This isn't a big issue really but thought I'd post for advice here. DH and I were recently in a position whereby we were able to pay off DH's mortgage on this house (family bequest). Which is fab, obviously. DH anticipated some problems in paying it off finally because a couple of friends who've done this also found it strangely hard to pay the balance on their mortgages - I guess lending companies don't like it when you stop paying interest! Strange, that.
Anyway, he requested the total balance from his mortgage company, which begins with an H, and they duly told him, in writing. He then paid this amount off in full and thought it was sorted.
No - a couple of weeks later, he got a letter saying he still owed just under a thousand pounds! He queried this, several times, not getting much of a response from the person set to deal with it. This took about 3 months. Finally, today, he got an email from her and she said - 'yes, you do still owe us this amount (plus interest on it) because it's interest accruing to last year's mortgage payments which (because I'm daft and not very good at my job) I forgot to add onto the total I quoted you earlier, when you first asked for the total balance owing. Sorry, you still have to pay it (and the interest owing on it).' (paraphrased, but not very much!)
What DH is wondering is, given that the mortgage company quoted him one sum in writing when he asked for it, and he paid that sum, is he legally obliged to pay this extra amount, seeing as it was their fault it wasn't added to the total originally quoted? I think he does - it might be their error but it's still part of the agreed mortgage. He thinks it's worth showing this to a solicitor. I'm presuming a solicitor would charge for the initial consultation and then say 'sorry mate, you have no case'. Am I wrong?