In arrears with mortgage, due to unforseen circumstances.

I was making payments throughout the month as when I had the money to do so. I learnt that although when I had payed during a month period maybe over 2 or 3 payments the correct amount into the mortgage account, these were seen by the mortgage company as extra payments and not the regular payment due on the 28th of each month. (Tow rags I think that stinks).

Went to Court 7 months ago as mortgage company wanted to reprocess. Pleased to say the Court went in my favour.

The mortgage has been payed every month on time in full for the last 7 months including extra to pay towards the arrears.

I am charged £50.00 per month for late payment. I spoke with the mortgage company about this and they said that whilst the mortgage account has arrears on it I will be charged £50.00 per month.

I would be interested to hear from anybody that has a view on these charges and what the prospects may be of claiming them back. All those £50.00's would help no end towards the arrears.

See the thread I started below about Southern Pacific Mortgages.

See the thread I started below about Southern Pacific Mortgages.

Interesting, looks like my mortgage company 'Kensington Mortgages' comes from the same aggressive mould as 'Southern Pacific'.

I haven't posted half of what SPML tried to do to me. They've written to me asking me to be patient whilst they undertake their "investigation". These b^&*^%$£ wanted to evict me from my home two days before I exchanged contrats for its sale! My solicitor assured them that the exchange would happen but these a-holes wouldn't listen. My arrears at this point were two months of mortgage payments. I had to beg money off of friends to clear the arrears in cash so that I could sell my home to pay SPML back.

They want me to be patient with them. Yeah, right.

I haven't posted half of what SPML tried to do to me. They've written to me asking me to be patient whilst they undertake their "investigation". These b^&*^%$£ wanted to evict me from my home two days before I exchanged contrats for its sale! My solicitor assured them that the exchange would happen but these a-holes wouldn't listen. My arrears at this point were two months of mortgage payments. I had to beg money off of friends to clear the arrears in cash so that I could sell my home to pay SPML back.

 

They want me to be patient with them. Yeah, right.

That’s appalling Seminole.

Kensington have had me in Court 3 times now, but not once did they choose to tell me that the payments I made during the month did not count towards my monthly mortgage payment, but were instead considered additional payments.

I am of the opinion that companies like Kensington want to repossess the properties that they have mortgaged; it’s a win win situation for them.

I have a number of issues with them.

Late payment fees of £50.00 even when payments are on time. Any arrears at all and you are automatically slapped with a £50.00 fine every month.

Increase in repayments apparently due to the Bank of England rate going up, when you look at the Bank of England rate of interest it has not gone up at all.

The fees that they have charged to the mortgage account for the solicitors that they instructed, on one occasion £300.00 for one standard letter (not even signed by a human, computer generated signature).

Charging a small fortune for Buildings insurance that I do not require as I have taken out my own Buildings insurance at a third of the cost.

I am trying to wrap all these issues up into one package and for a change if it appears plausible I am going to take Kensington to Court (would make a pleasant change to have them in as the Defendants).

I think you can get them on the arrears fees but you will not have much luck with legal fees if they can produce an invoice from their solicitors showing that's what they've been charged. No doubt there's some deal involved here but actually proving it would be difficult.

You may find that there interest rate is related to LIBOR, like SPML. This is another sort of interest rate that tracks a bit above the base rate but can fluctuate quite a lot. The problem with this sort of mortgage is not the underlying interest rate but the margin (ie the amount you pay over the rate) which can be astronomical for the likes of Kensington and SPML but there's probably nothing that you can do about it.

I'm really interested in the early redemption penalties which for SPML which were extremely high. I'm pretty sure that they bore no relation to cost but I don't know if they can be challenged. In any event I'm about to sue SPML for my charges and, if I can, get a settlement from them for the early redemption. Otherwise, if I think I have a case, I'll sue them a second time.

My post in general is -:

does anyone know if it is legal for financial institutions to demand payment by direct debit only? Surely it doesn't matter how you pay as long as they get paid on time? Many now charge extra for payments by other methods but it doesnt cost them any more to process the transaction. It makes my blood boil being dictated to as to how I must pay, I think it should be my choice. The reason for this post is that my daughter is on benefits and gets paid weekly so I suggested she set up a standing order to pay a quarter of her mortgage every week in advance of her payment date, but her mortgagee has refused saying direct debit payment is part of the contract and no other payment is accepted. As you can imagine, with a new baby money is tight and it would be much easier for her to buget weekly when she gets paid than a whopping amount at the end of the month. She is trying her best to manage and they are actively blocking her efforts. Can they legally enforce this contractual agreement?

