Mortgage mis-sold to retired pensioner

shazur4u

Please help: My father is currently 85 and in/out of hospital with illness. He wanted to carry out much needed renovations to his free hold property few years back and asked for help, we (children) did not have much income and as a result my father got my eldest brother to go to the bank on his behalf (to some adviser he personally knew!!!) and get a re-mortgage through Halifax.

The re-mortgage on the house was approved and taken out in 2007 and despite my father being 78 years old and retired at that particular time. The loan amount was £30,000 over 25 year term and the house was valued at £100,000 by the bank.
I didn't know this until now, my father has been paying £200 per month since 2007 and the statement shows the outstanding balance of £16000 today.

My Questions are as follows:
1) Can a bank give a 78 year old 25 years to pay off mortgage?
2) There has been no valuation, no documents, can I challenge the bank of ethical grounds?
3) He has no insurance on the house, what happens if he passes away? Implications on inheritance etc?
4) I think the mortgage has been mis-sold to him, English not his first language. Do I have a case to take to the bank?

Many Thanks in advance for your valuable advice.

csgohan4

perhaps the source of your queries lie with the brother at the time and mortgage regulation was only made tighter after 2007


While his English was not good, your brother did the leg work, surely he should have explained this to your father ? Did he have a POA at the time?


Your father wanted money and as an adult he consented to his son to get some. That does not always mean mis selling ? He got what he wanted at the time. Paying for it in the long run is another matter which should have been taken account.


House insurance comes into play when the house burns down and you get money to build it again. It doesn't come into play when the owner dies.


However life insurance may help when someone dies during the policy period, it seems this is irrelevant in this case.


Are you more worried about the inheritance or the debt?

Thrugelmir

shazur4u wrote: »

My father is currently 85

The re-mortgage on the house was approved and taken out in 2007 and despite my father being 78 years old

There's a discrepancy with your facts. Before making a complaint you need to get your story straight.

shazur4u

Thank you for the reply. I am more worried about the debt at this moment, no idea what the process would be if there was any eventuality.

yes I am more concerned that the bank approved the amount in the timescale and without any insurance. Can he buy life insurance bought independently to bank? .

AnotherJoe

What's your Issue? Your dad got his money to carry out "much needed renovations" , money that neither you nor siblings were able to provide.

Would you rather the place fell into disrepair and your dad was living in a dump and the house was devalued?

Why does your dad need life insurance ? .it would be massively expensive, essentially unaffordable, when he dies you can sell the house, pay off the £16k and get the inheritance you are worried about. Life insurance is not for a situation or age like his.

shazur4u

His very ill now that he needs constant care therefore had to move out of the property recently.

AnotherJoe

My sympathies, but if he's not going back, sell the house, pay off the mortage and use the money to help with care. That's what I had to do with my mothers flat (though she didn't survive long enough to need the money) and what many have to do with parents property.

Do you have POA for him ?

davidmcn

shazur4u wrote: »

yes I am more concerned that the bank approved the amount in the timescale and without any insurance. Can he buy life insurance bought independently to bank? .

Yes, in general borrowers can get life insurance whenever they want from wherever they like.

But in this case, what would the purpose of the life insurance be? Does anybody else live in the house? If not then if he dies (or moves out) the house gets sold and the mortgage is paid off from the proceeds. Or if somebody wants to keep on the house, they can get their own mortgage.

In any event, I'm not sure how feasible it is to get life insurance if one is "currently 85 and in/out of hospital with illness".

TheBanker

shazur4u wrote: »

His very ill now that he needs constant care therefore had to move out of the property recently.

Are you planning to sell the property? If so the mortgage will be have to be repaid, but presumably the property is worth more because the repairs were completed (using the mortgage funds) than it would have been otherwise?

singhini

Your priority is your dads health and not the debt.
You don't need to worry about the debt as you have an asset that can be sold and the debt paid off. The money may well have added value to the property so when its time to sell the house it may well be worth more or easier to sell due to its improved condition (possibly both).
You mention "no documents" this cant be right, there must be some sort of documentation (the bank are not just going to hand over £30,000 of their money to someone without some documentation. Their not that stupid or crazy to just give people money).


Please don't tell me your suggesting you think he was mis-sold as English is not his first language (was your dad mis-sold when he initially bought the house many many years ago?). If the banks didn't lend to foreigners due to English being a second language would you be complaining that the banks are racists?? [probably], or would you say the banks are very sensible [doubt-it].


You need to discuss it with your brother, he holds all the answers IMHO.

blues

I have no idea why you think the mortgage has been mis-sold. Your Dad gave responsibility to your brother to arrange a remortgage and that's what he did. Surely they could read and understand what they were signing up to? If not, it's their own fault really.