Can they do this? £25 charge.

Romum

Hi, just wondered if the banks could do this. I have moved house and took out a new mortgage with my exisiting lender - I also took out their household insurance. I have since cancelled the insurance becasue -

1 - it was expensive
2 - I didn't like the insurerer they use.

They have now charged me £25 for doing this - is this legal, can they do this?

any advice appreciated

thanks

dmg24

Have they charged you £25 because you cancelled, or because you are not having their insurance? How long after taking out the policy did you cancel?

Romum

I cancelled about a month after taking out the mortgage. They said the fee was to cover -

'administration and contingency insurance to protect our interest in your property should the alternative cover fail'

they have added this to my mortagage and are charging interest on it. I intend to send them a cheque for it so I don't get interest charged but just wondered if they were trying it on as they seem to slip in so many charges (I've had to watch them and managed to get a couple refunded that they said they wouldn't charge me but did).

Have also sent them a copy of my new policy schedual so they know that there is adequae cover in place.

ax

cattie

Quite a few lenders charge a £25 fee if you don't take out their buildings insurance. There should be a mention of it somewhere in your mortgage/insurance documents if this is applicable to your lender.

dmg24

Romum wrote: »

I cancelled about a month after taking out the mortgage. They said the fee was to cover -

'administration and contingency insurance to protect our interest in your property should the alternative cover fail'

they have added this to my mortagage and are charging interest on it. I intend to send them a cheque for it so I don't get interest charged but just wondered if they were trying it on as they seem to slip in so many charges (I've had to watch them and managed to get a couple refunded that they said they wouldn't charge me but did).

Have also sent them a copy of my new policy schedual so they know that there is adequae cover in place.

ax

In that case, yes, they are entitled to charge you the £25 fee. I am actually surprised that you were not also charged for cancelling the policy outside the cooling off period.

Romum

Oh well, thanks anyway. I wouldn't mind using their insurer if you could have a choice of providers but I know the company they use is not very good on the claims side (I use to work in insurance) so I didn't want to get stuck with them.

Thanks for your help anyway

ax