About the same as you, easier to make smaller regular payments but wont accept them. See the surprising replies I got. Apparantly it's the consumer being unreasonable and it's the lenders right to demand payment by whatever method and whenever thay require!!!!!! So much for sympathetic lending.

I gave a fairly full opinon on this question in the last 3 or 4 hours.

Search on posts by me containing direct debit and you should turn something up.

Sorry Bankfodder, it was the post by gomadnomad that surprised me. This is it.

Leagally a vendor can always stipulate the terms of payment and sale. I guess that if you look at it in the way that if you want to sell something to someone then you would be quite within your rights to ask for immediate payment or payment in a month by cheque or cash or whatever. I think that many financial institutions find it easier to track DD's than to have people say 'the cheque was sent three days ago havn't you got it yet?' or 'you should have got it by now i paid it in on xxxday'. It just cuts out any flexibility with regard to payment. As a business owner, I myself really could not afford to have customers dictating to me the terms of repayment....I would be bust in a week! Don't get me wrong i'm not an advocate for the banks but we do have to respect the fact that they are providing a service and expect to be paid for that service in order to make a profit. Terms of business are set by them. The point of this forum is not to challenge the right to make profit or dictate conditions of sale but to questions violations of law with regard to unfair charges. Don't mean to sound harsh it's just a point of view

He advocates above that institutions are right to demand dd payment on a certain date as they should have control over the consumers finances to ensure they pay. All well and good when things run smoothly but I thought the whole ethos of this site was that when things go wrong it isn't that easy to keep on top of things. the phrase it cuts out all flexibility of payment says it all. Like Switch, who also made smaller payments throughout the month but was stung when they still took the full payment by direct debit, is this responsible use of the bank/mortgage providers control over your money? Surely there should be flexibility if financial problems arise? I personally feel that, although not related to charges, his idea of the point of this forum is different from most others. The point of this forum, as well as to challenge legalities, is surely also to encourage a more flexible sympathetic approach to people experiencing financial difficulties? Please correct me if that is wrong.

The point of this forum, as well as to challenge legalities,

The point of this forum is to try to oblige conformity with the legalities.

As far as flexibility and a humanistic appraoch to business. This, unfortunatley is way outside of the scope of this forum - and in fact I don't really see how any one could regulate on this issue. It really is The Big Issue.

Ok. I hold my hands up to being wrong. I will no longer post replys with sympathy and advice for people in bad financial situations dut to losing jobs and now claiming benefits, businesses going bust and the many other situations posted about on this site that I can empathise with. I just thought that was the idea of a support group. Maybe thats the difference between a support group as opposed to an action group. In future it will be solely legal related.

Ok. I hold my hands up to being wrong. I will no longer post replys with sympathy and advice for people in bad financial situations dut to losing jobs and now claiming benefits, businesses going bust and the many other situations posted about on this site that I can empathise with. I just thought that was the idea of a support group. Maybe thats the difference between a support group as opposed to an action group. In future it will be solely legal related.

You are not wrong at all, but we can only do what we can do.

Flexible tailor-made solutions by the banks and other businesses would be great. However, this probably really would cost £35 a time (and the rest) as the banks would have to apply such enormous resources to it, it might even dwarf their mainstream business.

I'm afraid that it's the legalities which are the main topic here. It doesn't make us feel less supportive at all but help with the direct business of squaring up to the Banks on the question of legalities is a service which is necessary and doesn't exist anywhere else.

Less pragmatic support - (very necessary, of course) is available from many other agencies and I ask you to believe me when I say that I am fully aware of the personal pain and anguish which comes from being kicked and bullied by banking institutions.

I would venture to say, also that there is probably a very real support spin-off from The Bank Action Group.

