Thousands of mortgage borrowers to be refunded fees

Yorkshire Building Society Group is to refund all administration fees for mortgage arrears dating back to January 2009, after an investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) discovered they may have been charged incorrectly.

Just shy of 34,000 current and former mortgage borrowers who fell behind on their payments will receive an average of £247 back in refunded fees, taking the total bill to £8.4 million. They will be refunded the fees plus interest.

The Yorkshire group includes Yorkshire, Chelsea and Barnsley building societies, and Accord Mortgages.

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What happens now

Lenders can only charge administration fees when a mortgage account falls into arrears by two months or more, but it seems some borrowers were charged fees incorrectly.

However, all mortgage borrowers who went into arrears – even those who were correctly charged – will receive a refund, in order to avoid “lengthy delays and uncertainty”, the FCA said.

From 25th February letters will be sent to all borrowers, with refunds being paid from this date.

If you think you’re one of those due a refund, you don’t actually need to do anything, though you can call the Yorkshire Customer Relations team on 0800 923 0045 for more information.

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