Advice on getting back mortgage penalty.

My mortgage provider EBS charged me a breakage penalty on my fixed rate mortgage (which was very high as it was aranged pre-9-11).

Nothing odd there, and I agreed prior to selling my house that I would get this refunded if I took another mortgage with them.

Fair enough, I was very happy with EBS (they're a nice mutual after all?), I wanted to go back to them, but had to rent for a bit before my house was ready.

Good old EBS, they agreed they'd keep the offer open.

I took the mortgage (after checking again with EBS), and months later, I've been calling them every week, no refund. They now say that I need to sign up for the original fixed rate for a period (this will take most of the refund back). To complicate things, I'm moving house again soon (I had told them this was possible and it's why I hadn't agreed to fixing again).

Now, they say fine, they'll refund - if I take my new-new mortgage with them (sound familiar?). This of course will involve the fixed rate again - and the new mortgage will be higher so in effect the deal is much worse, (they'd be taking virtally every penny back now). I'm stumped.

Has anyone else experienced this kind of thing?

I know that other providers will refund a penalty rather than lose a customer, but it seems that EBS don't want me as a customer!

(I've never missed a payment and it hardly fits with the mutual image, so why?).

Surely it makes no sense for either party to walk away, but I'll have to, if only for pride, if they don't reach an agreement (believe me I've been trying 20 plus phonecalls and counting).

Help! Suggestions please.

garrett2 said:

and I agreed prior to selling my house that I would get this refunded if I took another mortgage with them.

Click to expand...

Did you get this in writing?

Of course, that's the centre of problem, I dealt with the main customer number 01-6659000 and they did not put it in writing, simply told me it was on their system. (If I had a letter, believe me, it would be with solicitors now!) When I went back to get this, the only notes to be found on the file related to products they had sold me, also none of the first (10-12) phonecalls my wife had made to chase it up had been recorded.

The problem I've had, (beyond the fact that they've not paid back the money!), is that their way of dealing with the entire issue has been to avoid it.

BTW: at no point have they denied that they make penalty refund arrangements with customers (I know they do, they did with me), they only claim that in my case they had intended that I go back on the rate. Frustrating.

I should add, if I accepted the offer on the current mortgage it would work out as getting circa 3800 back, after months of trying to get it sorted, the new 'offer' would result in a balance of less than 1400 back.

Surely someone in EBS should see the madness of this? Any suggestions about how I might approach them to find a more mutually (pardon the pun) satisfactory outcome? Greatly appreciated...