Old GE money mortgage now Kensington - Arrears & Payment Arrangement

[surrey_36]

ok thank you DX, heres the xls version

RECLAIM KENSINGTON.xls

[dx100uk]

the refund was 2018 was it not?

 

 

[surrey_36]

Yes 2018 - your right!

RECLAIM KENSINGTON.xls

 

Off to Kensington I go (can send this via the online portal which saves the hassle of recorded, let's see what they come back with! Thanks for your help dx I'll keep the post updated 

[surrey_36]

I've just realised that the template letter doesn't seem to mention anything about Interest - it just states about refunding the charges - is the letter I copied about the correct template form the library?

 

"I am writing to ask you to refund the charges which you charged to my account in respect of late payment fees to the sum of £ XXXX."

[dx100uk]

this includes the interest you have charged me upon each charge, from the date your levied it , till the date you settle my claim.

 

 

[surrey_36]

Sent! Will keep this thread posted with updates 

[surrey_36]

Reply received from Kensington acknowledging receipt of the complaint and stating a response will be submitted within 4 weeks.

 

My issue now is that with the interest rate increase my mortgage has now gone from 550 to approx 720.  

 

My income is less than my outgoing.  

 

They have been pressuring me for income expenditure and saying that issue is my repayments don’t cover the amount that needs to be repaid in the 7 or so year Left on the term.  

 

I think if I contact them and tell them I can’t afford this repayment they will surely say that they will start legal proceedings

[dx100uk]

so they know that int rates wont be going down again in 7yrs then....

[surrey_36]

This was before they went up, I have been making contractual monthly payments but now they are 720 there’s not enough to cover it 

 

 

[unclebulgaria67]

How can you boost your income, so the payments àre more affordable ?

 

Interest rates are predicted to remain higher for next few years, so many people will be faced with having to find additional income.

 

 

[surrey_36]

No reply from KMC yet and 4 weeks past about a week ago

[surrey_36]

Response received from KMC:

 

Following my review of your complaint received by secure message on XX November 2022, I have investigated the points you have raised, and this is my final response. Although I am not upholding your complaint, as part of my review I am arranging for fees totalling £50 to be removed from your mortgage account.

 

I have provided a summary of my findings below and explained how I have reached this decision. You have said that you would like us to refund all fees applied to your account along with interest as you feel they are unfair. You would also like the interest refunded on the fees removed under your previous complaint in 2018. Any Arrears Management Fees (“AMFs”) charged on your account were applied in line with the terms and conditions of the mortgage. I have attached a transaction history for your reference.

 

The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Dispute Resolution Rules (DISP) rules state that you have up to six years to raise the issue that occurred with us, or three years in which you should have been aware of the fees and charges on your account to make a complaint. I have reviewed your account since 1 November 2016 and found one £50 AMF applied in the same month that a Field Agent fee was applied. I am therefore arranging to remove this fee as a gesture of goodwill. I have also attached a copy of your previous complaint response issued on 23 May 2018 under our reference xxxxxxx.

 

The fees we removed under this complaint were also applied correctly and were removed as a gesture of goodwill and therefore no interest refund is due. The 6 month timescale in which you had to refer this complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, has now passed.

 

I hope this letter helps to explain how I have reached my decision. If you have any questions, you can contact us by telephone on 0345 3300388. Our opening times are Monday to Friday 9.00am – 5.30pm. If you remain dissatisfied with my response you have the right to refer this to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) free of charge, but you must do so within six months of the date of this letter. If you do not refer your complaint in time, the Ombudsman will not have our permission to consider the complaint and will only be able to do so in very limited circumstances. For example, if the Ombudsman believes that the delay was as a result of exceptional circumstances. Further in

[surrey_36]

Kensington are refusing to refund any charges apart from a couple of field agent charge!

[dx100uk]

cant see there is alot you can do.

you dragged this on for more than 6yrs from the 2018 refund ...you are now outside of 6yrs and disp 3yrs.

 

it would be a very hard nut to crack in a court of law.

 

 

[surrey_36]

Ok thanks DX

 

My parents are looking at paying off the £10,000.00 arrears as without this help I will be looking at moving in with them which i don't think they are that keen on! 

 

Can you offer any advise on this front.   Is it just a case of getting a statement and paying off  my arrears - is there a recommended way of doing this? What I mean by -  do mortgage companies in consider offers towards payment arrears ?  As in a lower figure to clear the total arrears, would there be anything i need to think about (fees/interest) that would need to be agreed

 

 

 

 

Edited February 15, 2023 by surrey_36

[surrey_36]

If i'm looking at possibly clearing the arrears, do lenders sometimes offer a reduced figure if your offering to clear a total arrears figure?

[dx100uk]

yes, esp if you again mention historically regarding the balance you've repeatedly questioned re unlawful charges,

 

dx

 

[surrey_36]

Thanks dx

What would you suggest i do - request a breakdown of mortgage arrears?

[dx100uk]

if you are paying the mortgage off in total arrears mean nothing....

you want a discount off the outstanding balance to fully settle it, but with regard to your repeated questioning and proof it contains unlawful fees and the interest they attracted.

 

dx

 

[surrey_36]

No not paying off the mortgage in total , just the arrears - this is their recent reply;

 

At the moment the current payment arrears balance is £10147.09,

 

please be aware that there is also the historic fee arrears of £3486.64 which means the total overdue balance is £13633.73.

 

The payment arrears are our main priority as this is what causes the consequences.

 

With the fee arrears they do not detriment your credit file and we do not actively collect on them but it is expectation they will be cleared by the end of the mortgage term at the latest and they are interest bearing.

 

Your current contractual payment is £846.08.

 

 

[dx100uk]

which proves they charged you +£3.5K in unlawful fees + the interest each one has caused to date from levy date.

 

dx

 

[surrey_36]

What should I do from here do you think?

[dx100uk]

dunno but you are no further forward than 11 yrs ago in post 1 .

 

dx

[surrey_36]

ok.. I guess we pay the arrears and then deal with the charges when the mortgage comes to end of term

[surrey_36]

I thought I would ask them if they would offer a reduction on the total arrears if they were cleared in one payment but got this reply, ill take that as a no!

 

We do not offer reductions on the arrears and would expect the balance to be paid in full, we have attached a lifetime statement to this message which shows all arrears as they accrued. Kind regards,

Edited March 2, 2023 by surrey_36