Before Start sold mortgage to Mars, they charged interest twice!

C

CorkHome2022

Registered User
Messages
134
Re Start to Mars Transfer
We got our letter confirming the transfer had completed on May 31st , that letter arrived last week.
Yesterday got our closing balance from Start , everything looks normal for since the start of the year
Opening balance from 1/1/24 and normal monthly transactions , our payment then on last day of month the interest calculation is added to the balance.
However an interest addition was made for June 1st after the transfer had taken place to ADD nearly 500 euro to the balance , the normal interest balance had been done on May 31.


This looks very dodgy to me as
1 The transfer had taken place on May 31 and the normal calculation is done at the end of month.
2 As the transfer had already taken place it was not within Starts remit to charge interest after 31 May and add this to the closing balance.

Anybody else out there check their closing statements .
There was much noise when the Vultures began hiking their rates but it seems apathy has set in.
We have a complaint with FSPO as Start moved us off our very specific Loan To Value Managed Variable Rate and this is in the final stages of investigation .
It would be good to hear that others have also complained.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
@CorkHome2022

That makes no sense at all to me.

Did you get an opening statement from Mars yet?

If that is €83,634.36, it's ok but I suspect it will be the higher figure.

Make sure to ask why and to send a copy to the Central Bank.
 
Brendan Burgess said:
@CorkHome2022

That makes no sense at all to me.

Did you get an opening statement from Mars yet?

If that is €83,634.36, it's ok but I suspect it will be the higher figure.

Make sure to ask why and to send a copy to the Central Bank.
Click to expand...
Nothing from Mars yet , but from other posts they dont seem to have a great communications ethic.
I will be following up on this for sure.
 

Hi,

Is this a case for the ombudsman?
Start officially handed my account to Mars on 31st of May, but applied interest on 1st of June and also 28th of May.

I emailed Start for an explanation last week but I am not expecting a reply.
 
Badtorres7 said:
Hi,

Is this a case for the ombudsman?
Start officially handed my account to Mars on 31st of May, but applied interest on 1st of June and also 28th of May.

I emailed Start for an explanation last week but I am not expecting a reply.
Click to expand...
I fully expect this to be going FSPO , we cannot be the only ones .
 
Our final statement is the same, I have been holding out for the opening statement from Mars to see what the balance says.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3193.jpeg
    1.7 MB · Views: 289
That is very odd, I wonder if it is a computer system glitch, but you won’t know until Start reply. Mars will only go in what is passed over to them.
 
They have added the interest on the first day of June on my account also, which seems totally incorrect.

Then I received Mars terms and condition yesterday the 27/6/2024, letter dated 18/6/2024.
Stating that "Your account will go into arrears from the first day the mortgage payment goes past due" with Start this would not happen till after a calendar month had passed.
This means that if you miss your repayment by one day, your account will account goes into arrears.
Obviously they had to add the interest at the beginning of the month to be able to do this?

Can anyone protect us from these sharks
 
This may be less of an issue then you think.

Start mortgages charged interest at the end of the month.

Mars Capital charges interest on the start of the month and adjust it if you make a payment. If you ask for a statement next month, you will see nothing was charged at the end of June
 
That's because Start have already charged interest on 31st May 2024 and a second interest charge one day later on the 1st June 2024 on the last statement we received from them , and the fact that you can miss a payment and the account goes into arrears immediately is definitely not a bank taking care of their customers this could happen to anybody for numerous reasons.
 
The point is that Start had transferred the Mortgage on 31 May and were not entitled to charge interest on June 1st , if you look at the statements it says clearly closing balance 1st June with the interest added , if your Mortgage is based on daily interest rate calculations the charging interest in advance will lead to overcharging , PTSB and Start always done the interest calculation at the end of the month not the beginning.
Start gave a closing balance with a charge they could not make as it was a day after the transfer .
 
You are 100% correct about that and he seems too allow Mars to take aggressive approach to payments that are late by a day or two, I also received a letter regarding interest rate reduction which seems to indicate that Mars are changing the due date for payments from the last day of the month to the 28th of the month.

Definitely a lot of shady and dishonest things happening with this transfer from Start to Mars, considering as far as the customers where concerned it going to be a seamless transfer which would not affect them in any way. I am sure the financial ombudsman is all over this and making sure the rights of the 11,000 customers whose accounts were transferred are protected, as when this comes out in a public forum he will be the one that is held responsible for this charade
 
The Financial Ombudsman has nothing to do with it. If you make a complaint, he will deal with your complaint and your complaint only.

You should all be notifying the Central Bank. It is they who should be taking action.

If there is a legitimate explanation, then Start and Mars should have explained what is happening.

Brendan
 
Mars calculate the interest and post the interest at the start of the month, when you make a repayment you get a credit against the interest that was applied at the interest rate for the number of day until the end of the month. They do jot calculate interest on a daily balance, instead calculate monthly interest and apply, and give an interest credit back everything you make a repayment.

The interest you have been charged should be on the closing balance from smart at rate for no of days in the month.

Either way, calculate interest at end of month based on daily running balance or upfront for the month with interest credits back on each repayment should give the same net interest for the month and same closing balance.

The arrears query I can't help on,
 
Hi Cloughy

But it was Pepper who charged the interest so it would have made sense for them to transfer it at the old balance and allow Mars charge the interest the way you say that they do.

Would you have a statement from Mars to show how they refund the interest for any repayments made.

Brendan
 
Got a reply from Mars.
That extra charge was not taken by Start.
Mars charge interest at start of the month and then will credit back interest once the payment is made to allow for the daily interest clause of same where applicable.
To be fair the response I got was very detailed and showed how it works , this is a big change from dealing with others in the financial sector.
I do however maintain that the way the closing statement was done should have been different and much clearer to customers.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register