Mortgage misselling campaign to launch

The campaign is from ME Group, a tech firm which works consumers and their solicitors to seek compensation from advisers by taking cases to the Financial Ombudsman Service and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

Mortgage misselling campaign to launch

A TV and social media advertising campaign will urge customers to take action who think they may have been missold a mortgage or paid too much interest.

The campaign is from ME Group, a tech firm which works consumers and their solicitors to seek compensation from advisers by taking cases to the Financial Ombudsman Service and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

Rob Cooper, chief executive of ME Group, said: “Since August 2017 over 100,000 consumers have contacted ME Group requesting help and around 52% of the mortgages we have assessed have been missold, or have been overcharged by their lender in respect of mortgage interest.

“The average amount that customers are due back is in the region of £70-80,000.”

ME Group claimed that since the financial crisis lenders have overcharged, or in worst cases have lost their homes.

Cooper added: “The scale of consumer detriment goes way beyond overcharging. There are families across Britain who have been harassed over mortgage arrears, or faced financial and associated health worries.

“Some have ultimately been evicted from their homes for allegedly being behind on mortgage payments when in fact many have overpaid what was properly due to their mortgage lender.

“Like almost every financial services scandal that has gone before, this impacts financially vulnerable people the most. Typically those who are ‘mortgage prisoners’ are in the lower earnings bracket and could ill-afford to be overcharged for ten years or more on their mortgage.”