I had an interest only mortgage with Rooftop Mortgages which became overdue for repayment. Always planned to sell to repay...no problem, and Rooftop was aware of this. Never missed or late with payment. However a few months ago I had a letter from their Solicitors simply asking what my proposals for repayment were, and then stated that if not repaid, repossession proceeding etc would be taken and IF THAT happened there would be legal fees. Nothing happened, the house has been sold and the mortgage repaid. However, the redemption statement included fees of £926!! I have raised a Formal Complaint with Rooftop about these not being justified but accepted the redemption figure as I did not want to delay completion of the sale/repayment of the mortgage). I await their response. I told Rooftop that following completion I would issue a SAR and then proceed to the Financial Ombudsman to recover these unjustified fees. My question is: Is the Financial Ombudsman the best route to go to do this?

I had an interest only mortgage with Rooftop mortgages that expired March last year. It was always planned that the repayment would be from the sale of the property (never late or missed payments). Unfortunately did not sell until this month. Redemption statement shows £726 in 'fees'. In September last year I had a letter from solicitors appointed by Rooftop - in that letter they asked for my repayment intentions (which Rooftop already knew) and stated that I would be liable to costs IF the actions appended (ie court hearing/repossession) were proceeded with. None of that happened. The solicitors have been a courier service to relay messages back and fore as I am abroad and Rooftop do not use email (their solicitors do...) Their contact comprises two letters from Rooftop attached to their emails.....six emails 3-4 lines each, mostly acknowledging my updating them. I am presuming this 'fee' is for solicitor intervention, but their letter in September clearly states I would be liable for costs only if the court hearing etc were actioned. Attempting to clarify with Rooftop but obviously I want the sale to go through as quickly as possible - can I pay/protest now and then contest this charge 'after the settlement'? Possibly by going to the Finnacial Ombudsman?

Hi Aviva My Mother in law (and late Father in law) took out an Equity release deal with NU (now Aviva) in early 2002 They did sign on the dotted line and had IFA advice (family member who was an IFA) ....they wanted to tuck some money away for the future plus pay off a few bills....although in truth they did not understand the nature and impact of the redemption penalty rules (few would..) 11 years on she is a lonely widow and wants to downsize from the house - her husband died 5 years ago now and she is lonely + its to big to heat and manage, the stairs are becoming a struggle for her and in truth we would prefer her nearer to us now in a retirement home and in a quieter area (she is in Bromley Kent). we are over an hour away and want her 10 mins away ....Summary the £50k loan is now £118k......cant despute that .....but the redemption penalty clause states its based on the Redemption Gilt yield differential between Jan 2002 and the date of redemption for the UK 2028 6% Treasury bonds ouch ! - current yield is around 2.7% vs 4.7% in 2002..........the rules state that even a 2% differential equates to a 50% penalty on the original loan (thats another £25k on top of the £118k) The IFA family member died a few years back and the IFA came for a chat then - but were not interested in her as there were no more commissions to be earned ..........so I had to write to aviva last week to request full costs and terms if we do close out the Loan......... we have the document and its £135k including a £15,000 redemption fee at current rates I have written to my solicitor for advice Meanwhile perhaps here I can request directly heres that someone at Aviva can review this contract now and reduce (or at least cap) the somewhat incredulous penalty fees ? I read that in 2004 a (25%) cap was placed on the NU/Aviva penalty clauses due to the unfair nature of earlier agreements - so could I at least request that ? my other issue is that due to the dynamic market I have no lock in to what this redemption will be until the actual day of redemption ........this means I am trying to agree a moving net price with the retirement home .......this is not good and is causing a lot of grief for the family as it will take a few months to sell the house and we need every penny to secure a nice property and no I do not want any further offers of more equity release ..enough is enough thanks to Aviva in advance for some urgent advice.........just a contact will do please thanks Neil

Hi, I don't do Facebook so I have started a thread on the MoneySavingExpert forum - The Acenden (administered mortgage) Escape Committee in the section called "Mortgage Free Wannabe" (I can't post links here yet). - Acenden have apparently recommenced selling mortgages on behalf of their new owners. Do join me there. I will post more information on that new thread in a while, eg about the danger signs that indicate that Acenden means to repossess. Everyone's case is unique but there are things we can to help each other get clear of these cowboys.

Are early redemption fees are claimable ? Just we had a secured loan for 18,000 then needed to borrow more so got a 36,000 secured loan and was charged exit fees and it was the same company (ge) this was about 8 years ago . Both loans were through a broker and I have the paperwork .

Hi All, Im just new here, and am really hoping I can get a wee bit of advice. I took a secured loan with GE Money in September 2004. In November of that year, I suffered an injury at worked that resulted in permanent disability. Things have been very difficult since then, and I have been juggling the small amount of money I have to try to at least pay my creditors. The loan was taken at £7000, plus interest of £1050, making a total of £8050. Although payments were sporadic, over the next 10 years I paid to the account £10,333.44. Due to a load of bad circumstance, I am now forced to sell my home or risk repossession. I asked GE Money for a redemption figure, and they have sent me a total of £10,824.93. After I pay this, I shall have paid the grand total of £21,158.37, for an original loan of £8,050. I have not much experience in finance, and I fully acknowledge that payments being made on time would not have resulted in extra interest being added, but paying 2 1/2 times the original loan amount seems pretty harsh. Can anyone please advise? I tried the FCA but they said they do not handle individual cases.

Hi I had a five year fixed term deal with the halifax which expired in February this Year which reverted back to the standard variable rate so I presumed there would be no redemption penalty when I sold my flat . I had a surprise when my redemption was two thousand pounds more than the amount i borrowed . I called the halifax and they couldnt explain to me what the charges were and I spoke to two different customer service agents , they both just said it was interest on the loan . As the mortgage was interest only and I was paying this back monthly anyway I am bewildered as to what these charges are . I am going into a branch tomorrow to get a better explanation ,just wondered if anyone else could help ?

My Wife and I took out a 5 year fixed rate mortgage with the Chelsea Building Society last year, and at the time we had no intention of paying off the mortgage early and the early charge was not a factor. Now my Wife and I have decided to buy a plot of land and do a Self Build, unfortunately, Chelsea do not offer a self build mortgage and as a result we will have to leave Chelsea for another Lender. The issue I have is that a 4% penalty is excessive given that the BoE base rate is 0.5% and that Chelsea will borrow funds at a much lower rate than 4%. Can I challenge the rate on the basis it is excessive? Thanks

I have two mortgages coming to and end in April 2013 and both have never been in default with a missed payment. I have written to Messers Topaz Finance plc and Ameber Homeloans by ecorded mail that both propertiteis are in negative equity and to sell them will leave me with owning them money i do not have. Both Companies have come back and stated that they will be exercising the natural redemption on the appropriated date. Can some one please point me in the direction I should be going I used treating the customer fairly it falls on deaf ears

I re-mortgaged over 5yrs ago.There was an early redemption fee for 6.000 pounds up to 3yrs then there is a months interest of 675.00 for the remainder of the term.I'm now out of the 3yrs .So is all of this right for the Broker to have done so?Also the original loan shows the amount for the mortgage and the amount added to this for 3.000.00 pounds so on any letters from them they show the original Mortgage with these totals as the total amount borrowed.So can the mortgage broker charge interest on these too?I've found a letter from them dated nearly 4 yrs ago in old paperwork and they mention the redemption fees incurring a penalty.they state that they might not of fully established that the mortgage was affordable and they point out to an interest only,length of the mortgage and 'Involved a remortgage that incurred penalties.