Meanwhile, single mum Tina Hogarth, 55, was trapped paying interest of more than £1,000 a month on her Rochdale home after borrowing £184,000 from Northern Rock before the financial crash. Yet she still owes £183,000 and will have to sell the property when her mortgage term expires in 2027.
She said: “My 15-year-old son doesn’t understand that I’ll probably have to sell the house. He says to me all the time ‘mum, I don’t want to lose the house, it’s my home’.”
Ms Hogarth, who has since been able to agree a cheaper deal with TSB, said: “The rate was up and down like a yo-yo. I remember thinking, ‘how am I going to pay for it?’ It’s been exceptionally hard the past 15 years.”
TSB insists that its Whistletree customers are not “mortgage prisoners” because the majority have now been offered alternative deals. A spokesman said: “Since we took over the management of these mortgages, over two thirds of Whistletree customers have either moved to a new mortgage or closed their mortgage with Whistletree.
“TSB has always been committed to treating Whistletree customers fairly, [and] does not believe the claim [by Harcus Parker] has merit and is defending it vigorously.”
The case against TSB marks the first group legal action to reach the courts on behalf of mortgage prisoners. Harcus Parker represents 10,000 mortgage prisoners in total, the majority have loans with other lenders.
Matthew Patching, a partner at the firm, said: “The issues we’re raising to the courts will be relevant to the whole Northern Rock world. They relate to the contracts of these mortgages, which all have the same terms.
“This week’s court hearing could set a precedent allowing all mortgage prisoners to bring claims for the overpayments they made as a result of being trapped in unfairly high interest rate payments on their home loans.”
