£300 fee to be told I couldn't have mortgage

dunstonh

Well then wouldnt it have been wise to have decided the risk before booking the money. Sounds like a boo-boo by C+G.

So, your solution would see no more fixed rates issued. Or a situation where you would have to purchase a mortgage not knowing the fixed rate a mortgage lender would be able to negotiate in about 3 months time.

I note that C&G no longer seem to charge non refundable application fees so perhaps they have had many complaints or have decided to 'Treat Customers Fairly'

Their website still states non-refundable charges. As do many other lenders.

It's probably a case that he told them he was self employed but didn't have the accounts to back it up. The question should have been asked at the AIP stage by C&G whether he could prove his income or not. If that question wasn't asked or the implications of not being able to prove income were not explained then C&G are at fault.

The decision in principle is along the lines that "based on what you have said, there would be no problems lending you the money". If you dont give correct information then why should the lender be at fault? If you say you earn £40k a year and the accounts show £20k then its your fault. Not the lender.

kingkano

Based on Yant1's suggestions I've decided never to pay a plumber's call out charge. I'm going to tell them (when they ask for the money) that I didnt realise it was a non-refundable call out charge....

(just one example of a fee I think is extortionate but which there is no regulation and no chance I can not pay it....)

[Deleted User]

You didnt sign a contract to pay the call out charge? what evidence does he have that he came out to your house?

MarkyMarkD

Yant1

You are a lone voice in the wilderness here.

If you pay an up-front fee for any mortgage, it's quite reasonable to assume that it's not refundable unless told otherwise. It's no different to the concept of a deposit on any other sort of transaction - if you don't go through with the transaction, you lose the deposit.

The OP still hasn't answered the question of what changed to lead the accepted AIP to turn into a declined application. That would be somewhat enlightening.

Will you then accept that if you tell a lender incomplete or inaccurate information in order to get an AIP, it's your own fault if the full application is then declined, and you should bear the costs associated with that rejected application?

Whilst not all lenders charge up-front fees in this way, those who don't are making successful applicants subsidise rejected ones, which is equally unfair.

I have no axe to grind for C&G, but I happen to think that charging a relatively small fee up-front to:

- reserve funds at what may become a very attractive rate by the time a mortgage completes up to 6 months later; and
- do lots of work processing an application which may never make them any money at all

is not unreasonable.

[Deleted User]

£300 aint small its a humongous amount of money, you could go abroad and have a wikid time with that.

If I had deliberatly gave false information to obtain a mortgage then id accept that the fee should not be refundable, but if I fairly and squarely got through the credit check and then the company took the money off me and then later on perhaps after 2 interest rate hikes but still in the time frame said, nah we no longer want your business we now consider you under are new criteria to be too greater risk. Then id be pursuing them with all guns blazing.

..im always the lone voice so im ok with that, it means im more original then teh average person, which i like about me

sinizterguy

Yant1 wrote: »

£300 aint small its a humongous amount of money, you could go abroad and have a wikid time with that.

It is not a humongous amount of money ... And it certainly is not in relation to a mortgage which can run into anywhere from couple of grand to millions.

MarkyMarkD

There's no way that C&G have changed their lending policy in this case. They have become aware of information which wasn't made apparent up-front and that's why they've rejected the case.

Or their staff member was a muppet and didn't input all the details provided to him/her. In which case a complaint would be justified.

But I'm betting on the first alternative.

Rick62

I think this is the key question, did the op fully disclose everything when they obtained the AIP? If they had but C&G issued the AIP when they shouldn't have then they should refund the fee, if however the OP did not disclose everything fully or did not read and meet the printed criterior then they should not refund the fee.

We don't know enough detail in this case.