People are delighted to discover a site like this. They are amazed and delighted to discover the truth about their banking charges - because an awful lot of people have blamed themselves for their difficult positon and their inability to mange financially. To realise that you are not the only one and that maybe the problem is not soley of your own making is very uplifting. People benefit from the sense of empowerment which they get from standing up to the banks in the way that we suggest here - and finally if/when they get their refund they have money in their pocket. they can make a move to remedying their impecunious position. They feel more confident and more certain about facing the bank next time.

Well I reckon that this is not bad going for most people.

Vix please don't get me wrong I do have sympathy when things go wrong or I wouldn't be here would I? I've screwed up really badly over the last few years and have had no sympathy from the banks. The amount they have taken from me is disgraceful and until finding this forum I was very embarressed about my financial situation. Since coming here I've been able to talk to other members about it and found that they too have felt the pinch from these charges. Its just that I'm trying to understand how the banks arrive at the decisions they make and I do not find all their terms unreasonable. As I said I run a small business and the pressure that I have felt due to charges has left me teetering on the edge of personal and company bankruptcy. However in some aspects would still have to agree with the banks terms with regard to payment. Sorry if I seem not to care for peoples different circumstances because i really do. I as much as anyone hear want to see things change I am just trying to be realistic about what I can expect from them thats all.

sorry guys but was probably a bit oversensitive yesterday. I had been trying to help my daughter sort her finances out (including claiming over a grand in charges from FD) as shes been forced to go on benefits, and the biggest outgoing is her mortgage. It was me who suggested she pay 25% of the payment weekly in advance so that its paid by the end of the month when the payment is due. Sensible, I thought, but refused point blank by the mortgage provider as they will only accept one dd on the date due. Now I do actually understand what gomadnomad is saying about payments from a business point of view, but surely as long as she pays whats due each month it doesn't matter how she pays, and its better than not getting the money at all. And I can't believe what they did to switch, taking these interim payments as extras, still taking the full monthly payment and adding charges. For most people their mortgage is the biggest outgoing and most important to keep up.

Well I have decided I am going to take this to Court, I will be doing my Particulars of Claim over the weekend.

I will be looking for a refund of the £50.00 per month for the last 26 months.

I am going to try and reclaim the £300 for one letter from Kensingtons solicitors. I figure that bearing in mind it was a computer generated letter and in the legal industry they work on time units of 6 minutes. So that would be 1 unit at £50.00 based on £300 per hour which is way over the top I would have expected an hourly charge of around £170 to maybe £200 per hour.

I am also going to claim back the monthly charge of £41.00 for buildings insurance supplied by them. I have buildings insurance that fullfills the requirements of Kensington Mortgages and they are aware that i have my own insurance but continue to keep theres in force.

I expect this one to go to Court as to date Kensington have and are nothing short of bullying financial raping sharks and i really cannot see them rolling over into submission.

Good for you. The best of luck.

No news or acknowledgment from Kensington yet.

Has anyone else had dealings with Kensington Mortgages, if so would love to hear about your experiences with them.

Regards

Switch

Hi wondering how you are getting on with Kensington as I am being charged by them

Monthly Arrears fee of £50

Would love to know whether I can start to claim this back in the same way as banks!

Thanks

Jo

No personal dealings with Kensington but have read bad reports on them bullying etc. I had a mortgage with Platform Home Loans. Moved 2 years ago and they took 3k of my house sale because I had had the mortagge with them for only 18 months so this 3k was a penalty charge. They have said so over the phone. My husband is to go up in the loft the weekend to dig out the papers relating to this mortgage and speciifcally the contract. I have asked Platform Home Loans to send me a copy but they claim they have sent 2 but I haven't received them!! If this contract says anything about penalty then I am going to file a claim. I wrote to them 10 days ago giving them 7 days to refund but no cheque. Once I start any action I will start a new topic.

The contract doesn't need to mention "penalty" for a charge to be a penalty

Well this must be a standard thing with these mortgage companies because G.M.A.C. did charge me £30 for missed dd then £50 a month for being behind with my mortgage.I'm going to move my mortgage then ram this these charges back to them right up to where the sun doesn't shine.currently waiting for halifax to send me my mortgage statements for past 12 years.Already won 3 cases against them 2 visa's 1 current your guilty you arrogant bullying robot's.

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