Get Tough On Mortgage Exit Fees

In part three of our guide to reclaiming mortgage fees, we tell you how to get tough on lenders who are resisting your demand to refund your exit fees.

What, still here? That must mean that your mortgage company sneered down the phone at you, and then pooh-poohed your first letter (see How To Begin Your Claim For Mortgage Exit Fees). Your next step to recover your mortgage exit fees, then, is to write a second letter. This letter is often called a 'letter before action'. Court action, that is.

Here's a template:

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Dear (Insert name)

Account no: (your mortgage account number)

I am disappointed that you have not agreed to refund the charges on my account in relation to mortgage exit fees, despite the fact that they are unlawful at common law, under statute and under recent consumer regulations.

I am enclosing a schedule of the charges that I am claiming.

I require repayment in full of this money. If you do not comply fully within 14 days then I shall begin a claim against you for the full amount plus interest plus my costs and without further notice.

Yours sincerely

(Sign your name)

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Your schedule of charges should be on a separate sheet of paper, headed 'Schedule of Charges'. On it, you should list each exit charge (if there is more than one: see paragraph four of How To Begin Your Claim For Mortgage Exit Fees). Write the total at the bottom of the list.

The Financial Ombudsman Service

Alternatively, you could complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). This is a free service that could order the mortgage lender to repay some or all of the charges. My opinion is that the FOS probably wouldn't go so far as to order the lender to repay the whole lot. Instead, they'll probably stop where the FSA did. However, I could be wrong. If you claim through the FOS, then please let everyone know how it goes!

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