Remortgaging Delay

ariddell1984

Just a general query which I'm hoping someone may be able to help with.

Our fixed term mortgage with the Halifax ends 30th September (i.e. just over a week away). thanks to our broker we have been able to switch to a new provider (Atom Bank) where the monthly payment is significantly lower (c. £150) than any retention products with fixed rate deals the Halifax could offer. Everything is now at the completed stage according to Atom, however thanks to a restriction in our deeds we need to get a solicitor to draft letters, approve ID and witness our mortgage deed before Atom will proceed with transferring the funds. - all fine, but the only appointment we can do is next Thursday (28th September), i.e. two days before the current fixed term expires.

Am I right in thinking that there will be a delay in transferring the funds and that Halifax will debit my account for the SVR payment on 1st October under the assumption that I am staying with them?

Once the funds are transferred mid month, then this will presumably leave me with a credit balance on the Halifax mortgage since Atom will only request the redemption balance as at the end of the fixed rate period. If this is the case do I get an automatic refund into my account for whatever this surplus is, or do I have to apply for it - or does it get dealt with by Atom's solicitors and result in me incurring additional legal fees (since this is not included in the free legal advice provided by Atom - similar to the restriction not being included).

Thrugelmir

ariddell1984 wrote: »

Am I right in thinking that there will be a delay in transferring the funds and that Halifax will debit my account for the SVR payment on 1st October under the assumption that I am staying with them?

Direct debits are normally set up 10 days in advance. Being part of a large batch processing job, individual dd's cannot be pulled out.

Any excess funds that the solicitor holds once the remortgage is complete will be returned to yourself. Likewise if the lender receives too much money this will be refunded.

Lilla_D

Yes, Halifax will refund you proportionately once they processed the fact that their mortgage was settled. You don't have to do anything and certainly not pay extra solicitor fee to do this.

Atom will also setup their direct debit, but lenders don't normally collect the first payment for at least 10 days after completion, so chances are that you'll only pay one mortgage amount in October.