DRN-5886207 – General comparator: interest margin, legal fees and interest on fees removed (Pepper / Engage Credit)
What happened: A complaint against Pepper (UK) Limited trading as Engage Credit about a mortgage taken out with Kensington Mortgage Company Limited in 2005 and transferred to Engage in 2022. The complaint concerned the interest rate, the balance and fees and charges added to the loan. It was upheld.
What the Ombudsman decided: Complaint upheld. Interest margin reduced, overpaid interest refunded with 8% simple interest, legal fees and interest on those fees removed, and £500 compensation paid.
A published Ombudsman decision that does not concern Rooftop Mortgages Limited. Included only as general comparator material.
What mattered to the Ombudsman
- The size of the margin applied over base rate compared with the product terms
- That legal fees connected with pre-action correspondence, and interest charged on those fees, should not stand
These are the factors this particular decision treated as important. Ombudsman decisions are not precedent and another case can turn out differently.
What this does not prove
This is comparator material about another lender. It is not evidence about Rooftop, and an outcome in one case does not decide another.
Source details
- Source type
- Financial Ombudsman Service decision
- Source
- Financial Ombudsman Service, final decision DRN-5886207 (Ombudsman: Simon Pugh)
- Date
- 17 November 2025
- Reference
- DRN-5886207
- Mortgage type
- Residential
- Jurisdiction
- United Kingdom
- Organisations
- Pepper (UK) Limited trading as Engage Credit, Kensington Mortgage Company Limited
- Source quality
- Official source
- Last checked
- 2 September 2026
- Added
- 2 September 2026
What happened
A complaint against Pepper (UK) Limited trading as Engage Credit about a mortgage taken out with Kensington Mortgage Company Limited in 2005 and transferred to Engage in 2022. The complaint concerned the interest rate, the balance and fees and charges added to the loan. It was upheld.
What the Ombudsman decided
The Ombudsman directed a refund of overpaid interest with 8% simple interest, a reduction of the margin over base rate from 4.24% to 3.99% while the borrower remains on the 2021 product, removal of legal fees and interest on legal fees connected with pre-action correspondence added from 16 January 2023, and £500 compensation.
Outcome
- Complaint upheld. Interest margin reduced, overpaid interest refunded with 8% simple interest, legal fees and interest on those fees removed, and £500 compensation paid.
- Margin reduced from base rate plus 4.24% to base rate plus 3.99%; refund of overpaid interest with 8% simple interest; removal of legal fees and interest on legal fees added from 16 January 2023; £500 compensation.
- Amount stated: £500 compensation plus refunds of overpaid interest and removed fees
Key extracts
“Engage should remove any legal fees, and interest charged on legal fees, charged in connection with the pre-action correspondence added to the mortgage balance from 16 January 2023 onwards.”
Ombudsman, final decision DRN-5886207
Why this record may be relevant
Included only as general comparator material on the removal of legal fees and of interest applied to legal fees. This decision does not concern Rooftop Mortgages Limited.
Source
Financial Ombudsman Service, final decision DRN-5886207 (Ombudsman: Simon Pugh)
View original sourceThe date shown is the date stated in the published decision by which the consumer was required to accept or reject it. This decision does not concern Rooftop Mortgages Limited and is not evidence about Rooftop.
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