Where to begin?

Jenna64 · 9 November 2017 at 3:49PM

Wondering if anyone can help / has experience of this.

My old mortgage company and a second mortgage company have both written to me, independently of each other, and both are offering me refunds for certain fees I shouldn't have been charged for, etc.

Does anyone know anything about mortgage companies and loan companies having charged over and above what they should have? I'm trying to work out whether these letters are for genuine mistakes.....or are they trying to cover over something more and if I agree to take these refunds, do I stop myself from being entitled to pursue them later on.

I do actually believe I paid back far too much in fees to one company, tens of thousands. Long story, but because of the stressful events of the past few years I've not done anything about it.

I only want to look into what is correct, but anyone have any idea where to start? I called a solicitor and they said they'd offer me 30 mins for £150. I can't really afford that because it's bound to go up, I won't get everything covered in 30 mins.

Just interested in people's thoughts on this. Thanks

dunstonh · 9 November 2017 at 4:22PM

Does anyone know anything about mortgage companies and loan companies having charged over and above what they should have? I'm trying to work out whether these letters are for genuine mistakes.....or are they trying to cover over something more and if I agree to take these refunds, do I stop myself from being entitled to pursue them later on.

The lenders should be refunding exactly what the overpayment was. No more. no less. There is no haggling involved here. The process is defined.

Jenna64 · 9 November 2017 at 4:31PM

dunstonh wrote: »

The lenders should be refunding exactly what the overpayment was. No more. no less. There is no haggling involved here. The process is defined.

That's all I'm trying to establish, thanks. Someone told me that if you agree to payments, they don't have to pay you what you are really meant to get back. I'm just wanting to be sure I do things properly

[Deleted User] · 9 November 2017 at 4:33PM

Jenna64 wrote: »

I called a solicitor and they said they'd offer me 30 mins for £150. I can't really afford that because it's bound to go up, I won't get everything covered in 30 mins.

In your situation you certainly don't need to go to the expense of consulting a solicitor. As Dunston says above, the refunds you have been offered by the Banks concerned are not somehow negotiable.

However, if you feel the reasons you should be refunded more are compelling, then you should write to the banks and make your case. They have eight weeks to respond.

Jenna64 wrote: »

Someone told me that if you agree to payments, they don't have to pay you what you are really meant to get back.

Why would that be the case? Certainly if you accept the refund that will be the end of it, but that doesn't mean you will get less than you are due.

dunstonh · 9 November 2017 at 4:43PM

Jenna64 wrote: »

That's all I'm trying to establish, thanks. Someone told me that if you agree to payments, they don't have to pay you what you are really meant to get back. I'm just wanting to be sure I do things properly

That is not the case. The FCA would have a field day with the lender if they were doing that. You would be talking multi-million pound fines, bad coverage in the press and having to pay for all the work to be done again.

This is not an acceptance of a goodwill gesture. in those cases, you do agree to end the process. Where it is an incorrect/overpayment, the amounts are defined by how much the incorrect/overpayment was.

If they were offering the refund of the overpayment/incorrect payment and a goodwill gesture of £100 on top, then accepting that would prevent you from going back later to try and get that goodwill gesture upto £200. However, if it turned out that the overpayment amount was wrong, then it doesnt matter whether you accepted an earlier amount. They would be required to correct it again as it is a defined process. You see this happening with some PPI cases where people are getting a second payout years later due to an incorrect calculation.

Jenna64 · 9 November 2017 at 7:12PM

I'll respond properly soon, I'm in the middle of cooking for visitors...but this is helpful. The thing that made me nervous is that in one of the letters it says if I don't cash the cheque then I will lose the opportunity to have the funds (as in, in future). I worried that this meant they were putting pressure on me to 'settle' whatever the problem was.

I will explain properly later, but thanks everyone, I'm a little clearer.

Jenna64 · 6 January 2018 at 3:45PM

dunstonh wrote: »

However, if it turned out that the overpayment amount was wrong, then it doesnt matter whether you accepted an earlier amount. They would be required to correct it again as it is a defined process. You see this happening with some PPI cases where people are getting a second payout years later due to an incorrect calculation.

Thanks. I can see where you're coming from Dunstonh, I hope this is the law though, because I'm sure I've heard that once you take an amount back, you have, in law, agreed to that being settled. I'm probably wrong, but I just hope so. I'm not saying they're trying to pull the wool over my eyes or anyone else's, but any business who can, by law, get an agreement and settlement at a lower amount will try it won't they? And there would be no comeback if it's lawful to do this, so there would not be millions of claims.....

I'm happy to be corrected if you know the facts re the law.

[Deleted User] · 6 January 2018 at 4:01PM

Jenna64 wrote: »

I'm probably wrong, but I just hope so.

Don't worry, you are.

No lender will risk the consequences of flouting the regulations. It's simply not worth it.

Can you imagine a CEO risking their million pound bonus and a spell in prison just to save their business a few quid?

Where to begin?

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