HSBC Remortgage

[Oslo99]

Im in the process of remortgaging from Halifax to HSBC. One of the reasons for going with HSBC was due to them advising me there would be no fees payable and that I wouldnt need a solicitor as it is a simple remortgage.

Anyway, come home today to a letter from 'Optima Legal' advising me that they have been instructed on behalf of HSBC to sort out the legalities and there is a long list of (hefty) charges that it advises I may be liable to pay. The list is endless...

I have called them and they have advised me that they cant advise what fees would be applicable until they start the work (by which time I will past my 7 days thinking time). I called HSBC and they also dont know... even though I am taking the fee saver deal and was advised there were no further costs.

Literally dont have a clue wether I am going to have to pay hundreds of pounds in a few weeks or nothing at all and nobody can tell me 🙄.. anyone else had anything like this with HSBC?

Tbh I think even a simple remortgage you would need a solicitor. At the very least they need to get another deed prepared since the bank that has a charge on the property is changing. We are also remortgaging and the solicitor did also sed us a long list of fees. It doesnt mean you will pay all the fees, it just means that one or two of the services you might have to pay for. Fees free isn't normally that, they have a lot of exclusions of what is deemed free.

Thanks! Looks like I will just have to suck it up then! X

If it's a straight switch between lenders there are no fees to pay.

The list is to let you know if there is any additional work they have to do, that you'll have to pay for that.

Additional work could include removing someone from the mortgage (transfer of equity), if your property is leasehold and they have to get information from the freeholder, if you have solar panels, if you have another loan secured on the property etc. These are some of the more common ones but if it is literally moving your mortgage from lender X to lender Y and your property is freehold, then I'd imagine you won't have to pay any fees.

Optima will have said they can't advise you yet about possible fees because they won't know if any of the above (or anything else) applies to you yet.

Thank you vinomcstephens that makes me feel a little better. It is just a straight switch so hopefully wont be too costly. We do have a 960 year lease though so looks like we will have to pay the £114 leasehold checks.

We had a deed of trust included when we bought the property and I can see that there is a £234 charge for 'Applying declaration of trust' Do you think I will also have to pay this?

I have just remortgaged with HSBC and the only fee I had to pay was £24 to change my name with the land registry because I have got married since I bought the house. If it's all straightforward it should be fine.

Oh thats good to hear, did you move from another lender?

Yes we moved from another lender to HSBC. I suspect the declaration of trust fee is for a new trust. I'd be surprised if the one you already have needs redoing just because you remortgaged.

Awesome thank you

We didn't have to pay for anything on that list. Dare I say it but optima legal were reasonably good and efficient.

I moved from Halifax to HSBC a few years ago, I think the only fee I paid was for a valuation.