Not upheld: mortgage porting decision, additional lending refusal, service failures in application process complaint against Skipton Building Society

Decision detail

Summary

Mr and Mrs L complained to Skipton Building Society after their application to port their existing mortgage and obtain additional borrowing was declined in June 2025. They claimed Skipton should waive the Early Repayment Charge or reimburse additional costs because of delays and mistakes, including initially assessing Mr L's income incorrectly and providing wrong information about overpayment allowances. Skipton declined to waive the ERC, arguing the lending decision was correct as Mr L could not demonstrate sufficient income and there was no suitable repayment vehicle. The ombudsman upheld Skipton's position, finding the lending criteria were not met and the decision timeframe was reasonable, though acknowledging service failings that were adequately compensated by the £500 already paid.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman concluded that Skipton was not obliged to approve additional lending that did not meet its lending criteria. The decision was reached in less than three weeks, which was not excessive for this type of application. Although Skipton should have been clearer about the application process from the outset, this would not have changed the ultimate outcome as the lending criteria were not met. The £500 compensation already paid was fair for the service failings. The overpayment issue was remedied by allowing the overpayments to proceed.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website