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Can anyone tell me if it is legally binding if a mortgage company sets up an endowment mortgage but then lets the mortgage go ahead with no endowment policy being set up and then proceeds to take 5yrs payments without informing me of this.Yes I know the solicitor was at fault and also the broker but why should I have to get into an argument with them when I believe the mortgage company has been negligent especially as the broker must be acting as an agent for the company concerned.

-- Stephen Fountain (powerhousesteve@aol.com), March 21, 2001

Answers

Hello,

When the mortgage is arranged, the solicitor is supposed to check (on behalf of the lender) that you have an endowment policy set up.

If you read the small print, you'll see that the lender says that its your responsibility to have a suitable "repayment vehicle" in place. Back in the 80's lots of people cashed in their policies when they needed the money - as a result, they've nothing to pay the mortgage when the term is up. Nowadays, the lenders are a bit sharper and that is why the endowment policy is assigned to the lender, to stop you getting at the money.

Yes, your solicitor is at fault, he should have checked this. The lender was incompetent because they should have checked all their paperwork before completing the mortgage, but you should also have realised when you saw just your lender's payment and not the insurance company (endowment) payment on your bank statement, that there was a problem.

Endowment policies have had a bad press lately, if you still own your home, then I would suggest that you look at remortgaging with your current lender or see what other lenders have on offer and choose a capital/interest mortgage.

-- pendle (pendle@amun-ra.demon.co.uk), March 21, 2001.


Yes I know the solicitor was at fault but the question I actually wanted an answer to was is it legally binding for a mortgage company to behave in this way when setting up a mortgage.Surely the have aduty of care the same as anyone dealing with the public[we are talking about a negative equity reposession] but thanks for your responce

-- Stephen Fountain (powerhousesteve@aol.com), March 21, 2001.

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