kensington mortgages - secured loan - problems, problems problems

[knowledgesercher]

I took out a second mortgage, secured loan for £6k over 5 years and starting to run into payment problems after about 3 years into the payments.

 

I had other credit issues too, payday loans, credit card arrears and foolishly let the arrears build up on the secured loan too.

 

I now have a real problem as KM have been charging me a 50.00 arrears fee per month plus a 5.00 default fee.

 

They also send out monthly, sometimes quarterly statements, but the amount are very hard to understand as the contractual payments

(5 years should have ended last November) and now there should be arrears and interest being added (not ideal but i could at least understand that)

 

I have received varying amounts of what they claim to be the arrears amount and the outstanding amount.

 

I have a recent letter from feb 2012 advising that the balance is £2900 but the outstanding amount is £2600.

 

I called them to try and sort this out in March and they advised that the difference was due to the fact that contractual monthly amounts

were being added to the balance in error as the mortgage had technically finished in Nov 2011.

 

In Mar 2012 I received another letter stating that the balance was £3476.00 ( an increase of £500 from Feb).

 

I called and queried this yesterday and was advised that the balance was not correct due to contractual payments being added

( sounds familiar) and to call back and talk to another dept this morning.

 

I called, before going to work and was advised that the balance was £3098.00.

I asked about the letter claiming £3476 and they put me hold.

I was then advised they needed to order a redemption statement as it would calculate everything correctly.

( hang on, I thought I was dealing with the finance credit team).....

 

I have racked up probably £1200 worth of these £50 arrears fees and interest on top.

 

I also have examples of really bad admin ( other customers letter sent to me)

 

an apology letter was sent out 6 days after receiving an arrears warning letter to say that they had made a mistake,

 

another letter sent in 2011 advising that on reviewing my account they found interest errors going back to 2006-2008

and were making an adjustment of £31 credit to my account.

 

and most alarmingly ..... a letter stating that some data (personal, name, address, and other details) had been given to a 3rd party company in error !!!

they again apologised and said they were taking the matter seriously.

 

All in all, I may have not paid on time and should charged some kind of fee, but..... £50 per month plus interest and they seem to be totally in a mess,

advising incorrect amounts , losing data and apologising for either incorrect letters or interst calculations.

 

Sorry for such a long rambling thread but they are really stressing me out now and any advice or pointers on what I can do would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

[dx100uk]

get reclaiming

 

all those fees are unlawful PENALTY charges.

 

dx

[knowledgesercher]

thanks for the reply.

 

Just to confirm I did have a payment arrangement in place but could not keep to it. Can I still claim 100% of all the charges plus the compound interest back on them?

 

Rgds

[dx100uk]

yes they are PENALTY charges that do not reflect the true cost of their admin.

 

type in reclaim mortgage charges top right search

 

get reading.

 

dx

[knowledgesercher]

thanks for the info.

 

KM are trying to charge me for everything ( arrears fees, counsellor visit, default fees, etc)

 

would you recommend that I pay off the loan in order to get my security back and then make claims for everything

(which will take time) or challange them now whilst the arrears and balance are still live?

 

I'm a bit worried that they may start repossession proceedings and rack up even more charges if they have a chance and put me in a vulnerable position.

 

Thanks in advance!

[dx100uk]

no get reclaiming now.

 

dx

[ukaviator]

Hi

 

Just to let you know this bunch Kensington have been fined £1.225m by the financial regulator for treating borrowers who were in arrears unfairly. Claim those charges back plus the interest and tell them not to add any more to the account. There are a few news stories here you can get the info for a letter to send to them.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8615870.stm

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/borrowing/mortgages/7581990/Kensington-Mortgages-fined-2.3m-by-the-FSA.html

 

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/library/communication/pr/2010/065.shtml

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/apr/12/fsa-kensington-mortgages-fine

[dx100uk]

great that what i remembered too

 

logged now for future ref

 

thanks UK

 

dx

[ukaviator]

Your welcome, I have tackled this company on quite a few occasions and normally back down when you mention the fine.

[knowledgesercher]

Thanks for the articles & references.

 

I had a look and just wanted to make sure that you think I'm good to go on a claim as my arrears only started from mid 2009 and the articles say that KM were bad during 2007/8,

 

The main charges they are hitting me with on monthly basis are titled for 50.00 each and the note below states:-

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

we are not entitled to charge you interest on the default sums for the first 28 days after giiven you this notice. However, if the sums are not paid in full by that date interest will be charged at the rate of 14.55%. Since this interest rate is a variable rate the rate which we will apply to the default sum once the 28 days have passed may be different.

Yours faithfully

Credit management dept

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

They also charge a 5.00 default fee on a separate letter?

 

 

 

Thanks again to everyone helping me out on this!!!

[dx100uk]

go get 'em!!!

and dont forget the 14.55% interest compounded either!!

 

 

dx

[ukaviator]

The FSA has found numerous examples of firms sneakily finding ways to incorporate charges when they shouldn't.

 

When struggling borrowers are already on a repayment plan they should not be made to pay a £50 arrears fee every month.

 

This payment is taken automatically by the system they have in place.

 

Complain to your lender setting out why the charges are unfair and ask for your money back plus the ineterest they have charged you..

 

If you are turned away or do not get a satisfactory response within 3 weeks

 

, complain to the free Ombudsman service.

