ERCs up 100% as lenders try to maintain numbers

Moneyfacts says 53 providers have upped their charges in the year to 31 March 2005, with 23 of them increasing the charges by over 100%. Alliance & Leicester has increased its fee from £195 to £295, while Cheltenham & Gloucester has increased it redemption penalty from £100 to £225 and Royal Bank of Scotland has increased its penalty from £75 to £225. Moneyfacts says lenders have chosen to increase fees in order to recoup some of the revenue they have lost as a result of interest rate margins being squeezed by what has become a furiously competitive market, particularly as the level o...