NEW Mortgage Exit Fees Discussion

A question about : NEW Mortgage Exit Fees Discussion

This discussion relates to Martin's updated

Mortgage Fees Article
(see old discussion thread here)

To discuss or ask a question about the article: click reply

To report your experiences go to the Mortgage Exit Fees successes and failures thread

Extra Note - We have had lots of comments about what is and isn't included as a MEAF. The article has been updated to include the following text:

What a MEAF isn't.... don't get it confused

This is a strict ruling and only applies to exit fees. Application fees and others that are paid when originally getting the mortgage aren't included.

Also while MEAFs sound similar to ‘early repayment fees', commonly known as 'redemption penalties' again they're not the same thing. Early repayment fees are charged if you repay or switch mortgage during a special deal, such as a fixed or discount rate (see the Mortgage Guide / Remortgage Guide for details) whereas exit fees apply at all times.

For full details, see the Mortgage Fees Reclaiming article.

Best answers:

• We have re-mortgaged so many times in the last 10 years i don't have the contracts or redemption breakdowns from any of the lenders. what should iask them to send me when i call?
  we could have bought a new house with all the fees we have been charged over the years!
  i am determined to see if i can get anything back, but i don't really understand what a MEAF is and what other name it could have? Could it be the Ј175 mortgage repayment administration fee from the Halifax in 2006?
  or the Ј225 repayment fee from the Abbey in 2005?
  we have also had mortgages with EGG and Nat West but no paperwork from them anymore.
  please help. We are desperate, desperate, desperate for a little extra money and this could potentially be the answer to my prayers.
  sally xxx
• Thanks for the update. I am not quite sure about asking for interest on top though. The table states that only 3 of all the lenders will pay interest, and none of them at 8%, so why trying to twist their arm? As I understood from the bank charges forum is that interest can only really be claimed when going to court, so why go to court for a few pounds of interest?
• mortgage discharge fees
  Hello
  I am wanting to confirm if I have a case to reclaim any fees from my last morgage lender?
  I redeemed the morgage early.
  I repayed £64630.56 of £126,117.28 (10 year mortgage taken out in September 2001) to Northern Rock 1.8.03 , re- morgaged £65,000 with the Halifax.
  The paid up date with Northern rrock for full mortgage repayment should have been 2008 with 'no penalty clause' applicable after two years.
  the final statement from Northern Rock lists charges as follows, and as I am not sure what is reclaimable, I would like some advice ?-
  1. Deeds despatch Fee £80.00
  2. Discharge Fee £95.00
  3. Help with costs £400.00
  thanks for any advice you can give
  PHOEBE
• Hi Pheobe
  You can request a refund for the difference between the original charge quoted in your contract and the actual charge paid, for the Deeds Despatch Fee and Discharge Fee but not the 'help with costs'. Some lenders are treating the deeds despatch as a separate fee but others treat as one, so ask for both and see what they say.
  Good Luck,
  Wendy
• Hello, I'm in the same boat as Funny-about-munny and would really apprecaiate some help and advice. I took out my forst mortgage with the Halifax in Dec 2004. I just remortgaged (to Nationwide) in Jan 2007. I noticed that on my final Halifax statement it says "Repayment Admin Fee = £175.00". I don't have the original Halifax document which states what the repayment charge would be. Does anyone know if I can claim anything back and if so what is the best way to do it?
  Thank you very much in advance. Your help would be greatly appreciated.
• Wendy thanks for
  your help. sorry about all the messges but not sure how the site works?
  Thanks anyway - very helpful
  PHOEBE
• I have to disagree with this section in the updated article:
  Quote:
• I arranged a mortgage in June 05 with BIM, and had the contract stated a release fee of 195. When i remortgaged last year i was indeed charged 195. Can i still claim back any fees as i still think this fee is high for the work involved??
  Thanks
• When i arranged my mortgage, the fee quoted was 195, and this is what i was charged when i remortgaged. However, I still feel that this charge is not reflective of the costs incurred, and when i have written to the bank, they say they will not refund, as i sighned up for this fee.
  What else can i do???