[knowledgesercher]

Hi

 

I have a secured loan with KM for 5000 over 60 months. The payments were set at 166 per month and I was able to pay for around 3 years and then ran into some debt issues/problems.

 

They seem to be in a state as the terms of the loan finished Dec 2011 but every staement they send me has a balance and an actual balance (further down the page) the reason for this is apparently their system keeps adding on the contractual due payment??? Every call I have with them, they at first state the balance (incorrect and inflated) and then apologise as the notes on my file show the true balance.

 

I am pretty sure that most of the balance is now arrears fees of 50.00 per month, counsillor visit fees ( never seen one at my door, although cards are left) and interest.

 

The interest is shown on one statement as 3 types being added in one month.

as follows:-

 

balance = 2562.04

 

monthly arrears fee 50.00

notice of default 5.00

interest debit 14.57

simple interest on ds 14.25

compound interest on arr 32.72

 

all of this added in one month and it continues monthly

 

 

I tried to make an arrangement to pay (as I'm worried they will add more and more) and maybe go for court/eviction?

 

I offered 350.00 per month and have paid 3 out of last 4 months, however they continue to add 50.00 per month + another councillor fee and all this interest

 

Please could anyone help me with some advice or tips?

Thanks in advance

[rdm2006]

Here is the letter to reclaim charges

 

Here is the spreadsheet to add them all up [ATTACH]40067[/ATTACH]

 

here is an example where the FSA fined another company for excessive fees [ATTACH]40068[/ATTACH]

[nomorecrooks]

As a first step I suggest you send a SAR to Kensington (you will find the letter on the site). Once Kensington respond to you you will have the documentation to show exavtly what they have charged you.

 

I assume that this is a regulated mortgage (what date did the mortgage / secure loan complete)?

 

Is the interest rate on the loan variable and defind as the "Kensington Standard Variable Rate" plus an additional amount of interest?

[kaz320]

Hi

 

Did you receive a date and time of the visit from the counsillor you should have been advised of this and if you informed them you did not want a visit they should not have attended and you should not have been charged.

[knowledgesercher]

I am still trying to get these charges sorted out and called them again today. I have pasted in the last qtr statement but it does not even add up.

(14.7%) is calculated on a balance of approx 5500 to get an interest amount like that and yet balance according to them is 2615?

The guy on the phone advised that they are looking into what the true amount owed is as it appears that loan balance is growing (their system cannot calculate interest on a loan thats terms have come to an end appaerntly. Please could someone help and advise next steps to take? Thanks

01-Mar bal 2615.22

30-Mar monthly arrears 50 2665.22

31-Mar interest debit 74.23 2739.45

30-Apr monthly arrears 50 2789.45

30-Apr interest debit 83.06 2872.51

31-May monthly arrears 50 2922.51

31-May interest debit 86.76 3009.27

[knowledgesercher]

Hi,

 

Please could anyone confirm if I can use the template for claiming mortgage arrears, if my arrears charges are for a secured loan with Kensington originally for 5,000? thanks

[dx100uk]

yes but you need to do what rdm2006 said in post 2

 

get all the statements

 

kennys were very heavily fined for doing exactly what they have done to you.

 

do it properly

 

dx

[knowledgesercher]

hi there,

 

I am getting ready to write to KM but looked at FSA report on these guys. The arrears piece is pasted below....

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Arrears charges

4.31. During the Relevant Period, Kensington imposed a number of excessive or unfair

charges on customers in arrears.

4.32. The excessive or unfair charges imposed by Kensington were:

(1) a fee for a returned direct debit which was charged on each re-presentation of

the direct debit by the Firm regardless of the number of times it had already

been returned unpaid;

(2) a fee for a cancelled direct debit, which was excessive in light of the

associated administration costs; and

(3) the calculation and imposition of an early repayment charge on mortgage

balances which included arrears fees and charges within that balance.

4.33. The above charges were excessive or and/or unfair because they did not accurately

reflect the actual administrative costs incurred by the Firm or were otherwise unfairly

applied to the customer.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

This does not actually mention monthly arrears fees, but the excessive part (4.33) is I guess relevant to my charges?

 

Do you all think I still have a chance of success?

Thanks!

[dx100uk]

yes very much

 

dx

[dx100uk]

jus don't put pages and pages of 'rules' and' reasons'.

 

short and sweet

 

you are unlawfully charging me

 

I want those charges back

 

they have been deemed as unfair

 

you have already been fined for such actions.

 

dx

[OLIVE.FAMILY]

Hi guys

Firstly knowledgesearcher.. Good luck.

 

I have too have had problem after problem with kensington and I think they are about to get bigger.

 

After reading your post I think it is high time I went for charges too.

 

I have posted on here the other day.

 

I just received a letter from KMC saying they now want to add £200 a month fees to my existing secured loan for no reson what so ever.

 

Needless to say they are crooks and I so want my money back.

 

Secondly dx100uk...

 

. is there a template for reclaiming charges from mortgage companies

or do we just send them a usual SAR then to find out how much I am owed then a FOS complaint form asking for the money back ???

 

thanks

 

Olives xx

[OLIVE.FAMILY]

Sorry not with it. just found the sticky .

 

Olives x

[dx100uk]

well found

 

don't forget to do a spreadsheet too!

 

dx