Mis-sold a Mortgage?

We are a firm of solicitors who offer a legal audit service to determine if you have a mis-sold mortgage claim

If you want us to advise you whether you have a potential claim for a mis-sold mortgage please contact us to discuss your circumstances on 020 7681 8888

Over the past decade the property boom in the UK has been more buoyant than in most countries around the world. Because property prices rocketed, mortgage lenders were unlikely to ever be at risk of losing money that they lent to their customers. Mortgage lenders made it easier for borrowers to obtain mortgages regardless of their credit or employment status, and these sub-prime mortgages became very easy to obtain. Some mortgage lenders were even approving mortgages of 125% of a properties value, and up to 10 times a customer’s annual salary. The commissions for the advisers who were appointed to sell the mortgage products were very high compared to the commission received from high street mortgage lenders. This led, in some cases, to abuse within the mortgage industry. This led to the mis-selling of mortgages and related products by mortgage brokers and staff members who were driven by high commissions offered by the sub-prime mortgage lender and product providers.

Mortgage advisers are professionals that are regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the regulations are similar to those for solicitors and accountants. Any advice given by a mortgage adviser to a customer must comply with the statutory principles of treating customers fairly and with the Mortgage Conduct of Business rules (MCOB). The rules are set out by the FSA so that any mortgage advice given, gives a customer a full understanding of the features, benefits, risks and costs of financial products and services that they buy, or agreements that they enter in to. The rules and principles are also in place to minimise the sale of unsuitable products. A broker also has a legal duty to act in the customer’s best interest, and must ensure that a new mortgage product is suitable and affordable. If they have failed to abide by the rules and the customer has suffered a financial loss, then a claim can be brought to compensate the customer for professional negligence. Due to the prevalence of these types of claims the FSA have set up the Financial Service Compensation Scheme to protect consumers for claims against advisors who are no longer in business.

If you feel that you have been misadvised or mis-sold a mortgage product we can advise you whether you have a claim to recover your losses. We offer a full legal audit service that is undertaken by our highly qualified teams of solicitors and specialist financial and professional negligence solicitors. We will determine if your mortgage was mis-sold to you and give you full legal advice as to whether there is the possibility of a compensation claim against your mortgage broker, lender or product provider. If you do have a claim (which in our view has a good chance of success”) we will pursue the claim on your behalf for compensation on a “No Win No Fee” basis.

If you want us to advise you whether you have a potential claim please contact us to discuss your circumstances on 020 7681 8888. We charge a fee to request all information and documentation from all parties involved including the lender, broker and solicitor, and to review the evidence and to advise you. If we advise you that you have been mis-sold and have received negligent advice, and you have incurred financial loss, if we cannot negotiate a settlement we will pursue your claim for you through the courts, or, if the defendant is no longer in business, through the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

If the defendant is still in business we will endeavour to recover our costs from them and you will receive 100% of any award made in your favour, whether this is by settlement or through the courts.

If the defendant has gone out of business and we have to make the claim through the Financial Services Compensation Scheme then our fee to you will be 19% plus VAT of any compensation awarded to you.

If any of the following apply to you it is worth investigating whether you have been mis-sold your mortgage:

  • If you remortgaged to consolidate other debts.
  • If you were advised to remortgaged from a high street lender to a sub-prime lender.
  • If your mortgage runs in to retirement age.
  • If you had an adverse credit rating at the time of your mortgage application.
  • If it was suggested that you apply to a specific lender because you needed a decision in principle quickly.
  • If you were a council tenant and you were advised to buy your council house without the lender evaluating your financial position.
  • If you were on benefits.
  • If your income was not correctly assessed for affordability of the monthly payments.
  • If you were advised to apply for a self-certification mortgage when there was sufficient income to qualify for a high street mortgage.
  • If you were advised to take an interest-only mortgage and it was not clearly explained that you would need a repayment product to pay off the mortgage capital.
  • If you took a fixed rate, discounted or tracker mortgage and it was not explained that the payments would increase when the period ended.
  • If you paid the broker a separate fee and it was not documented.
  • If you felt a brokers fee was excessive.
  • If you were not provided with an Initial Disclosure Document by your mortgage adviser that explained the services they could provide.
  • If you were not provided with a Key Facts Illustration (KFI). This document includes all financial details of the recommended mortgage. It would also include the initial and future anticipated interest rates, the current and future anticipated repayments and any fees, charges and early repayment penalties.

There are many other instances where a mortgage may have been mis-sold. If you feel that you have been treated unfairly, or incorrectly advised then please contact us on 020 7681 8888.  Alternatively, if you would like us to contact you, you can email us on claims@lorrells.com and request a call back from us.