Help to Buy? I need help sorting this loan chaos...

Ms H.M. writes: Four years ago, I used the Government’s Help to Buy scheme to purchase my flat with a loan. Since then, I have saved hard to repay the loan before steep interest charges start after five years. In January, I paid £ 395 for a surveyor’s report, instructed a solicitor, and sent all paperwork and fees to Target HCA, the company administering the loan. Target forgot to deal with this, then refused to deal with my solicitor, and now says I have run out of time and need to pay for new reports to start again.

THIS has been a chapter of errors. When you spoke to Target in February, staff admitted they had simply forgotten to deal with your loan redemption request.

The company said i t would extend the redemption process by one month to make up for this, but then it sent all the forms, along with lots of personal information, to a solicitor who acted for you some years ago, and not to the solicitor you had told Target was acting for you now.

And when I started looking into this for you, I ran into a fresh bit of confusion, with a document saying terms and condition were set by Target Servicing Limited, company number 08896386. When I checked, I found this number belongs to a different company, Elderbridge Limited, which is connected to Target but legally is completely separate.

I asked Target to comment, and it admitted it had got things wrong. The company has now told me: ‘We have extended the redemption period for Ms M until September 2021, so she will not need to pay for a new survey or additional legal fees.’

If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TS or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk. Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned.