Ian Marcusfield, mortgage and insurance adviser at IMF Mortgages, claimed that clients of his had agreed deals, and with a first monthly payment going out of their account at the beginning of the month, a second charge of interest went out a couple of weeks later.
Marcusfield said that the client took out the mortgage on 29 October and began the mortgage payments on the 4 November. The client took out an interest only mortgage, but still had set payments to make, and the interest payment went out in the middle of the month.
Marcusfield questioned why the interest from 29 October could not be added to the 4 November payment, as the expense upon the borrower was extensive. He said: “Interest is charged and paid in arrears so I don’t know why the payment for November is even there, as it should have charged just for those few days.
“It is not ‘Treating Customers Fairly’ and it is not right. The principle is ‘we’re big enough so we must be right’. I have spoken to two or three business development managers and they have just said ‘those are the rules’.”
A spokesperson for Halifax commented: “This isn’t our policy. We follow the practice of collecting initial interest which takes place around 14 days after completion.”
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