Can Alliance & Leicester charge me for a reference letter?
Q I wrote to my mortgage lender, Alliance & Leicester, for a letter of reference in April. This apparently is not something branches can do, so one must request it centrally. I had requested that the letter be sent to a person in Canada. By April 24, no letter had been received, and on April 25 I discovered that the bank had sent the letter to me, instead of to the person in Canada. It arrived on April 29, at which point I discovered that I had been charged ?60 for it! Not only did I receive no warning of this charge, but it has been added directly to my mortgage account, without any option, thus forcing me to pay interest on it for the mortgage term. I have written to complain but so far, no response. What can I do? BT A A&L says it makes a standard ?60 charge for letters of reference, which are normally requested by third parties, such as mortgage lenders. The third party is responsible for paying the fee for the letter. Where the mortgage lender is the third party, it is routine for
