Mortgage fixed rate fiasco

ashmit

If anyone can make sense of this, let alone offer any advice, I will be a) grateful and b) impressed.

I bought my flat about 12 months ago. The guy who lives next door to my parents, while not a mortgage advisor any more, can still do mortgages through the company he works for. I talked to him and ended up getting my mortgage through him. It was supposed to be a fixed rate for 2 years at 3.49%. He tried to persuade me to go for a couple of other options, but that was the only one I considered and so what I went for.

Fast forward to now. I just received a letter in the post telling me that my fixed rate period is up, the Society's standard rate is 5.79% and that my payments go up approx £85 a month from 1 November. I panic. Then I go and find my mortgage paperwork. Only to find that... in my offer of the mortgage, it says 12 months fixed rate and then 12 months 1% discount off their standard rate.

So, yeah. I messed up, in that I cannot believe I didn't notice the mistake (I can't believe it! I always read the small print! etc) and apparently signed anyway. But there is no way I told him I wanted a 12 month fixed rate (and my dad, who was there for these discussions, remembers me saying 2 year fixed rate too).

However, the Society has also messed up in that the letter puts me straight back onto the basic rate, without the 1% discount.

So, what should I do? I can't afford the extra money, but I thought I had another year to worry about this (by which time my husband is due a pay rise and some of our outgoings will decrease). I can just about manage the 1% discounted rate but was hoping to use that money to pay off some of my debts in the meantime. But do I have any comeback at all to get the 2 year fixed rate that I asked for honoured? Or even something slightly higher to take into consideration that interest rates have risen in the meantime? I realise that the best answer is to talk to them - I'm going to see the guy who did my mortgage at the weekend while I'm visiting my parents anyway (and by which time I should have calmed down and stopped panicking), but it'd be nice to know if I have a leg to stand on.

Thanks in advance and congratulations if you got all the way through this....!

Mortgageman

First things first, contact your current lender and make sure they put you on to the lower rate, as this was what was detailed in the offer the made to you.

Also, check if there are any "Early repayment Charges".

You then need to try and find the documentation from the "company" that you got the mortgage through (is this a bank / B Soc / or an adviser?)

You are looking for two main things here - the first is the level of service you were given under the mortgage code, and the second (and this may not exist) is the suitability letter (which will explain why the product is suitable for you)

Once you've done all of that, post back here and we will look at next steps

MM

ashmit

This is part of the problem... I think I am locked in for two years and there will be penalties for remortgaging, but as it's due to their error (or an error of their staff) I think they should let me out early if that is best for me.  But I'll check the paperwork tonight.

I got the mortgage through a building society.  The guy who organised it for me works for the building society and used to be one of their mortgage advisors but has moved departments - but can still put through mortgages.  He organised my sister's too a few months later - I'm going to get her to check her paperwork too.

I'll look out the paperwork tonight for the things you ask about and post again. And thanks.

ashmit

I have a feeling that the answer is going to be no, but... do I have a snowball in hell's chance of getting them to honour the two year fixed rate that I originally asked for?

Or did I forfit any right to that when I signed without checking (insert rant at own idiocy here)?