I have rejected Northern Rocks offer of 25% of the charges and i'm just in the process of pulling together the documents for the FOS to carry out their investigation. Note: I initially chose to port my mortgage to avoid the ERC, and then I contacted them prior to my house move to get details of moving to a new product, where I was told at every turn that I would get 50% of the ERC refunded because I was staying with them, and only after completion did they tell me that I would recieve no refund. After reading in the forums I also feel that the amount of the ERC does not represent a genuine pre-estimate of loss, and this can clearly be demonstrated when I first chose to port my previous mortgage and they altered the ERC to take into account the additional £114k I added to the mortgage. So it moved from being a £7500 ERC to £11000 even though there was only 2 months left to run until I reverted to 2 years of their standard variable rate. (The mortgage was originally for 3 years at a fixed rate, and 2 further years at SVR). Would you advise raising this in the FOS papers - or keep focussed on the mis-selling angle? Have there been other cases of mis-selling similar to mine?

Thank you for your replies ... I have spoken to the FOS today who gave me some comfort. They said that if the bank has already proposed an offer it is very rare for them to recommend a settlement which is less than that which has been proposed - it all depends on the circumstances and the detail of the individual case. The only thing I appear to have to lose here is time, as they stated that they aim to reach a resolution within 6 months, but this obviously depends on the complexity of the case. Given the above, and the fact that they have only offered me £1700 I have downloaded the FOS complaints document and I will pull together all of the relevant info I have and send it to them. I am also going to write to Northern Rock rejecting their offer and notifying them of the FOS involvement. Any tips on what I should send to the FOS ... would a summary be useful, indexed docuements, or just put everything in an envelope and let them sort it out? I'll keep updating this page as things progress - hopefully helping someone else in the same or similar situation ...

Thank you - I'll try the FSA route first Am I able to say that even though the outstanding amount is £7500, I would accept £5000, thus keeping it in the small claims limits?

Hello all I am after some advise please... I recently moved home and increased my mortgage by £100k. Following discussions with a number of Northern Rock staff I chose to pay an Early Redemption Fee in the knowledge that I would recieve 50% of it back. Following completion NR then dug their heals in and stated that I wasn't entitled to any refund. Below is a copy of their final letter which highlights all of the mistakes at their side (There may be some typo's as I have retyped their letter to post here) Given that they are only offering to refund £1,700 - I am willing to risk this in order to recover full or 50% ... what should my next course of action be? I am minded to issue them a letter rejecting their offer, and giving them a number of options a) refund the Early Repayment Charge in full; b) use the funds from the new mortgage to bring the original mortgage down to its minimum level (I believe it is £100, but I need to check this) and port this over, thus incurring no Early Repayment Charge; or c) raise the issue with the FSA and Small Claims court (what are the implications of claiming £7,500 at small claims - can I do this, and is it better to notify the FSA first or just take the leap and go to court?) In addition to c) - I am also minded to notify the press and watchdog, as my wife is 7 months pregnant and suffering with Placenta previa, so the added stress associated with this issue isn't helping - would this prejudice any court case, would it be useful as a negotiation lever, or am I better off just avoiding the press?) Thank you in advance for your assistance