"Sealing Fee" What is it and do I have to pay it?

abueloeddie

Evenin' all!

At the end of a 15 year Endowment Mortgage payment policy.. All paid up with just sufficient balance to prop up my ailing savings account, and I'm told by the Building Soc. that I need to pay them a £150 "Sealing Fee" before they can send the house deeds to me. This "Sealing Fee" will be taken from the balance of the endowment policy.



1) What is this Fee?

2) Do I have to pay it?

3) Do I have to possess the Deeds of my house?

TIA for any help.

lisyloo

The fee is for closing your account and sending your deeds to you.

Many people are disputing these because they do not fairly represent the work involved (of ticking a box on a computer and putting some paper in the post).
In your case you could also argus that it has gone up well above inflation as it was likely to much smaller 15 years ago (you'd need to check the oiginal paper work for this).

You are very likely to be successful in disputing this is you have the patience because it costs the company about £350 if you go to the ombudsman (and clearly it's not worth them paying that to argue over £150).

You will ened to be patient and write several letters (tempates can be found on the web which you will need to alter for your circumstances).
You need to go through the lender complaints procedure. It's likely you'll need to write about 3 letters and be patient as these will take weeks to get an answer. You will also need to perservere as the ledner will try to "fobb you off" at every stage.

Do I have to possess the Deeds of my house?

The lender now has no interest in them.
You can either keep them at home in a safe place (as most deeds are now receorded electronially at the land registry) or give them to your solicitor or bank for safe keeping.
If you have a solicitor then they will usually keep them for free.
Banks will usually charge a fee but there is no reason why you shouldn't keep them at home unless you are rather disorganised with paperwork.

abueloeddie

Hi Isyloo (Lovely pen name BTW!)

I thank you for your reply and the information it contained.:T

Re-reading the letter from the B.Soc., I see that they now call this a "Seal Fee" and in our case they have kept our Mortgage open by retaining £5.00 .. We are told that we can close the account, but this will attract a payment of £55.00 PLUS a charge of £75.00 "Seal fee"

First thing on Monday morning we are to visit the offices of the B.Soc. and request that they hand over our deeds, and close our accounts or we will take the matter to an Insurance ombudsman. The firm of Solicitors who have drafted our joint Wills, have offered to safeguard the deeds for free.

They'll be next on the list for a call on Monday Morning!!

:beer: Thanks again Have a drink on me!;)