How long do Nationwide take?

macman

I find Nationwide incredibly variable. We applied for a remortgage online, got an offer in principle within 2 days, and the identity verification paperwork the next day. So far so good. We sent this back by return and heard nothing for 10 days. I then rang up and was told they were very busy (must be the only mortgage provider who is), they had received our letter but hadn't even opened it! When I complained about this (because we are on a deadline before our existing tracker expires) they then emailed us an offer same day and we got the formal written offer the next working day.
So I can only agree with the comment that that they do need chasing up by phone (they do not offer any email contact), and if you moan a bit then it seems that they will generally push you up the queue.
Overall it's taken us 3 weeks from application to offer and a further week to completion.

ajb69

koexelek wrote: »

When mortgages were dealt with at the local branch, Nationwide were unbeatable and offered service second to none.

Now it's centralised, it's a bit more hit and miss.
Still find their service above average though.

Out of interest - and apologies for the thread drift - when did they make this change?

cheers

drew

Dan_1976

Nationwide are really fast or really slow. But dont worry about, you have a broker or ifa on the case so its not your problem. Keep in touch with him/her!

Chris2685

Well it seems Nationwide wrote off to my employer (which is actually an Umbrella Company) for a reference or something.

Is this usual practice? I could see this becoming a problem, so tried to sort out everything with my IFA before the mortgage application to ensure this kind of delay did not happen, and he assured me that he has dealt with mortgages for self employed people, and people employed through agencys & umbrella companies before.

Anyone had any experience with how likely they are to kick up a fuss?

koexelek

ajb69 wrote: »

Out of interest - and apologies for the thread drift - when did they make this change?

cheers

drew

Probably getting on for two years now.

The service really went down hill initially, but they have got their act together now and get more right than they do wrong

Chris2685

Still hasn't gone through, they keep asking for more and more stuff from us... We are thinking of pulling out but I have just spoken to my IFA who said that if we decide not to proceed, we will not be refunded the mortgage arrangement fee (taken by nationwide). Is this true?

I don't see how they can not refund it if they haven't even approved our mortgage!

hostman

Chris2685 wrote: »

Still hasn't gone through, they keep asking for more and more stuff from us... We are thinking of pulling out but I have just spoken to my IFA who said that if we decide not to proceed, we will not be refunded the mortgage arrangement fee (taken by nationwide). Is this true?

I don't see how they can not refund it if they haven't even approved our mortgage!

We're still waiting also, this Thursday will be a month since the application was submitted. Last week they asked for a letter from my partner, stating she will be returning to work after her maternity leave, not asked for anything else since. IFA says far as he knows, they have all the information.

Our (lack of) mortgage offer is holding up our house purchase.

As for the application fee - We opted to add this to our mortgage, in order to avoid the situation you'll be in if you decide to pull out of the process or they ultimately refuse your application. It adds extra interest, about £1 extra a month.

There have been cases whereby they do refund it though.

Chris2685

Thanks for the info hostman. Do you have any links to reports about these cases? Or is it just something you heard through the grapevine?

hostman

Chris2685 wrote: »

Thanks for the info hostman. Do you have any links to reports about these cases? Or is it just something you heard through the grapevine?

Grapevine I'm afraid, nothing specific.

hostman

As it happens...

Spoke to our IFA just now, as we hadn't heard from Nationwide regarding our offer last week, he suggested last Wendesday we should receive a letter witihn 48 hours to confirm the offer.

He spoke to them by phone this afternoon and they requested a letter from him certifying my income (salaried company director, perhaps that makes a difference compared to dealing with a "normal" employee? I'm not self employed, so its not self cert, they wrote to my partners employer for a reference also), but hadn't told him they needed it *sigh*.

Any who... he has now faxed them a letter confirming my income, as he has seen my most recent bank statements + payslips. He still believes they will be producing an offer and in fact the online appplication tracking system he has access to, states an offer has been prodced.

*shrug* - It's all smoke and mirrors if you ask me.