Angus wanted to transfer his mortgage but couldn't. He had to switch mortgages and pay an early repayment charge instead.
What happened
Angus wanted to transfer his capped-rate mortgage to a new property. He also needed to borrow more money. His lender said it couldn’t see how Angus would be able to afford the higher monthly payments when he retired.
Angus was able to find a mortgage elsewhere for the whole amount, so he paid off his existing balance, incurring an early repayment charge. He didn’t think this was fair and complained to his lender about the charge.
Unhappy with the response, he came to us.
What we said
We reviewed the lender’s decision and thought they had made a reasonable assessment of Angus’s request for further borrowing. It had explained the situation – and the charge – to Angus before he committed to buying the new property.
Angus had this information and had made the choice to remortgage elsewhere, knowing the charge would be applied.
We explained to Angus why we didn’t think the lender was wrong to apply the charge. We didn’t uphold his complaint.