My mortgage with GE Money nightmare!

Her_Majesty

Hi

Sorry, this is long-winded.....but I'd appreciate advice.

I originally mortgaged with First National who were great to deal with and I had a three year fixed rate which ended last year, then they were taken over by GE Money shortly afterwards. My Mortgage is now on a variable rate and like everyone, I've been suffering the recent BOE increases over the last few months. My repayments have been increased by approx £7 each time so although annoying, it's been manageabe. However, I called them about changing my repayment date which they wouldn't let me do :mad: and then confirmed my next instalment date and quoted me £25 more than I'm paying. I tried to correct the advisor and said my mortgage has just risen by £7 from September and I have the letter and he said I should have received another one last month to say it's increased by another £25 from October :eek: . Yet my direct debit hadn't been changed as it has been in the past.

This is just devastating news and I've looked at BOE website and other financial sites and can't find anything to justify this latest rise. I thought there hadn't been any more increases of late? I have 42k remaining on my mortgage and currently pay £360 pm, why am I now being told it's £385? No one else I know with a mortgage has had an increase this month, let alone such a large one.

Also, I fell into 2 months arrears when I was unexpectedly out of work earlier this year (The company went bust!) and I kept them informed and am now paying back the arrears and only had £140 left to pay, they now say I owe £220 as the amount has increased, how can that be? It was a set amount and due to end in December. They are adding £40 charges to my account each month.

I would remortgage with another company but due to poor credit from being in debt earlier this year (although I'm now making agreed monthly repayments to creditors), I know I won't get any deals with anyone but good news is I have found a great new job! :T Less money than I earned before but good prospects.

Please can someone throw some light on why I've had such a huge increase? GEM said ithe figures are automatically computer generated so it's correct as there's no room for human error, I've demanded a letter from them and they refused at first as they said they can't reproduce another one (!) until I spoke with a supervisor and she said she would send one out next week.

PasturesNew

Not all mortgages are linked to the rise in rates by the BoE.
Maybe yours isn't. Check your paperwork, see if yours rises in line with changes in LIBOR.
This is the rate that banks lend money to each other at and would explain why you've had rises "others" haven't.

People who borrow money from companies who lend to people with poor credit are often on mortgages linked to the LIBOR rate and not the BoE rate.

The other people you have asked probably are either unaware, are on fixed deals themselves and either mentioned it or still have no idea, or they are on a regular BoE-linked mortgage.

frugalpam

I used to be with GE Money up until 2 yrs ago due to a blip in my credit history. I had similar experiences - they increased my mortgage payments regularly and would never explain why - I would just get letters of gobbledegook back from them while they continued to fleece me. I changed to Chelsea who will consider anyone with a less than perfect credit history and they gave me a really competitive 2 yr fixed rate. My monthly payments went down with a bang.Get away from GE asap - in my experience they are sharks!

Her_Majesty wrote: »

Hi

Sorry, this is long-winded.....but I'd appreciate advice.

I originally mortgaged with First National who were great to deal with and I had a three year fixed rate which ended last year, then they were taken over by GE Money shortly afterwards. My Mortgage is now on a variable rate and like everyone, I've been suffering the recent BOE increases over the last few months. My repayments have been increased by approx £7 each time so although annoying, it's been manageabe. However, I called them about changing my repayment date which they wouldn't let me do :mad: and then confirmed my next instalment date and quoted me £25 more than I'm paying. I tried to correct the advisor and said my mortgage has just risen by £7 from September and I have the letter and he said I should have received another one last month to say it's increased by another £25 from October :eek: . Yet my direct debit hadn't been changed as it has been in the past.

This is just devastating news and I've looked at BOE website and other financial sites and can't find anything to justify this latest rise. I thought there hadn't been any more increases of late? I have 42k remaining on my mortgage and currently pay £360 pm, why am I now being told it's £385? No one else I know with a mortgage has had an increase this month, let alone such a large one.

Also, I fell into 2 months arrears when I was unexpectedly out of work earlier this year (The company went bust!) and I kept them informed and am now paying back the arrears and only had £140 left to pay, they now say I owe £220 as the amount has increased, how can that be? It was a set amount and due to end in December. They are adding £40 charges to my account each month.

I would remortgage with another company but due to poor credit from being in debt earlier this year (although I'm now making agreed monthly repayments to creditors), I know I won't get any deals with anyone but good news is I have found a great new job! :T Less money than I earned before but good prospects.

