National Homeloans - Can I claim back charges

[Fielder]

I had a mortgage with National Homeloans from 1990 - 1998

, they charged me for unpaid dd's and about 2.5% interest extra on the mortgage. Over and above the rate at the time.

 

I would like to try and claim back these extra amounts.

 

It is extremely difficult to calculate because at that time, in the old days, there was tax relief on mortgages.

 

Did my best and I used the spreadsheet, which is very helpful.

 

The amount comes to at least £ 40,000.

Where do I start?

Is there a letter template for this situation?

 

It would be very helpful if so and could someone please direct me to it.

 

I have used the solicitors link on this website to ask advice.

 

Solicitor said go to the ombudsman,

I have read that that is not a good idea.

Then said claim would have to go to High Court, involving barristers and £ 5-10,000 fees.

So, I am at a brick wall, as can't afford to risk blah, blah. Help!

[Fielder]

I have written to the three mortgage companies I have had in the past about charges to my account.

 

 

Have had the letters back saying that it was my fault and I knew what I was signing for.

 

One of the mortgages goes back to 1990-1998 and they say that it is now statute barred anyway and will not pay. Is this true?

 

Another is for excessive interest I paid even though I was upto date with payments and even made overpayments.

 

 

They say I knew what I was signing for etc.

 

Third is quite straightforward and I will take them to court.

 

Can anyone help me please?

 

 

The amounts really add up and I would love to clear this up.

[BankFodder]

can you let us know who these mortgage companies are please. In particular I would love to know which mortgage company is trying to rely on the Limitation act. What goes around comes around.

 

If you are claiming excessive charges then the normal six-year rule does not apply because you would not be claiming on the basis of a contract, you would be claiming on the basis that the money has been paid under a mistake. The mistake being that you did not realise that the charges were in fact unenforceable.

 

The only thing that concerns me here is that there is a question as to whether charges levied before 2004 are recoverable. You are talking about as far back as 1990. I think you need to let us know more about the dates that the charges were actually incurred.

 

Certainly whichever company it is that is trying to rely on the Limitation act is completely wrong. This is properly not because they are trying to do down, but more likely because they don't understand their own business -- such is the level of incompetence amongst our financial institutions.

 

What ever you do, you must carry the fight to them. Don't rely on complaints to the ombudsman or anybody else like that. The only way to get this done quickly and satisfactorily is through the County Court

[Fielder]

Dear Bankfodder

Thanks for your reply.

The mortgage company using the Limitation act is National Homeloans. I had a mortgage with them from 1990 to 1998 and adding the charges together it comes to approx £8,000.

The company that charged me 3% extra interest is Kensington mortgages.

To keep things simple, maybe we could just talk about National Homeloans initially and then sort out the other little problem. Does that sound ok to you?

[Fielder]

I had a mortgage with National Homeloans from 1990 to 1998.

Can I claim back the charges?

[dx100uk]

poss because mortgages are 12yrs statute barring.

 

have a read of the info on our homepage

 

dx

[Fielder]

I have looked at the home page and it seems that I can.

I have written the initial letter to them. Shall I proceed with the court and is it straightforward? By that I mean if I list charges and the extra interest they charged me on the court form, willl that be enough to get charges back.

Thanks

[dx100uk]

slow down

 

no need for court

 

what stage are you at

 

please tell us the whole story

 

dx

[BankFodder]

Because of the age of the mortgage charges, there are a number of problems.

 

The mortgage is far too old to be regulated by MCOB and so you would have to rely on the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations.

 

Unfortunately this means he could only go as far back as 1995.

 

You would be claiming for the return of money paid under a mistake and so therefore the six-year limitation period would begin

from the time that you could reasonably have appreciated the mistake.

 

As it is probably only recently that you appreciated that mortgage charges were probably unlawfully high then you'll probably find that your six years has not expired yet.

 

I think that you can probably only claim from 1995 onwards

– and because of the age of it all is likely to be a struggle

– unless you have got all records.

 

On the other hand, the interest which will have built up since then would be quite good

[Fielder]

Heres the story...

I had a mortgage with NHL from 1990-1998.

I was charged for returned DD's and late payments and I had arrears on my mortgage payments.

 

Because of this the interest rate I was charged by them was increased to 3% above the current rate at the time.

 

I wrote a copy of the template letter (taken from this site) at the beginning of April,

they replied saying that it was my fault for the high interest for taking the mortgage with them in the first place.

I had a bad credit history.

 

Also the letter said that I would be unable to get charges back as it was now statute barred.

[Fielder]

Sorry about the reply being out of sequence as I was typing you replied!

I do have all the letters and statements, and yes the interest total is very high. Should I include all of the charges back to 1990 and see what happens?

[MARTIN3030]

Since they have responded to your letter negatively,looks like its likely they will not be paying up.

Therefore if you have to file a claim in Court for return,then going back pre-1995 could pose some problems as has been said.

Up to you then as to whether to muddy the waters and face arguements,or else be reasonably confident by observing s32.

[Fielder]

I have checked the statements from the mortgage company and nearly all of the charges were at the beginning of the mortgage, so pre 1995.

I am still prepared to go to the court, can you please define what an s32 is?

Thanks

[MARTIN3030]

Section 32c Limitation act 1980.

This is the reliance of a claim out of normal time.

Basically it gives a cause of action from the date you discovered that you were mistaken into making payments .

The precadent widely cited for this is the case of Kleinwort Benson v Lincoln City Council.

I would urge you to read up on this and have an understanding of it.

[Fielder]

Thanks, I have googled it and found the report. I will read and probably reread!

I will probably have more questions then.

[barry_2008]

Heres a few night time reading websites for you.

 

As well as the Lending standards Code, lenders must at all times follow the Consumer Credit Act, the Equality Act, and other legislation such as the Payment Services

Regulations and the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations.

[MARTIN3030]

Barry-some good links there.

[Fielder]

Thanls for the links, I will get researching

[intheblack]

so if i had a mortgage from 1994 to the end of 2003 - am I in time and how does

one calculate interest? Thanks for this

[Fielder]

I have just tried to read the Kleinwort Benson v Lincoln City Council report and it is mind boggling. I don't really know where to start and the legal language is baffling.

Is there anyone who can, or anyway I can precis the report or is it worth contacting a solicitor to help me?

Some help and advice would be wonderful.

[Fielder]

Well, I have perservered with the research! Please help with my understanding of it all.

 

I have read the Kleinwort Benson v. Lincoln City Council report and my understanding of it is that I can recover monies paid and

Although my claim would go beyond the introduction of the 1999 The Unfair Terms in Consumer Credit Act, NHL should not have charged me in excess and made profit on the actual charge of the letters, unpaid DD's etc.

I have found an interesting quote and I am wondering whether or not it will be useful. It is on page 7 of this document; http://www.lambchambers.co.uk/docs/cobu0602.pdf. It says that companies cannot exploit or use to their advantage the consumers lack of knowledge.

 

I am still scrabbling around in the dark, but, slowly getting my head around it all.

 

Any views????

[waishou]

Thanks for this

[Fielder]

I am posting on this thread and am not getting much help, and desperately need it!

Am I in the wrong forum? If so, could someone please move this thread to a more appropriate one.

Thanks

[dx100uk]

hit the triangle aNd ask for assistance

 

dx

[Fielder]

Ok, have done that and thanks