Am I being cheated out of a cheaper mortgage?

QI have an Abbey National mortgage and have just finished my tie-in period of one year after enjoying a 1.6% discount on my mortgage over the previous five years.

This time last year when I was advised that my discount period had finished and I was to be put back on the standard variable rate (SVR), I contacted Abbey National immediately to request a similar discount mortgage. It said that I could not do this unless I paid an early redemption penalty.

Do you think I have a cause for complaint in light of the ruling by the Financial Ombudsman?

CP

A To put it simply - no.

You had a discount mortgage with a one-year tie-in after the discount period ended. In order to get out of this mortgage before that one-year tie-in was up, you would have had to pay a redemption penalty. You could still have remortgaged to a new discount deal, but it is standard practice for lenders to impose redemption penalties to prevent customers draining away once their fixed or discount deal ends.

There is only one issue that may mean you have grounds for complaint - if the SVR you were moved to was not the lower of the two tracker rates Abbey has operated since March last year, you could be due a refund of interest.

However, you would have had to complain before Abbey's recent withdrawal of its Classic Base Rate Tracker mortgage. If you didn't, it's unlikely you will get very far with your complaint.