Not upheld: failure to advise on mortgage porting deadline; administrative oversight complaint against Mortgage Advice Bureau Limited (MAB)

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs S complained that MAB failed to advise her that her mortgage interest rate product could only be ported to a new mortgage if completion occurred within 90 days of the previous mortgage's redemption (by 18 March 2025). When Mrs S informed MAB on 11 March 2025 that completion was scheduled for 21 March 2025, MAB did not warn her that this was outside the porting window. As a result, Mrs S lost the opportunity to port her preferential rate and receive an ERC refund, and had to accept a higher interest rate. The ombudsman did not uphold the complaint, finding that the solicitors, as professional advisers, bore responsibility for ensuring the completion date complied with the mortgage conditions clearly stated in the offer, and that MAB was not responsible for monitoring the solicitors' compliance or briefing a replacement solicitor about the terms.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

While the ombudsman acknowledged that MAB 'dropped the ball' by not reminding Mrs S of the deadline on 11 March 2025, they found that the solicitors bore primary responsibility for ensuring compliance with the mortgage conditions. As professional advisers instructed by the lender, the solicitors should have been aware of the 90-day window from the mortgage offer and should have ensured the completion date complied with this condition. The ombudsman rejected the argument that it was unreasonable to expect solicitors to be aware of terms in a mortgage offer sent several months earlier, and found that MAB was not responsible for monitoring the solicitors' compliance with mortgage conditions or briefing a new solicitor about the terms.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website