Please can someone throw some light on why I've had such a huge increase? GEM said ithe figures are automatically computer generated so it's correct as there's no room for human error, I've demanded a letter from them and they refused at first as they said they can't reproduce another one (!) until I spoke with a supervisor and she said she would send one out next week.

Her_Majesty

Thanks for your helpful response, PastuesNew. I'll look into that. Though I didn't have poor credit when I first got my mortgage four yeras ago, it's just been this year when I lost my job and got behind with everything. It's such a shock to get such a huge increase and seems odd that they hadn't changed my DD as with all the other increases. I seem to be the only one out of my group of friends with variable rate mortgages that this has happened to but as you say, they could be linked to different arangements. Just when I was trying to get back on my feet. :mad:
I shall investigate further from your kind advice. :beer:

Her_Majesty

Thank you Frugalpam. A few people have said similar things to me about GEM. I couldn't believe how unhelpful GEM was to me and then said they weren't able to resend a letter to me and I had to listen to what he was saying and write it down!!

Great customer service! :mad:

frugalpam

You're welcome! Do try the Chelsea, they are fantastic and very professional, and I'm certain they would give you a very good deal. Because My mortgage payments went down, I was able to repay other debts and repair my credit history - they've told me that when my fixed rate mortgage comes to and end, they will give me another good deal as my account with them has been spotless. If I'd stayed with GE I dread to think what my monthly payments would have been by now !!Look for the 'Prospects' mortgage on their website.Good luck and I hope you soon get it all sorted out!

Her_Majesty wrote: »

Thank you Frugalpam. A few people have said similar things to me about GEM. I couldn't believe how unhelpful GEM was to me and then said they weren't able to resend a letter to me and I had to listen to what he was saying and write it down!!

Great customer service! :mad:

Her_Majesty

Thank you, that's great advice. I've heard good things about CBS in the past. This is all very scary especially when if I hadn't called them about changing my direct debit date I'd never have known about this month's increase, it all seems very suspicious to me, and the fact my arrears total has mysteriously increased just before my final repayment is due....:mad:

I shall also contact FSA, I think.

Her_Majesty

If any more lovely folk on the forum can offer me food for thought then it would be much appreciated. :beer:

aimingforadebtfreelife

GE Money are a nightmare - I asked if I could pay a half payment this month as changing jobs and pay back 1 1/2 over following 2 months - they said no, and if I did do it anyway they would charge £40 a month (so £120 in total in charges) if I insisted. I asked why the charge if was with prior agreement - they should kept going on how they charged for things regardless :mad: :mad: :mad:

Her_Majesty

aimingforadebtfreelife wrote: »

GE Money are a nightmare - I asked if I could pay a half payment this month as changing jobs and pay back 1 1/2 over following 2 months - they said no, and if I did do it anyway they would charge £40 a month (so £120 in total in charges) if I insisted. I asked why the charge if was with prior agreement - they should kept going on how they charged for things regardless :mad: :mad: :mad:

Thanks for reply. Yes, they are a pain, I seem to speak to people who are constantly clueless there. I've looked all through my paperwork today and I'm not linked to LIBOR just BOE so there is no reason to increase my mortgage repayments by £25 pm from this month, there's been no recent BOE rise to justify this especially when I have only been paying £6/7 increases. I find it very odd that they hadn't changed my DD automatically either. So, if I hadn't contacted them about a different matter, I'd be none the wiser. I'm going to take a day's holiday from work and sort all this out with them, I have a bad feeling about this and am not going to take this lying down. If they start increasing my rate whenever they please I'll not be able to afford to live here anymore and I love my flat. They're also wrong about my arrears balance. I do only have £142 left not £220 as they now claim. :mad:

PS If you read this Martin, I'd love to know your thoughts before I call GE Money again this week.

luckyfool

Her Majesty,

If you are outwith your redemption penalty period with GE then you are likely to be better to leave, regardless of your credit history.

Chelsea are a great lender in many circumstances, however if the 2 late/missed payments on the mortgage do show up on your credit file then they might not be the best lender to move to (Chelsea take a particularly dim view of mortgage arrears, they will allow virtually any level of ccjs etc on their best "adverse credit" rates, but tend to penalise mortgage arrears quite heavily). Having said that, if you have good equity in your property then you are still likely to be able to improve on your rate and potentially fix it if you shop around. I'd speak to a good whole of market broker who should be able to help you with that,

Hope this helps