As anyone else heard of this....?

Suziestone

(sorry....this is a bit long) Hi, We have been with gmac (our mortgage company) since 2003. Since that time we have always had the same buildings insurance with Zurich. (The building insurance was set up through ourselves and not arranged through Gmac). In july this year i cancelled some direct debits that were no longer active in our bank account and accidentaly cancelled our current building insurance with Zurich. I didnt realise this untill around a week later when i recieved a letter from Zurich telling us the dd had been cancelled and to reinstate the dd if we wanted to continue to be insured. I then recieved a letter from Gmac saying we were no longer insured and they were to place us on their own insurance (cant remember the name of insurance company). We were also liable for a charge of £40 for the cost of Gmac doing this! I promptly phoned Zurich and set the dd up again (same policy as there had been no lapse). As we had not gone through with Gmacs insurance i presumed we would not be charged the £40. After recieving a letter from Gmac asking us to complete forms so we could be placed on their own block insurance(we never signed anything) I phoned them, this was not what we wanted and to refund the £40 as we were never not insured with Zurich. They refused, and to add insult to injury we had to pay ANOTHER £40 to 'go back' to Zurich!! They refuse to refund our money no matter how many times a tried to explain that we havent changed our insurance company. This is in the terms and conditions for gmac...to be charged every time we change insurance, I think its a crazy charge!! Any help pleeese....... Mad and Angry....

dmg24

Although you did it in error, you did cancel your insurance.

GMAC need your property to be covered in order for their interest to be protected, and hence acted quite rightly in putting you on their block policy.

I would put it down to an expensive mistake x

Miss_Sparkly_Star

Suziestone,

GMAC are a pain in the ***. I have had exactly the same problem. They charged me twice for not taking out buildings insurance with them. FInally, got one of them refunded but still am £40 out of pocket for not taking out their ridicoulsy high quote.

I really wish I didn't sign up with them, and can't wait till the end of my fixed rate deal ends.

They also threatened to not release the funds on a number of times before completion..I nearly had a heart attack..they literally had me hanging on by a thread through the whole process.

Sorry this probably desn't help you..not that great advice but any chance to have a rant at them..I'm there...:mad:

Dan_Collins_2

Most lenders will arrange an insurance policy for you if yours is cancelled. Most lenders in the high street will write to you and be fairly soft in approach! GMAC are not a high street lender, and were they will lend were other will not you pay a price. You will probably find that by the time you get them to pay up you would have spent more on phone calls and stamps!

Also you are lucky your mortgage is still with GMAC, they sell mortgage books on very quickly.

Miss_Sparkly_Star

Hi Dan,

What does this mean...am interested as a GMAC customer..

Also you are lucky your mortgage is still with GMAC, they sell mortgage books on very quickly

kitchen_buff

Write to them recorded delivery. Tell them that you have been in touch with the insuarnce ombudsman the trading standards, tell them that they have told you that you are entitled to a full refund of their charges, as you were not actually unisured because you current policy with Zurich did not expire. Also tell them that you have been told by the ombudsman the if they refuse you the refund then I am to report them to the FSA ( financial services authority)
Usually this threat will be enogh for them to move their backsides.
Of course if they still do not give you a refund you can actually contact the authorities named above, What have you got to lose.

Dan_Collins_2

Miss_Sparkly_Star wrote: »

Hi Dan,

What does this mean...am interested as a GMAC customer..

Also you are lucky your mortgage is still with GMAC, they sell mortgage books on very quickly

Its a long story my dear Miss Sparkly Star (Love the name)!

GMAC lend money then sell the book on to another lender and then lend the money again! Because they are a high risk lender the rates are higher than on the high street making them a money maker for other banks and lenders. You may have heard the issues in the press lately. So lets say you got a fixed rate of 6% they would lend 100 mil on that rate then sell the 100mil of lending on to say Mortgage Express for £150 mil (Figure are an example I dont know how much they would charge for the books). However you may or may not know that GMAC have scruggled to sell their books on so are trying to lend less than normal.

They have tightened criteria and rates have been increased a fair wack. I would say make sure you start shopping for a new deal a good few months before yours ends or you will beon a rate of over 8%!!

Miss_Sparkly_Star

Oh no!!

My broker really talked them up, and I'm tending to disagree!!

Well, can't do anything now till the fixed rate ends have just read though this thread...http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=567012

and now am wondering whether i'll be charged for this LIBOR rate that I didn't even know existed!!

Will have a read through my terms and conditions tonight. Thankyou for your explanation X

Miss_Sparkly_Star

just thought of one more thing......does that mean by the end of my 2 year fixed rate that i could not be with gmac anymore as they sell the mortgage books on? How will i know if this happens/ and what the consequences..starting to panic a tad:eek:

Dan_Collins_2

Miss_Sparkly_Star wrote: »

just thought of one more thing......does that mean by the end of my 2 year fixed rate that i could not be with gmac anymore as they sell the mortgage books on? How will i know if this happens/ and what the consequences..starting to panic a tad:eek:

OK, firstly dont panic! GMAC will write to you if it happens. I would check your fixed rate end date and have a remortgage ready to start the day after it ends. Check the penalties as you may have to give a months notice to avoid one.

But dont worry they not that bad. I have had loads go through them and they all fine!

Miss_Sparkly_Star

am calming down now..but what about the libor rate? think i will give them a call...