Mortgage mis-selling claims set to rise, says new firm

7
Jan/100

Mortgage mis-selling claims set to rise, says new firm

More than 371,000 home owners believe they may have been given poor advice or been mis-sold their mortgage after purchasing property or remortgaging during the property boom. This is according to research undertaken by Opinium Research on behalf of new mortgage claims management firm badlender.com.

This figure breaks down to 161,500 home owners who don’t think they had the right advice from their lender or broker when taking out their mortgage, and 209,500 home owners think they may have even been mis-sold their mortgage.

In the last financial year the Financial Ombudsman Service has received more than 7,000 mortgage complaints from consumers (excluding mortgage endowment complaints), and currently upholds 41% of all mortgage complaints.

Badlender.co.uk forecasts that the number of home owners struggling with repayments could still rise, and more home owners could come forward with cases of mis-selling against their broker or lender.

Stephen Dargavel, Director of Badlender.co.uk, believes more home owners could come forward with cases of mis-selling. He said: “Whilst there are many reputable and long standing brokers and lenders in the mortgage market, we believe there have been some who are responsible for mis-selling mortgages to home owners during the ‘boom’ of the property years.”

Taking cases to a broker/lender or the Financial Ombudsman Service can be a complicated process, and consumers will need all relevant documentation to support any mis-selling complaint that they want to put forward.

Badlender.co.uk has developed a questionnaire consisting of 106 questions that will help consumers identify if their mortgage was mis-sold to them. If cases are identified as potentially successful, home owners are offered the services of legal 500 law firm property specialists Grange Wintringham, who will help them to pursue a complaint against their broker or lender.

Consumers will be charged a nominal £40 fee to complete the questionnaire, and 15% of the final settlement will be deducted to cover legal costs. Consumers can also appoint their own solicitors or lodge a complaint themselves.

Dargavel concluded: “We are currently representing consumers who are heavily in arrears, because the mortgage that they were advised to take out was simply too big for them to handle, and meet the monthly repayments. Default charges can be levied on home owners anywhere between £25 and £115, adding even greater financial strain.”