'Horrendous' stress for couple forced to pay monthly mortgage twice after law firm collapse - BBC

A couple who ended up paying their monthly mortgage twice, after the law firm they used to remortgage went bust, have described the stress as "horrendous".

In January, solicitors told Gabriella and Kurtiss Smith the mortgage on their home in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, had been successfully moved from Halifax to Nationwide – only to be hit by payment requests from both, following the sudden closure of PM Property Law.

They had to borrow money from family and friends to cover the £2,000 monthly payment for two different providers.

But, just a day after BBC Wales News contacted the banks for a response, Halifax said it had "put this right" and "refunded the additional payments".

Gabriella and Kurtiss are among hundreds of customers who were affected by the sudden closure of PM Law Group, the parent company of the solicitors they used to remortgage.

The company is now under investigation by South Yorkshire Police and the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), who are looking into suspected fraud.

The couple bought their first house together five years ago, overlooking the popular beachside resort at Barry Island.

On 23 January they were sent a 'Final Completion Statement' for their remortgage by PM Property Law, stating the transfer of funds between new provider Nationwide, and old provider Halifax bank had been completed.

But on 5 February the couple were shocked to receive a message from Halifax saying they had missed a payment.

After contacting both banks, they were informed by Nationwide that PM Property Law had closed before completing the remortgaging deal.

Funds that should have been transferred from one party to the other had allegedly not been passed on by solicitors, meaning both banks had still had an open mortgage account for the couple.