2) Initially we instructed our solicitors to complete within 3 months but when the broker advised us that we did not need to rush the Vendor of the house we bought asked to complete a couple weeks later (3 months and a week) and with our brokers advise we granted this

Leon_W

Some lenders offer a concession on ERCs which is normally "completed" within 3 months. Anything other than this would need some serious clarification by the broker.

I seem to remember this MAY be mentioned in the actual mortgage offer when porting with Halifax but don't quote me on it (the fact that you have to complete within 3 months that is). See if it mentions this.

opinions4u

While the liability is with the broker, and you should pursue this, there's no harm on asking Halifax to honour it as a gesture of goodwill. Worst they can do is refuse.

Mention the chief executive's £2.3m share options (not really relevant, but grates).

Senior_Paper_Monitor

DIYnovise wrote: »

Thank you

I can see your point regarding losing the fee regardless however

1) We would have chosen a cheaper mortgage with Nationwide had we not been able to claim back the penalty. We was advised by the broker though that if we went back with the Halifax that although we would pay £1500 over 3 years more than what we would with Nationwide the £2800 reclaimed redemption fee would negate that!

That perhaps changes my view - as you have suffered a financial loss as a result of advice (subsequent to the decision to incur the ERC loss). I still suspect that the award would be based on the £1,500 component rather than including the redemption fee, but I hear other's opinions that certainly differ and that are equally valid.