First Direct silently moved me from fixed term to SVR - anything I can do?

bookoff4718

Ok so I am partly to blame here, but I think the way FD handled this is super shady and misleading, plus it has put me in quite a difficult financial situation so really would appreciate any help. 

The details:
- November 2020 - bought house with 2 year fixed term mortgage with first direct
- August 2022 - shopped around for remortgage options for when my fixed term runs out, first direct offered a decent deal (I think 3.1% 5 year fixed) and I had a couple of phone conversations with them where we went over all the details, I then received an email with a contract to sign which I did, and received another email confirming I had signed. In the phone call I asked if the £500 mortgage fee could be added to the balance of the mortgage which they agreed and I wrote down a reminder to alter my standing order in November when the new fixed rate would start
- Importantly I received a text message stating 'Please phone us to talk about your recent mortgage application' which I ignored because I was on holiday and assumed it was some customer feedback thing

What had actually happened was I hadn't phoned to 'lock in the rate', looking back at the contract I signed it does say in the small print that I would need to phone after signing to lock in the rate but I didn't read it properly (14 page pdf) and simply assumed that signing the contract was enough as I had already spoken to them on the phone and confirmed all the details.

So this month I get a monthly statement showing my payments are now £1600 a month rather than the £1200 I was expecting, and after phoning them they say I didn't lock in the fixed term so I am now on the standard variable rate part of my original mortgage, but if I want a fixed term I'll have to sign up to 5.8% for 5 years as my 3.1% is no longer available.

I know this is my fault for not reading the small print but I really feel like I was mislead a bit here, is there actually anything I can do to fight this?


Thanks

JMA74

What have you been misled on? 

As harsh as it seems,  you didnt read the documents, they tried to chase you and you ignored them, and they have done exactly what they said they would do at the end of your fixed term if you didnt arrange a deal beforehand.  

They haven't done anything wrong here

bookoff4718

And just to clarify, I never received any communication saying my rate hadn't been locked in or that the mortgage had fallen through. The only communication I got was a text message saying 'Please call us to talk about your recent mortgage application' and normal monthly statements, so the earliest I noticed anything was wrong was after my fixed term ended, 3 months after I had signed the contract for the new fixed term

JMA74

But you didnt read the contract that you signed.   Thats what it will always come back to

bookoff4718

I understand I didn't follow the process, and if this was something small I wouldn't even be complaining about it. But I think it should have been made clear to me either by the person I spoke to on the phone, or by an explicit message saying 'You didn't lock in your rate so your application has been cancelled' given the magnitude of a mortgage. 

Why should I even have to phone up again once I signed the contract and agreed all the details? I didn't have to do that the first time I got the mortgage...

Anyway even if I have 0 chance of redemption I would like a way to try and get them to be clearer about this in the future because its a very easy mistake to make and I would like to save others from it since its potentially extremely costly

JMA74

Good luck with a complaint.   I'm not sure you'll get far but might as well try

I'm not really sure what can be clearer about 'Please phone us to talk about your recent mortgage application'.   I think 99% of people would see that message and call the bank to make sure nothing was wrong with their recent mortgage application

cymruchris

As much as I can empathise with the situation - you didn't read the contract - and you didn't respond to their request to call them - and as a result you are where you are. You could try complaining in writing to see if they'll budge, but they don't have to, and likely won't. (But there's no harm in trying).

[Deleted User]

I think you should go down the complaint route but be very polite in your  correspondence.

Perhaps argue that your understanding was that in signing the contract and that you had confirmed in the calls preceding the contract, therefore it wasn't clear to you that further calls were required. I wouldnt tend to mention that you intentionally didnt return a call but recount that you missed it as you were on holiday and that there appears to be no follow up by email or letter. Im not suggesting that you should blame them, just ask for some understanding and to apply the agreed deal.

Clutching at straws though. Surely FD will no longer be able to access money on the markets at the previously agreed rate.

TheJP

bookoff4718 said:

Ok so I am partly to blame here, but I think the way FD handled this is super shady and misleading, plus it has put me in quite a difficult financial situation so really would appreciate any help. 

The details:
- November 2020 - bought house with 2 year fixed term mortgage with first direct
- August 2022 - shopped around for remortgage options for when my fixed term runs out, first direct offered a decent deal (I think 3.1% 5 year fixed) and I had a couple of phone conversations with them where we went over all the details, I then received an email with a contract to sign which I did, and received another email confirming I had signed. In the phone call I asked if the £500 mortgage fee could be added to the balance of the mortgage which they agreed and I wrote down a reminder to alter my standing order in November when the new fixed rate would start
- Importantly I received a text message stating 'Please phone us to talk about your recent mortgage application' which I ignored because I was on holiday and assumed it was some customer feedback thing

What had actually happened was I hadn't phoned to 'lock in the rate', looking back at the contract I signed it does say in the small print that I would need to phone after signing to lock in the rate but I didn't read it properly (14 page pdf) and simply assumed that signing the contract was enough as I had already spoken to them on the phone and confirmed all the details.

So this month I get a monthly statement showing my payments are now £1600 a month rather than the £1200 I was expecting, and after phoning them they say I didn't lock in the fixed term so I am now on the standard variable rate part of my original mortgage, but if I want a fixed term I'll have to sign up to 5.8% for 5 years as my 3.1% is no longer available.

I know this is my fault for not reading the small print but I really feel like I was mislead a bit here, is there actually anything I can do to fight this?


Thanks

You start your thread by saying First Direct have been super shady and misled you but finish by saying you didn't read the contract fully and also didn't call them when they asked you to call them about your application.

Nothing shady or misleading here at all, you messed up unfortunately. You could complain but you will ultimately be directed to the contract and the fact you didn't follow up when requested. Unfortunately its a very costly mistake for you.

london21

bookoff4718 said:

Ok so I am partly to blame here, but I think the way FD handled this is super shady and misleading, plus it has put me in quite a difficult financial situation so really would appreciate any help. 

The details:
- November 2020 - bought house with 2 year fixed term mortgage with first direct
- August 2022 - shopped around for remortgage options for when my fixed term runs out, first direct offered a decent deal (I think 3.1% 5 year fixed) and I had a couple of phone conversations with them where we went over all the details, I then received an email with a contract to sign which I did, and received another email confirming I had signed. In the phone call I asked if the £500 mortgage fee could be added to the balance of the mortgage which they agreed and I wrote down a reminder to alter my standing order in November when the new fixed rate would start
- Importantly I received a text message stating 'Please phone us to talk about your recent mortgage application' which I ignored because I was on holiday and assumed it was some customer feedback thing

What had actually happened was I hadn't phoned to 'lock in the rate', looking back at the contract I signed it does say in the small print that I would need to phone after signing to lock in the rate but I didn't read it properly (14 page pdf) and simply assumed that signing the contract was enough as I had already spoken to them on the phone and confirmed all the details.

So this month I get a monthly statement showing my payments are now £1600 a month rather than the £1200 I was expecting, and after phoning them they say I didn't lock in the fixed term so I am now on the standard variable rate part of my original mortgage, but if I want a fixed term I'll have to sign up to 5.8% for 5 years as my 3.1% is no longer available.

I know this is my fault for not reading the small print but I really feel like I was mislead a bit here, is there actually anything I can do to fight this?


Thanks

Not sure there is anyhting you can do to get the reduced 3.1% rate. 

It is strange that you said you signed the new offer and informed them to add the fee to the mortgage, not sure why they have done it that you had to call again.

Different banks and their different processes. 

The mistake you made was not calling them back about the message by assuming it was feedback, they would usually state if it is relating to feedback.

It is not much help looking back would have done this and that other than for next time.