Here are six examples of ways your mortgage may have been mis-sold.
If any apply to you then you could be due significant compensation, and we’d urge you to contact us to see if you have a claim.
Were you “mortgaged into retirement”?
If your mortgage term continues into your retirement, your adviser should have discussed with you how you would continue to make payments once you have retired. To merely state you will continue working is not sufficient, your advisor should ensure that you have sufficient provisions in place to ensure you could repay your mortgage if you were unable to work past retirement age.
Were other debts added to your mortgage?
If other debts were added to your mortgage, the monthly repayments may have reduced, but the total amount to repay may be far higher over the term of the mortgage. If you were in arrears due to falling behind on the repayments for these debts then the advice would be sound, however if your repayments were up to date you may have been mis-sold.
Self certified mortgages
If you were asked to self certify your mortgage but you could have proved your income you may have been mis-sold. The interest rates for self cert mortgages are often higher than main stream mortgages and you may be paying more than you should be. You may have also been told that self certifying speeds up the mortgage process, this is true but some advisors merely did this so they could reach their monthly sales figures and earn large bonuses.
Did you purchase your home using a Right to Buy Scheme?
Right to buy Schemes were used when an individual wanted to purchase the council house they were residing in. Some mortgage brokers upon seeing the discounted selling prices would add on excessive fees for setting up the mortgage. The tenants would then be left with a huge and unnecessary bill to pay.
Are you currently three months or more in arrears with your mortgage lender?
When people have been sold an inappropriate mortgage product they often find themselves struggling financially and miss the mortgage payments. If you are 3 months or more in arrears then you may have been sold the wrong type of mortgage product.
Were you sold a sub prime mortgage?
Sub prime mortgages are sold to people who have bad credit and can’t get a mortgage from a high street lender. The interest rate charged is usually higher due to the risks involved. If you were sold a sub prime mortgage, but had good credit i.e. no accounts with missed repayments you may have been mis-sold.
Some UK Sub Prime Mortgage Lenders:
Birmingham Midshires
Cheshire Building Society
GMAC
GE Money
Future
Money Partners
Kensington
SPML
i Group (part of GE Money)
Mortgages PLC
Preferred Mortgages
Paragon Mortgages
Edeus
Oakwood Home Loans
The Mortgage Business
Mortgage Express
Amber Home Loans
Platform Home Loans
UCB Home Loans
