Mis-sold Mortgages
Mis Sold Mortgages claims are more prevalent than any financial consumer or industry watchdog could have feared. From useless endowments to ill advised lending and commission seeking brokers the mortgage industry has seen an epidemic of mis-selling leave many home owners paying too much and at risk of losing their property. Don’t let the burden of carrying a mis sold mortgage weigh you down any longer.
So, we know mis-sold mortgages are out there but how do you know if you’ve got one? Well, as a starting point to answering that question, let’s look at how mortgages were mis-sold:
A conflict of interests:
When recommending a mortgage a broker is supposed to act in your best interest and provide you with a loan that’s appropriate and manageable, based on your property and income. However, in many cases, brokers have placed clients in a mortgage that was completely unsuitable, simply because it offered him/her a better commission.
Contractual inaccuracies:
In some cases a broker or lender has issued a mortgage without fully investigating a client’s circumstances, for example: assigning a mortgage term that runs past retirement age.
Outright misrepresentation:
This is perhaps the most cynical forms of mis-selling and involves a broker either omitting essential information, advising you wrongly about a mortgage or choosing not to tell you about its downsides. Specific examples of misrepresentation can be found in the following circumstances:
- Your mortgage is an endowment mortgage and you weren’t warned of the risks
- You were on benefits when the mortgage was sold
- The commission paid to the broker was not explained to you
- You were advised to take out a self-certification mortgage and you’re not self-employed
- Your mortgage was a sub prime borrowing
- You had to pay the broker a percentage of the loan as a separate charge
- You were advised to switch lenders without a full explanation of the fees and penalties involved
These are all common examples of circumstances in which mis sold mortgages have been issued and it’s important to remember that they also apply to borrowings that have been paid off. If you’ve finished paying back a mortgage or no longer have it for some reason, you still may have been mis-sold to and therefore may have a claim to make. To find out more about whether you’ve been mis-sold to or to start your mis sold mortgage claim, simply call us on 0800 840 7291 or fill out the short form above.
Mis Sold Mortgage Claims Made Easy
As well as being able to claim on mortgages that have been repaid, you can also investigate whether your mortgage is mis-sold if you are facing repossession. You may even be able to stop or halt repossession proceedings if it is discovered that you have a mis-sold mortgage from your lender. Mis sold mortgages are serious news and very much on the radar of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the city watchdog. In 2008 they launched an investigation into the mis-selling of mortgages and speaking to Channel 4 News at the time, a spokesman said:
“…Certainly we see cases of mis-selling where we frankly find it extremely difficult to believe that a responsible intermediary, could have in all conscience advised the customer that this was a sensible product, a sensible size of loan for them to take out given what that lender or broker knew about the customer’s circumstances…”
The result of the investigation was damning and led to firms and brokers being fined for failing to give suitable advice. Supposed experts in the field were found to be not explaining all the deals and repayment vehicles available and while other advisors simply based their recommendations on the highest commission they could get. If you think you’ve been mis-sold a mortgage, then it’s your right to seek redress and compensation. To find out if you’ve got a mis-sold mortgage to or to start your claim, simply call us on 0800 840 7291 or fill out the short form above.
