Woolwich mortgage charges . ***WON***

[HP Mum]

The earliest penalty charge was one in 2003, then one in 2005.

The Arrears Admin Charges & Arrears Interest started in mid 2006 and continued on and off until redemption.

[slick132]

Hi Mum,

 

The spready opens fine.

 

Re the Interest Arrears Charge, can you say what this was as it's not something I've come across before.

 

Also, I'm not sure the solicitor costs can be reclaimed if a sol'r was involved and wrote to you. But if it was simply and arrears letter that was auto-generated, claim it.

 

Perhaps the answer to the "problem" of the claim being so high is to claim a lower figure for restitutionary int't - may 9.9% to reflect the mgge rates that were applied.

 

I'll come back when Site Team input is received ............

[HP Mum]

hi

The interest arrears charge is the interest W has charged on top of the monthly mortgage payment.

So if I was late paying by a few days/a week/ a couple weeks etc, W would charge me the Admin Charge of £75 or £40. Then on top of this they would charge interest on the arrears and, I guess, their Admin Charge....

[HP Mum]

Actually the solicitor's charge was simply a letter - but it was one of the charges that was reimbursed, so does need to be deducted.

Wish I could charge £100 for my letters !

 

9.9% is still over 10k

 

 

One question, if the mortgage has been redeemed does compound interest still keep accruing?

[slick132]

We'll have to see what others think about the Interest Arrears Charges and whether they're reclaimable.

 

I'm still waiting for other input but things tend to go quieter over the w/end so bear with us

 

[HP Mum]

Thanks

(everyone watching Wimbledon !!)

 

Would it really be lawful to charge % interest on your own penalty charges ??

So W charges me £40 and then because I don't pay off the £40 on the next months mortgage payment W then charges me another £40 plus %interest on the last £40 putting the account in arrears....

[slick132]

Hi Mum,

 

Interest Arrears Fees

 

I see this int't peaked on 3rd December 2008 at £81.03 but rose to this level from the start of your spready and then reduced to zero before the mgge was redeemed earlier this year. so the charge was obviously variable.

 

I suspect they allowed themselves to charge a punitive rate of interest when you missed payments.

 

Do you still have the mgge T&C's to see if they explain what the extra charge actually is ?

 

[HP Mum]

I will go through the T&Cs / booklets that I have been sent to see if I can discern exactly what this is.

be back soon....

[slick132]

Hi Mum,

 

As the Interest Arrears Fees are effectively penalties, opinion is that they should be reclaimed in full.

 

If you use the higher interest rate of 8.39% on the spready, what results does that give.

 

[steampowered]

You can't claim 24.9% because that is a credit card rate. You can only claim the rate which was applied to your mortgage.

 

In principle, it should be possible to calculate the total amount paid to the bank for these charges. The charges were added to the mortgage balance and interest would have been applied at the mortgage rate. When you redeemed the mortgage there should, in theory, be a fixed amount which was paid to the bank for the charges, although I guess it is difficult to calculate exactly because each charge will have been subject to interest for a different time period.

 

A rough guide would be to take the base charges, and apply the average interest paid on the mortgage, for half the time period we are looking at. This is because interest on the charges levied in 2005 would run from 2005; but interest on charges levied in 2015 would run from 2015; so 2010 is about the middle.

 

From the date of redemption, the mortgage no longer existed and so you would then be entitled to interest at the statutory rate of 8% (simple not compounded) on top. This is a separate calculation and much simpler.

[HP Mum]

Hi

 

 

At 8.39% the total, on the original figures inputted, is just over 10k.

Some figures that were refunded need to be deducted.

And some added - % interest charges for last 6m.

So the balance may go down &/or up a bit.

 

 

Normally I got annual statement from 1st Jan-31st Dec - but I have not received a 6m statement up to redemption yet. Whilst I have added monthly £40 charges for the last 6m, I have not included the unknown interest W added.. I haven't even seen the redemption figure yet as lawyer handled everything.

 

 

I would like to get a letter off to them soon - it has only been a few weeks since redemption.

 

 

I'm not quite sure what you mean Steam about how to apply the interest??

Would I need to use a different spreadsheet than the one I have used so far?

