Victory for man told he was too old to change mortgage

Updated
Peter Day
Peter Day



A father who wanted to extend his mortgage to help out his daughter has won a legal battle against the lender that told him he was too old.

Peter Day was 59 two years ago, when he approached the Co-operative bank hoping to extend the term of his mortgage by five years. He was only three years away from paying it off at the time, but hoped to reduce his monthly payments and free up some income to help save up for his daughter's wedding.

However, Mr Day - who is a former banker himself - was stunned to be told that he was too old to extend the mortgage term, despite having no fewer than three final salary pensions lined up.

"It was clearly age discrimination, as paying the money back and my current financial position were clearly no problem," he tells the Daily Mail.

"The bank had every opportunity to assess my affordability. They had not taken into account that I was a good existing customer. The Co-op has a responsibility to treat customers fairly. I find it appalling that organisations set their stall out to treat customers fairly and do not carry through in terms of their policy."

And the Financial Ombudsman has now ruled that the Co-operative was ageist and has ordered it to may Mr Day £2,000 in compensation.

"The Co-op hasn't shown me that it did act fairly or within the terms of the Equality Act," the ruling reads. "My overall conclusion [is] that the Co-op didn't treat Mr Day fairly."

The Co-operative has now changed its policy and extended its maximum age limit for mortgage repayment from 68 to 75.
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Over the last year, many mortgage companies have tightened up their lending criteria, citing new rules introduced in the wake of the financial crisis as part of the Mortgage Market Review.

And while many claim that they offer mortgages that can be paid off up to the age of 70 or 75, they are still turning older people down or offering mortgages with extremely short terms.

However, some, such as Dudley Building Society and Bath Building Society, are recognising that older people may still be able to service payments into later life and have scrapped automatic upper limits altogether.

Others, including the Nationwide and the Yorkshire, are believed to be considering doing the same - so the answer is to shop around.

Bank of England Hardens Mortgage Lending Rules as Housing Heats Up
Bank of England Hardens Mortgage Lending Rules as Housing Heats Up





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