johnokiwi

Hi all

Anyone with fixed-rate mortgages with Westpac BEWARE - we have just been told that we will have to pay a $15,000 penalty charge for re-paying it early as we are moving overseas !!! :curse:

We are still reeling from the shock so details will be brief at present...

Needless to say no one warned us at the outset of the loan quite how severe penalty could be - in fact all the loan publicity just mentions that you 'may' or 'could' have to pay a penalty

Of course no one at Westpac willing to grab handles on this one and branch manager only agreed to see us after we refused to leave - but she was visibly shocked by what we told her and is taking it further as a 'higher level complaint'

We won't be taking this lying down but are in need of plenty of drinks tonight as a starting point!!!

Dave and Cat

kayos

Sh***t, am I allowed to say that! Anyways soz to hear your news. I only went for mortgage advice yesterday to a broker and asked whether there are penalties if we wanted to get out of a mortgage. he said no, so we thought great, not like the UK then......enjoy the drinks, then fight fight fight!

johnokiwi

Cheers for that...

Will be telling anyone who cares to listen in the next few days - that's for sure!!

Browner_

The contract doesnt specifically state any level of charge, just that a charge "might" apply?

If so, I suggest you contact a journalist, there is a story and some bad publicity to be drummed up there.

johnokiwi

That's right - the contract just uses the term 'may'..
We are already planning our line of attack - the negative publicity generated would surely be more costly to the bank than $15,000 - here's hoping!!

cally49

Thats a proper you know what....Man thats frustrating for you guys my bloke has his mortgage fixed with Westpack so will ask him what his early repayment would be......Theiving devils these banks can be.....You works hard all your life and they just keep pushing ya backwards kind of reminds me of one of those hammer toys that ya hit the thing on the head then when it pops down ya go onto the next one and then ya go back and bash the first one again...........

Interestingly my bank sent me a leaflet with my term investment statement for the rollover details today as its every 2months explaining what my investment is all about lol and one of the points stated the fact that if the bank was to crash i would get to stand in line obviously behind all the big boys it actually says should the bank be put into liquidation during the term of the investment then secured creditors and those creditors preffered by statute will rank ahead of my claim. After the payment of these lot i would be then in line with everyone else what a nice feeling that leaves me with.........It wasnt Westpac by the way.....

So i guess basically that means tough s--t if the bank collapses while they have my money..............They all sure seem to start acting heavy if ya owe them money and cant pay aye.........
Hope you all have a great weekend
Cheers
Cally

SavBlancGal

I'd expect to have to pay something (not by choice naturally), along the lines of three months interest maybe, but not that amount!

Perhaps the ombudsman can help you out.

http://www.bankombudsman.org.nz/

johnokiwi

will get on to them...(ASAP!!!)

johnokiwi

Cheers - you too

yes, its the little guys who lose out - yet we have to bail them out with 'rescue packages' through taxation when they're in trouble!!!

MattH

We repaid our Westpac fixed rate mortgage 6 months ago, with no charge - but then the fixed rate we were on was lower than the (then) current rate so there was just an admin fee ($250 ish).

Basically if the current rate is lower than the fixed rate you have it's not good - and it's not just Westpac AFAIK

Bellasmum

That's correct.

I know of someone who got a quote of $500 from another bank which I will not name 3 weeks ago and just today they have been told that it will now be $1200.

Their Dad is/was going to pay their mortage off for them, however his money is on fixed term loan until December.

Browner_

How much is your mortgage JohnO, if you dont mind me asking?

southerner

If your loan contract has not disclosed how the break fee will be calculated then it will be unenforceable under the legislation that governs consumer finance (the CCCFA).

If it was disclosed then they will need to show you the actual calculation, and I am struggling to see how any calculated amount could be anywhere near that amount. For example a $300,000 mortgage with 2 years to go and with wholesale swap rates say down by 2% would give less than $12,000 (after discounting back to today's value). Even then it is very arguable that retail rates will have dropped less than the 2% drop in wholesale rates.

Any other admin fee they may charge must be reasonable and probably should be no more than $250 tops.

johnokiwi

It's just short of $270k

Bellasmum

Not sure just where you are moving to Jono but if by chance it is Aus and you intend to buy there I would talk to Westpac to canvas a potential mortgage transfer.