 

 

Thanks all for helping/advising...

(I sent off other penalty charge & CI reclaim letters to credit cards at the w/e and am very curious as to how the wind will blow...)

[slick132]

Hi Mum,

 

Can you say what rate applied at redemption.

 

If less than 8.39%, alter the spready again and confirm the result.

 

[HP Mum]

HI

As the interest rates have been low for the last 5 years my mortgage has been accordingly lower.

5.49%

At this % rate - for the whole period - the spread total is apx £8.5k.

But the % rate for the other apx 5 years was at higher levels.

so would I do a mix of %?

[steampowered]

For the purposes of writing to the bank, I think it should be sufficient to use a rough average - somewhere in the middle between the highest and lowest rates you paid while the charges were being applied.

[slick132]

Hi Mum,

 

Before you proceed, we should ask if you're are happy to use 5.49% compound to keep the claim on the SC Track.

 

[HP Mum]

sorry for the delayed response.

 

 

I had a look at the figures again.

 

 

The midpoint between the highest % (which dates back to 06-09) and the lowest % (which dates 10-15) is 6.9%.

If apply midpoint % the total is 9k.

If I apply the lowest % charged by W the total is closer to 8.5k.

If I keep the rate at the highest % interest level charged by W the rate is over 10k.

 

 

I had penalty charges over 6m period in 09, totalling apx £500. W reimbursed start 2010.

So I need to remove these charges after W reimbursement.

At the moment they remain on the CI sheet. I'm not quite sure how I manually alter these few charges to not compound interest after reimbursement date??

How do I alter the spready to show compound interest only up to the point W reimbursed me?

 

 

Removing these charges (& their compounded interest) will reduce the overall total.

If I use the highest interest % the total will end up below the 10k mark.

Thanks, HP Mum

[slick132]

My advice is to include all charges on the spreadsheet and than manually deduct any amount repaid.

 

That way, you allow credit for the amounts already repaid but you don't lose out on restitutionary interest.

 

[HP Mum]

HI

I have gone thru the spreadsheet and deleted fees that W reimbursed. 6m of charges that were reimbursed at the end of the 6m period.

As I deleted each fee the accrued interest disappeared from the line too.

Is this the right way to do it??

And should I just leave gaps on the spreadsheet where figures have obviously been deleted? So it makes them realise that I have taken into account reimbursed charges....??

 

 

Once all the reimbursed fees were off the spreadsheet the total was just over 9k - using the highest interest % charged during the term.

 

 

Should I now draft some kind of letter and include the newly revised spreadsheet?

[slick132]

Hi Mum,

 

I said in post #87 how to deal with the refunded charges.

 

[HP Mum]

Hi I know you did. I was trying to follow what you advised but I am just not sure if I have done it right. How do I manually delete? As an example - I just clicked on the £100 sol fee and deleted it. Then the interest disappeared too. Or is there a way to delete the £100 and retain the interest? Or am I just being completely stupid....

[dx100uk]

leave the input of the charges as they were

simply enter the refund as a minus figure on the day you got it.

 

 

dx

[slick132]

Hi Mum,

 

You're not being stupid at all. I probably didn't explain myself properly.

 

Open the spready and leave in the refunded charges and interest.

 

Then manually type an adjustment to deduct the "Amount refunded on xxdate" and enter a reduced total.

 

So the spready can show the list of charges and interest in the top boxes. Then below the last charges line, enter manually a line showing.

 

Total of charges and interest £xxx.xx

 

Less refunded on xxdate £xxx.xx

 

Balance to be repaid £xxx.xx

 

You can post a copy of the spready if you want it checked. Just hide your personal data and post it as an Excel spready or a PDF.

 

[HP Mum]

Ok Thank You.

Will try this and revert back later....

[HP Mum]

Ok

I hope I did it right....

 

 

The balance was apx 10k

I added up all the charges that were reimbursed (apx £500) and simply deducted that total from the balance of all charges & CI total - at the bottom of the sheet.

The total then becomes apx 9.5k (@ 8.39%)

[HP Mum]

Doing it this way I retain the CI from being charged 6y ago to now.

Is this correct?