Halifax attempting to arrange a home visit

[tom53]

I have been struggling with the last 11 payments on my 25 year mortgage for the last few years and have not been been able to make a payment for 15 months.

 

I self employed and every month I say I must contact them and make an arrangement, but there is never any money available after I have paid everything else. I'm probably a nine (out of ten) on the CA debt scale.

 

I received a letter from the Halifax a couple of weeks ago to say they were arranging a home visit and charging me £125 for this and £100 if I am not there.

 

Last Friday I received a letter from their agent saying to email or ring them. The same day an agent called while I was our, and on Monday an agent and my wife answered the door requesting I call him.

 

I have not done anything yet, as I feel making contact would be to condone their fees, which I certainly do not.

 

I feel I should write to the Halifax with a payment plan, but have I left it too late? Can I refuse their visiting charges?

 

Thank you for any advice.

 

Tom

[BankFodder]

You do not have to accept a home visit. They are not allowed to foist one onto you and they can only occur by appointment. They are not allowed to charge you a profit margin on home visits - and £125 sounds to me as if it is a nice little earner for them.

 

Write and tell them that you are aware of the MCOBS rules and also of the fines which were levied against Redstone and also Deutchebank for precisely this kind of profiteering

[citizenB]

Aside from what BF has advised above, you should indeed contact the Lender and ask for some help. Have you spoken to them about this previously.

 

Would they be able to extend the mortgage term - they are supposed to have processes in place for situations such as this.

 

Are you saying that no payment at all has been made for 15 months?

[tom53]

No, I've not contacted them but realise it's time to do so now. Scattered payments for the last 3 years and no payments/contact from me for 15 months.

[citizenB]

Righto, I will try and find some help for you. Most of the people who help on the mortgage forums have day jobs, so it might be later today that you have any visitors.

[tom53]

Should I continue to ignore any approaches from the agent or should I email them to say I am contacting the Halifax?

[tom53]

Thanks, both of you. I will await further advice.

[citizenB]

Meanwhile, there might be some information that could help in the following link.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?392688-Repossession-Guide

 

Don't panic that it is titled "Repossession Guide".. if you scroll down the first post there is a link to "Mortgage Rescue Scheme", which I obliquely referred to earlier.

 

[Mike graham]

I will say you need to speak to Halifax regarding getting extra money out from your property. This way you can pay off your mortgage arrears and you will have some money left which can ease off your financial situation. I was in a similar situation and I did not know what to do, so I ended up downgrading my property.

[dx100uk]

I will say you need to speak to Halifax regarding getting extra money out from your property. This way you can pay off your mortgage arrears and you will have some money left which can ease off your financial situation. I was in a similar situation and I did not know what to do, so I ended up downgrading my property.

 

urm..........

 

 

the OP needs to get all of their statement from Halifax via n sar

 

then reclaim all the PENALTY charges I bet they've been charged.

 

as for the agents visits

 

refuse them.

 

you are under NO legal obl to accept them.

 

just a money making exercise.

 

dx

[tom53]

DX, that's an excellent point.

 

I must have paid several thousand over the last 28 years in charges. Current balance is around 9k and this would be more than halved - some months I received 3 letters at £35 a pop.

 

Back to the real world - what is the success rate in having these removed? Anyone know?

 

Thanks,

 

Tom

[dx100uk]

you can certainly get back 12yrs worth at THEIR int rate too!

 

dx

[tom53]

I just read that I can go back as long as I wish, so long as I make the claim within 3 years of becoming aware a claim could be made - today by DX!

 

IIRC, there have been 3 problem periods during the life of the mortgage, certainly the last three years being the worst one and I must have accrued close to £1,800 in charges during this period.

 

If we go back to previous charges, which unfortunately if you are correct, are over 12 years ago, the compound Interest applied to these would virtually wipe our the balance of the mortgage, remember the Interest rates of the 90s - a decade that started with a 15% base rate (mortgage must have been 18%).

 

Is the cut off point for unfair charges 12 years?

 

Thanks,

 

Tom

[dx100uk]

charges reclaiming are gov'nd by the statute of limitations

 

that on a mortgage is 12yrs.

 

however, it might well be interesting to put one in for the lot

 

might rattle their cage.

 

you never know!

