
Mortgage Fee
There are various of forms of charges which we can potentially recover in relation to your present or past mortgage accounts.
Early Repayment Charges
Arrangement fees
Mortgage Exit Fees
High Lending Fees or Mortgage Indemnity Insurance
Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance
What Mortgage fees can we reclaim?
Mortgage Early Repayment Charge?
When a customer wishes to repay a mortgage early, mortgage lenders will usually penalise consumers by charging an early repayment charge. This usually applies to specific products such as fixed or discounted rates rather than standard variable rates.
A typical fee will range from £1500 to over £12000. We have researched how these fees have been applied and whilst a certain charge may well apply we would look at the recovery of the majority if not all of the applied fee or fees taken from a clients mortgage or mortgages over the last 6 years.
These penalties are known as early repayment charges (previously known as redemption penalties). They can run into several thousand pounds. Usually the penalties will apply for as long your special deal lasts. For example, on a five-year fixed rate the penalties will normally apply during the first five years of the mortgage. But, with some deals, penalties last longer than the deal. That means you're tied in to your lender's standard rate for a period of time and you're only able to switch if you pay the penalty (see 'Extended early repayment charges' below).
The penalties are normally expressed in one of four ways:
- as a number of months' interest
- as a percentage of the advance (the amount you originally borrowed)
- as a percentage of the sum repaid
- as a percentage of the outstanding balance
In some cases the penalty reduces each year. For example, on a three-year fixed mortgage the penalty might be six months' interest in the first year, five months' interest in the second year and four months' interest in the third year. Generally reducing penalties such as these are better than flat penalties. But you need to look at them on a case-by-case basis. For example, you may find a three-year fixed mortgage with a penalty of three months' interest in each year. In this particular example, the flat penalty would be cheaper than the above reducing penalty.
Extended redemption penalties
On some deals the penalties last longer than the special deal. These are known as extended early repayment charges penalties (previously known as overhanging redemption penalties).
Imagine a three-year discounted rate deal that reverts to the lender's standard rate after the three years, with a five-year penalty period. With this deal your monthly payment will jump up at the end of the three-year period as you move on to the lender's standard rate. But, if you want to get out of the mortgage, you'll have to pay early repayment charges even when you're paying the lender's standard rate. Paying the penalties might wipe out any advantage you'd get from switching to a lower rate - so in this case you're tied in to the lender's standard rate for two years.
Deals with extended early repayment charges tend to be the ones with heavy upfront discounts. They may appear very attractive at first sight, but you should make sure you know how much the penalties are and consider whether you're happy to be tied into the lender's standard rate. You may be better off paying a slightly higher rate and avoiding these extended penalties.
Mortgage Exit Fee?
Mortgage lenders charge a mortgage exit fee when consumers exit their mortgage contracts to cover the administration costs incurred, such as changing the registration at land registry. The fee is charged whether the mortgage runs to the full term or is repaid early.
The costs relating to these fees can vary from £150 to £350. We can apply to your lenders or lenders that you have had over the last 6 years whom have taken fees to recover a full refund on your behalf.
Mortgage Arrangement Fee?
When a mortgage is first taken out and in order for a to secure a specific interest rate for a specific period of time a mortgage lender may charge a customer an arrangement or booking fee to cover its costs in ‘buying in’ the funds from wholesale money markets.
This fee is usually added to the mortgage where interest is applied, where fees range from £500 to £3000. It is possible that these fees can be recovered in part or full depending on how the charge was detailed and applied when the loan was arranged.
High Lending Fee (Mortgage Indemnity Insurance)
When a client obtains a mortgage they may well have to pay a high lending fee where the percentage of borrowing to property value, is high. This fee is normally £1500 to £3000.
This fee is taken so that if the house is repossessed and there is a shortfall. (House sold £100,000, Mortgage outstanding £110,000, shortfall £10000) the bank has the £10,000 shortfall insured. This is insured by the premium that the client has paid so the bank loses nothing. However, not only has the client paid to insure this shortfall so that the lender does not lose but the insurance company that has paid the £10,000 to the bank takes action against the client to recover the £10,000.
Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance
Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) is sold alongside mortgage products when the mortgage is granted and added to the loan. Though it is meant to protect a borrower against the risk of being unable to make repayments in the event of unexpected circumstances such as an accident, sickness or unemployment, it frequently fails to do so.
If you have taken out a mortgage payment protection insurance will almost certainly have come into the equation. Of course, PPI can be a lifesaver for some people but government figures suggest they represent a tiny minority. Statistics reveal only 4% of people ever claim on their PPI policies and that one in four of these claimants is refused. Small print exclusions and administrative nightmares are usually to blame.
Payment protection insurance can also be staggeringly expensive. The Citizens Advice Bureau reports that PPI premiums can add between 13% and 56% to the price of a loan. Payments can also carry high interest charges when lenders add insurance charges to the loan total. Even more worrying, you might have payment protection insurance without even knowing about it. Some unscrupulous sales people automatically include payment protection insurance in the quotes they give for monthly loan repayments.
Mortgage charges
The phrase 'mortgage fees' strikes terror into the hearts of millions of homeowners or prospective homeowners. A mortgage is generally the most significant investment of an individual's life and for the plethora of lenders a multi million pound industry. When these huge amounts of money are being discussed and moved around it is sometimes easy to overlook some of the fees, which represent a small proportion of the total sum but are significant to the borrower none the less.
Here at Bank Complaints the purpose of our business is to help you sift through the associated paperwork and ensure you are not paying or have not been charged mortgage fees that are not applicable to you.
There are a number of charges which we can potentially recover in relation to a customers present or past mortgage account, these include, but are not limited to: Mortgage Redemption Fees, Arrangement Fees and Mortgage exit fees. When a customer wishes to repay a mortgage early, mortgage lenders will usually penalise the customer with an early repayment charge. At Bank Complaints we have researched how these charges are levied and have concluded that in a number of cases we can recover the majority, if not the whole amount of fees paid. If you think you have paid unnecessary fees appertaining to your mortgage, call Bank Complaints. Bank Complaints provide a no-win, no fee service so you have nothing to lose; it could be time for you to reclaim the mortgage fees that are legally yours.
Reclaim those fees
For the uninitiated or for those who work outside of the world of finance, the whole mortgage and associated fees industry can be mind boggling, here at Bank Complaints we have the necessary knowledge base to provide you with impartial advice about what you can claim back and what the mortgage fees were actually for. Mortgage lenders charge a mortgage exit fee when consumers exit their mortgage contracts to cover any administrative costs incurred, such as changing the registration at HM Land Registry. The fees are applicable if a mortgage is exited early or runs the full term.
We can apply to your lenders that you have had over the past six years and recover a full refund on your behalf.
When a mortgage is first taken out, a potential customer will usually select one with a specific interest rate for a specified period of time, mortgage fees are usually levied in this case to cover the lenders outlay in 'buying in' funds from wholesale money markets. If you have paid any of the following fees, Bank Complaints may be able to recover them for you. Mortgage exit fee, (A fee paid, generally £200-£300) Arrangement fee, (A variable fee taken at the start of the mortgage) mortgage repayment fee. (A calculation when you move lenders, normally a one off variable charge) It really does pay to consult the specialists when attempting to recover mortgage fees, at Bank Complaints we pride ourselves on the range of services we offer and the appropriate advice that we give to potential customers, your reclaimed fees are our job satisfaction.

