Refused mortgage on basis of age

[tony2299]

Recently approached HSBC for consideration of a mortgage for a house move having been with the bank over 40 years and a perfect credit history. I was surprised and annoyed to be told that I would not even be considered for a mortgage as I am 59.
I have to admit I was staggered as I thought that age discrimination laws had put a stop to this. This was particularly galling as I was only asking for 30% of the purchase cost. The incredible thing is they did not try and give another reason, they said quite blatently that it was the banks policy not to lend to people of 60.

Can anyone confirm for me that this policy is illegal!
I have gone to one of the many lenders who do not discriminate and had no problem obtaing a mortgage but why is HSBC being allowed to!

[The Debt Star]

Re: Refused mortgage on basis of age

You're better off without HSBC anyway. Woeful bank imo. You should thank them for being so ignorant and consider it a lucky escape

[Caspar]

Re: Refused mortgage on basis of age

I have just gone onto Google and typed in, "is it illegal to refuse a mortgage because of age" exactly like that without the "". You will see it says quite clearly there it is illegal, BUT they are not necessarily from sites that are known for being 100% correct, hence me letting you look for yourself rather than posting the links here.

[leclerc]

Re: Refused mortgage on basis of age

Have you asked them the minimum period that they have on a mortgage?
The issue would be age related since the retirement age would be 65years of age for yourself. That means that if it is 10 years there is only a guarantee of 6 years worth of payments based on your income remaining the same.
I think you need to ask more details and we need a bit more info because this is not necessarily something that is simply a detriment because of age but based on risk involved.

[tony2299]

Re: Refused mortgage on basis of age

Thanks for the comments so far, I should have given a bit more detail which hopefully will explain my annoyance.
I am fortunate to have a government index linked pension which enabled me to retire at 55 and therefore have a financially secure income which is payed in monthly to HSBC. The amount more than satisfies the income levels required for the borrowing I requested taking into account my outgoings. This is obviously before I or my wife reach government pension age.
As an aside I have asked the bank to confirm in writing that my age is the barrier to their granting me a mortgage. It will be interesting to see if they repeat their verbal response in writing, I expect not!