Kensington Mortgage Company

We were professionals and had a perfect credit history and a large mortgage at 100% lending, we had credit cards everywhere but they were always paid and if i wanted to go and blow £200 on nothing I could. We never saved but put away to pensions. We had loans to go here there and everywhere. We were YUPPIES in the 80s and it was just spend spend spend, we worked hard and we played hard. Who cares about the future, I would not have paid into a pension if I did not have to.

We had a 3 bedroom house 10 years ago. It is currently worth about 110K in a little village location and it was kitted out with stuff from Next.

Then 6 years ago I became ill and decided to leave work. This was ok and we would be fine and bills would be paid on time as we still had the income of my husband. The only thing is 6 months down the line he became ill and had to leave. All we had now was the benefits and our private pensions, Thank god we had to pay into this.

A lot of people at the time told us to go Bankrupt but that would mean losing our nice house and ok we would be free within a few years but we had the money, the credit cards and loans for cars and to do the house up. I made a decision we had to rip everything up and make offers to repay people. That day we cut up about 10 credit cards as we were paying one with another. You have to break the circle and when you first do this it is very hard. We gave our selves 5 years to repay all the money back to creditors. This was in September 1998. We offered them money and they accepted at first, but we struggled. The mortgage was due and we panicked and sold everything in the house to pay the mortgage. Eventually one Sunday all we had in the house was stuffing and pasta, we knew it was time that the house went. We sold it within 2 weeks and we moved out.

Friends said to us now go Bankrupt but I had the money and I felt no matter how long it took us, we had to paid it back.

We created a Bloody Debt File and one called the Yippee File. The first file was full and the second was empty. Slowly but surely we said right we will not go out anywhere and no holidays till it is all paid off. We have kept to this and now my Yippee file is full to the brim, only two remain and by April next year these will be gone.

Last year we decided it was time to come back into the housing market and we contacted a broker for advice, they said yes you will be able to get a mortgage and get an offer within 24hours but you also have to have 10-15% deposit. We had also become used to living on a budget and had savings so we said ok that is fine.

My mortgage broker charged us around £500 for his services which were only payable if the mortgage completed. 24 hours later he rang us and told us we had been offered a mortgage for over £110k. mmm very nice but we had been there and done that and got the tshirt and was not prepared to go back that high.

This is where Kensington Mortgages come in as they only deal with brokers or financial institutions when people have been turned down for a loan. All the papers were signed with the broker and sent off to Kensington and we were told to go and choose a house and then contact them via the broker.

We found our house which was repossessed and a bit of a state and were prepared to go up to £75k. We fell off our chairs when they came in with a valuation of £45K. We made the offer straight away and it was accepted and the mortgage company promised that they would not let anyone gazump us.

We went back to our broker who processed all the preliminary forms and we got a print out what our mortgage would cost us for the next two years. This was great and we felt as though we knew what we were getting into from the start.

The broker was brilliant and sorted out all the forms and we signed and took in all the information like licenses, certificates and practically anything that they required. This then was passed onto Kensington who would only speak to our broker and not us direct.

We were kept informed and when we were told things were ready to go ahead we were chuft and told our solicitor to proceed quickly as repossessions are supposed to complete within a month. About a month later we got a message from the broker saying that they would not deal with our solicitor as he was a sole partner, we had to have ones who had more than one partner, we quickly changed over and things were going smooth on our side until the house that we were buying ran into problems as it was held by the building society and 25% owned by a housing association. This took nearly 2 months to complete afterwards and the housing association said the house was worth a lot more but the building society paid them off for us. How nice eh. We were already £15k in profit before walking through the door.

We had asked the broke for a repayment mortgage as we had been stung by a previous endowment which as much use as a chocolate fireguard. The House and Contents were all now in place and passed over to Kensington Mortgages. They now approved and everything seemed to go smooth. We planned to move in on August 29th this year but we had insisted the house be boarded up so kids would not throw stones at it and smash windows and they obliged. We had to pay a further £70 to get the surveyor back out to say yes this is ok. But Kensington forgot to do this and at the last minute we thought it was not going through. After a couple of hours crying and screaming down the phone at people we had to wait till the day of moving.

We had to cancel the delivery men just in case it never happened. Anyway at the 12th hour it all went ahead and all our friends chipped in.

This was the last time I spoke to my broker as I am now a customer of Kensington they speak to me. They are very polite on the phone and if you have any problems they will deal with it.

My first payment date was coming up and my money had not gone into the bank, therefore it did not go through and I spent the morning crying my eyes out and petrified we would loose the house. I plucked up the courage to speak to them and they said fine have you got any other method of paying, I told them yes and paid. they told me not to worry as it was still 5 days before my due date.

They sent us a calendar with the mortgage payment dates on ever year and with Kensington they take the money out on the last working day of the month. They will make no concessions for this which is a pain as we get paid on the first of the month. Never mind eh. If our mortgage is going to go up they give you one months notice so that you are sorted for the next payment.

Kensington Mortgages were formed in 1994 to help people who are self employed, a bit older, different incomes and debt problems that normally other banks would turn down.

They have all different mortgages and I cannot go into detail with them as they offer you a mortgage depending on your situation and it might be different from mine. We are paying 6.25% which I know is high, but we had good references from the council regarding the fact we were never behind with our rent for 2 years and if anything we were always in front. In 2 years time we will be able to transfer over to a normal mortgage with them with lower rates.

Things have definatley changed for us over the last few years and I know what ever happens to either of us this house is secure and we can pay the mortgage as we have a private income.

Everyone deserves a second chance we did not ask to become ill.

It has made me a better person, these days I am a hippy chick who is at peace and money to me now is not important and as long as I have around £800 a month to pay bills and my mortgage I do not want anything else.

Kensington Mortgages have been very friendly and obliging from the 16th June last year when we first did our application forms. If you need this sort of specialist mortgage company then I would recommend them. I would also have my next mortgage with them, They did not look down on you as you had problems in the past but looked more to the future and what they can do to help you out.

My little two bedroomed house is on a council estate, and is only 6 years old and is new build. It has large gardens and is desperate need of a kitchen and new windows but we are saving for these now. A house the same as ours has just gone on the market down the road for £86k. Ok at the moment ours is not worth that as it needs a bit doing to it, but by next year it will be.

Of course if you miss your payment they charge you £20 and also £20 for administration so if you are having problems speak to them they might be able to stop these. The APR is high compared to banks but they are taking a risk. My house has been repossessed twice in 6 years and there is no way it is going to be down that road with us.

This is my dream to have my own house and I bet I am happier than the Queen in Buckingham Palace with everything she has!

WWW.KMC.co.uk

0870 556 1040

Kensington Mortgages
1 Providence Place
Skipton
North Yorkshire
BD23 2HL