• Hi, just to let people know. My mortgage started with the Halifax in Dec 2004. I remortgaged to the Nationwide in Feb 2007 and the Halifax charged me Ј175 exit fee.
  I just phoned them on 08451 203033 and they said that my mortgage exit fee when I took out my mortgage in Dec 2004 was Ј115 and they would send a check for Ј60.
  I told the guy on the phone that some people were getting varying amounts and he said it's because the fee varied from month to month i.e. the fee in March 2004 was Ј75 but in Dec 2004 it was Ј115. I didn't have the original statement to check if Ј115 was correct so I just accepted the Ј60. I hope that this was the right thing to do and that helps some people.
• I just found this link: http:
  //www.thisismoney.co.uk/mortgages/article.html?in_article_id=417037&in_pag...
  It gives you a list of Mortgage providers and the relevant dates and exit fee charges. Worth having a look before going on the phone.
  Hope it Helps
• I conacted Barclays today by phone on the number listed here only to be told that we had never been charged an exit fee:confused:
  Not that I dont trust Barclays or anything but is this a new dodging tactic?
  or has anyone else eperienced the same?
  cant talk to my new mortage provider at the mo so cant find out if this is the case.
• We have paid our mortgage off with Nationwide except just Ј1, this allows us to obtain another loan without all the paperwork, so they said. But also we have not paid the exit fee of Ј90. Does anybody know whether we would still now have to pay this sum (Ј89).
• Can anyone tell me if we would be able to reclaim anything, we have changed mortgage 2 or 3 times in the past 7 years but have always stayed with Chelsea Building Society. We have always waited until after the early repayment period ends so that we don't get hit with that fine but we have always been charged an admin fee for changing the mortgage product. All the articles I have read on re-claiming fees have related to either paying off the mortgage in full or moving companies so I am wondering if we have a case if we stayed with the same company but changed mortgage with them? The latest change was in January this year and the fees charged were a whopping Ј640!!! To stay with the same company and just change the product we have with them this seems a rather extortionate amount of money! Do you think I should write to them and complain or do I not have a case?
• There have been lots of good questions posted, so though i'd try and answer a few to give everyone an idea of what they can do to get their refunds.
  Funny about munny - yes the mortgage repayment administration fee from the Halifax and the repayment fee from the Abbey both count. The refund you will get will depend on when you started your contract, just phone them up to find out. The same goes for any lenders you don't have the details for, phone them up in the first instance to see that they can tell you. If they can't help you can then look for the info elsewhere, but they may be able to tell you all you need to know. Well done for the successful claim of unfair charges, hopefully this will get you a bit of extra cash too
  Borolee - If you think the fee you were charged is too high, your case would be harder but you could try the militant approach mentioned in the mortgage exit fees article. Alternatively, lenders may reduce their fees in the next few months and you could ask to be charged this reduced fee, if and when your lender decides to do this.
  Gesso - if you have been told you're not entitled to a refund check to see if the fee changed in price over your contract term, this would depend on when your contract started and finished.
  DorothyA - leaving a little bit left on your mortgage is fine as long as your lender allows an account to remain open at this amount. If they do you shouldn't have to pay the exit fee.
  JulieBarlow - the admin fee for changing mortgages sounds like an arrangement fee rather than an exit fee, if in doubt you could ring and ask.
  Regards, Wendy
• Hi we bought our house in 1996 and took out a mortgage with TSB which then became a C&G mortgage. About two years ago we moved our mortgage to egg and was charged a MEAF, we have none of the original mortgage paper work left and nothing to show what we were charged at the time, my question is will C&G have all the details needed even from before it became C&G?
  Steve
• If a mortgage was taken out in 1991 as an endowment mortgage, changed in 1996 to a repayment mortgage and changed in 2004 to an interest-only mortgage, then paid off in 2006, could you still claim the difference between 2006 and 1991, or would they say it was a different product and the only difference they can pay out is between 2004 and 2006?