[tom53]

Will do, whatever way, it's a point I hadn't thought of until your post - many thanks.

 

I will look out samples of SARs online, but is their anything I should take into account with mortgage charges?

 

Should I email the agent to request they make no further contact?

[tom53]

I have been reading up cases on reclaiming mortgages fees and need a bit of help to see if I am going into this the right way.

 

The High Street lenders appear better to deal with than the sub prime ones (obviously). My plan of action is:

 

1. Refrain from making contact with the agent.

2. Write a polite letter requesting that fees be returned from the start of the mortgage (appreciate maximum is 12 years) and they do not attempt to make contact via an agent. On top of this I would request the compound interest on the fees.

3. I could take out an SAR, but feel I can find annual statements for the last 12 years to confirm the fees and get an idea of the interest.

4. Agree to make regular payments I can afford *once this is sorted. I have a £550 per month five year loan ending in September.

 

Am I going about this the right way?

 

Thanks,

 

 

Tom

 

* Would it be better to start payments asap or use this as leverage?

[dx100uk]

your mortgage is by far priority no.1.

if you are paying other debts, IMHO they need to goto £1PCM...

if they are NOT priority bills.

 

as for charge reclaiming.

 

my thoughts in this instance are to pull ALL the PENALTIES [from day one]

 

in the CISHEET

 

fire that off

 

nails your intentions to the flagpole

 

let them issue a rebuttal about whatever they feel is not included

then we'll go from there

 

dx

[tom53]

Sorry DX, I can't find anything about the cisheet?

[dx100uk]

ah links not working again

 

here try this

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?330996-Latest-Spreadsheets-PPI-Claims-and-Charges-Claims-Dec-2011

[tom53]

Apologies if I'm being thick, but the spreadsheet assumes the same interest rate from when the mortgage started - I'm on about 3.75% now whereas it has been in the very high teens?

 

CAn anyone point me at a good template for a letter to reclaim mortgage fees. Happy to do myself but a template would help and can't find anything online.

Edited July 1, 2013 by tom53

[dx100uk]

use an avg then.

[tom53]

Thanks DX.

 

I don't know the amount yet, so need to change the opening paragraph to:

 

I am writing to askyou to refund the charges which you charged to myaccount in respect of late payment fees since taking out the mortgage in 1986. I have recently discovered that such fees are unlawful at Common Law, Statute and recentconsumer Regulations.

[dx100uk]

I would get your info first then.

 

dx

[tom53]

DX, I feel we are losing sight of my original goals.

 

These are to:

 

1. Refuse to accept any home visits or charges for these.

2. Come to an agreement on repaying the last 11 monthly payments of the 25 year mortgage.

3. I have been unable to make any payments for 15 months, but a sizeable loan will be shortly repaid making it easier to repay the mortgage and I want to come to an arrangement before they start legal proceedings.

 

You have made me aware of the fact that I should be able to reclaim charges and the interest on these and I am really grateful for this. However, it would take several weeks to get the information I need together for this so maybe a SAR is a cheap alternative.

 

I haven't made any contact with the lender or agent yet but do feel I should fax or email the Halifax by the end of this week to put my points across and request a refund of all charges for the full term of the mortgage plus interest (based on their figures and see what they offer).

 

Am I wrong?

 

Thanks,

 

 

Tom

[dx100uk]

if you've not made a payment for 15mts and they've only willy waved by adding letter fees

and not even? threatened court...why do you think that is?

 

because they KNOW they had you on £1000's of unlawful PENALTY charges

BF's earlier post and links refer to this.

 

believe you me , if they had a leg to stand on

 

they would have been in court quicker than say it.

 

and why don't they want to go there, but rather try and make 'an arrangement' through a fee charging 'advosor'

cause they wanna get more fees out of you - as you've not 'spotted' their fleecing of you yet.

 

if this went to court, they'd get hammered for spoofing you blind.

 

that SAR is IMPORTANT

ok you might have all the info for 12yrs, they don't know that!

they might also have even more years than what you have got!

even more info=more money back.

 

as soon as they sniff you've rumbled them, by writing a letter saying....

 

hey you've had me etc etc but not KNOW what the level is....

 

they'll get that shredder out and destroy your data, oh sorry, its gone...more than xxx yrs old...hahahahaha

 

 

 

your call

 

dx