Keith thought he'd lost out on a better interest rate and blamed his lender for not reminding him sooner that his fixed term was due to end.
What happened
Two months before Keith’s fixed-term mortgage deal was due to end, he received a letter from his lender. It set out what his new monthly payments would be, and reminded him he could apply for a new interest rate.
Keith contacted the mortgage lender and took a new fixed rate, but he complained that the lender hadn’t written to him sooner.
Interest rates had been rising for a while, and Keith argued that if the lender had reminded him earlier, he could have booked a better rate. Keith believed he’d lost out because he’d now have to pay more for the duration of the new fixed rate.
Unhappy with his lender’s response to his complaint, he brought his case to us.
What we said
We looked at everything that Keith had been told. The offer for his previous fixed rate had clearly stated when it would end. His annual statements also set out details of the interest rate, including one sent to him just two months before the rate end letter.
Mortgage rules don’t require mortgage lenders to invite applications for new fixed rates. They just require them to give reasonable notice of a change in monthly payments. The lender had done that.
We thought the mortgage lender had done enough to make sure that Keith knew when his interest rate was coming to an end. We didn’t think it had acted unfairly by not sending the rate end letter sooner and we didn’t uphold the complaint.