I Was Mis-Sold My Mortgage: A Case Study

The British are famous for never complaining, but there are times when it pays to complain.

The financial markets have been swamped in recent times with firms looking to make money from people that have been mis-sold financial products.

The most common type of complaints relate to consumer credit products, but mortgages are also coming under the spotlight.

The Financial Services Authority is responsible for regulating mortgage providers. It has been forced to fine and even ban several mortgage brokers for mis-selling mortgages. This does not mean every financial institution is the same but if you suspect you have been mis-sold a mortgage you should act sooner rather than later.

Yvette had been in her mortgage deal for about two years but wanted to switch it to another lender. She was charged a £300 mortgage exit administration fee to switch lenders. She wanted to switch lenders in order to get a better rate so she was a bit annoyed about having to pay the fee.

Who Can Claim

Anyone who thinks they have been mis-sold any aspect of their mortgage should complain to the Financial ombudsman Service who will look at your case free of charge, there are a number of claims management firms in the market but they can sometimes charge.

Yvette says: "I couldn't work out why I had to pay such a high fee and I had read in the newspaper that some people were starting to claim back these types of fees from their mortgage lender."

"I was told that the fee was to cover staff, legal and administration costs, such as changing the registration of the property at the Land Registry," explains Yvette.

"I was careful not to get the fee confused with any other ones I was paying, which there were a lot of. I was unable to claim against my arrangement fees and other mortgage processing fees," explains Yvette.

How to Claim

The Financial Services Authority, the body in charge of regulating the mortgage market has deemed some mortgage administration exit fees unfair and told lenders they need to either justify them or refund the customer.

"I was told a lot of lenders are refunding clients the fee or part of the fee straight away, so it makes it easier to get the money back. I decided I would not go to the Ombudsman until I had heard back from the lender involved," says Yvette.

“I wrote them a letter and explained how much my fee had been and why I thought this was unfair,” explains Yvette.

“I heard back from them about a month and a half later and they agreed that I had overpaid and they partially refunded my fee.

“It was a great feeling to know that I had recouped some of the money I had lost. It may have only been a couple of hundred pounds, but I was happy knowing the money was in my back pocket and not theirs,” Yvette explains.

A lot of people over the past few years have tried to claim back on mortgage contracts which they think are unenforceable. While there are claims out there to be made be careful you are not claiming for claims sake and that you genuinely have reason to believe you have been mis-sold your mortgage or have been charged too much, otherwise you could waste a lot of time and possibly money.