95% deals disappearing

techno12

Benefit? Well I'll never use one again.

My one experience was horrible, he conned me into buying Legal and General life insurance for 4 years (if I bail out I owe the company £2k - according to the key facts). The thing is the first thing I asked him was "will this cost me anything for your service?" and of course he said "no, the mortgage company pays my commission". It was only after he'd phoned Intelligent Finance to get a 'special deal', and got the ball rolling for me that he printed off the keyfacts - when I got home I discovered this clause and thus his dirty work was revealed.

When I remortgaged in May went direct to HSBC and got a great deal (lifetime tracker) - now I just have 18 months of this sodding useless L+G insurance to pay, after which my 4 years will be up. The git had the cheek to call me up when it came to remortgage time too, and I just replied with "I'm still f**king paying off this useless life insurance, now sod off" ;-)

Grr!

Tiddler_2

andrewmp wrote: »

Can anyone tell me the benefit of mortgage brokers?

Using a mortgage broker will not suit everyone, if you have the time and inclination to search the mortgage market yourself, and know the difference between all the different types of mortgage then maybe you don't need a mortgage broker.

You state that a broker tried to offer you a deal which was worse than you got by going direct to the mortgage company. Was it the same mortgage company or someone completely different? How did you find the deal? (this may help others on here to save money, which is what this site is all about)

I'd love everyone to be in a position to be able to find their own mortgage but unfortunately as a nation we do not provide enough in the way of teaching information on life, and finances in particular.

I'd also like everyone to be able to do their own accounts, repair their own cars, do their own plumbing/building etc etc,

Tiddler_2

techno12 wrote: »

Benefit? Well I'll never use one again.

My one experience was horrible, he conned me into buying Legal and General life insurance for 4 years (if I bail out I owe the company £2k - according to the key facts). The thing is the first thing I asked him was "will this cost me anything for your service?" and of course he said "no, the mortgage company pays my commission". It was only after he'd phoned Intelligent Finance to get a 'special deal', and got the ball rolling for me that he printed off the keyfacts - when I got home I discovered this clause and thus his dirty work was revealed.

When I remortgaged in May went direct to HSBC and got a great deal (lifetime tracker) - now I just have 18 months of this sodding useless L+G insurance to pay, after which my 4 years will be up. The git had the cheek to call me up when it came to remortgage time too, and I just replied with "I'm still f**king paying off this useless life insurance, now sod off" ;-)

Grr!

One of the first things a broker should do is explain what if any fees are charged and when, this should be followed up at the earliest opportunity by giving you a document known as the Initial Disclosure Document ( I hate the FSA terminology!!) This should have disclosed the fact that there would be a fee on the cancellation of the life assurance policy. The reason for this is that the broker has taken an indemnified lump sum commission and so if you cancel the policy within the first 4 years, the life assurance company claws back the commission it has paid to the broker (who has probably already spent it) I feel that if you are confident that the advice you are giving and the product you are offering are right for the customer, then there should be no need for the clause, and the indemnified commission structure.

I'd also be concerned as to why you think the life assurance policy is useless - is it that you feel it is expensive? Does not meet your needs?

koexelek

Tiddler wrote: »

Using a mortgage broker will not suit everyone, if you have the time and inclination to search the mortgage market yourself, and know the difference between all the different types of mortgage then maybe you don't need a mortgage broker.

Correct.

If you want to borrow less than three times income, at 50% loan to value, and have an A1 credit rating, you can probably find the best deal yourself.

Where brokers tend to add value is in the more complicated areas :

1) earn £30000 per year, but £20000 of it is non guaranteed commission
2) you are a non UK national on a work permit
3) you need to use a guarantor
4) the property is of unusual construction
5) you have been self employed for less than three years
6) you have a house which is let out in the background

etc,etc,etc.

Most public mortgage websites work purely on rate and not criteria.
It takes many years to learn the quirky criterias of all the different lenders.

andrewmp

Tiddler wrote: »

Using a mortgage broker will not suit everyone, if you have the time and inclination to search the mortgage market yourself, and know the difference between all the different types of mortgage then maybe you don't need a mortgage broker.

You state that a broker tried to offer you a deal which was worse than you got by going direct to the mortgage company. Was it the same mortgage company or someone completely different? How did you find the deal? (this may help others on here to save money, which is what this site is all about)

I'd love everyone to be in a position to be able to find their own mortgage but unfortunately as a nation we do not provide enough in the way of teaching information on life, and finances in particular.

I'd also like everyone to be able to do their own accounts, repair their own cars, do their own plumbing/building etc etc,

Yes, the deal was with another company. It was a Limited Edition deal so therefore not available to "whole of the market" brokers.

I found it using MoneySuperMarket which returns deals which are Limited Edition which is handy. It wasn't hard and saved me a fortune over the next 30 years.

andrewmp

koexelek wrote: »

If you want to borrow less than three times income, at 50% loan to value, and have an A1 credit rating, you can probably find the best deal yourself.

I borrowed more than 3 times income and had a LTV far higher than 50% and got myself the best deal at the time (two months ago). If I had gone with the broker's best deal I'd be paying an extra £15 per month for the next 30 years of my life.

minimike2

ROFL at the broker bashing. Get sick and tired of this sometimes.

There ARE bad brokers out there (although most "bad eggs" will not survive these turbulant times) - but most of us are up-front, honest and genuine.



On that note, I am off to bash SUPERMARKET CHECKOUT PEOPLE becuase once someone scanned my egg noodles TWICE! YES TWICE!! Someone please explain the benefits of using a checkout person when I can go and SCAN IT ALL MYSELF.




/End Rant. Point Made.

koexelek

minimike2 wrote: »

ROFL at the broker bashing. Get sick and tired of this sometimes.

There ARE bad brokers out there (although most "bad eggs" will not survive these turbulant times) - but most of us are up-front, honest and genuine.

While we are on the rant subject, it seems everyone is an expert when it comes to mortgages.
People don't tend to go to a doctor, dentist or mechanic and totally contradict their advice, but they often do with us.

Couple of so called clever clients of mine got there comeupance last week though.

I strongly advised them to reserve certain deals as soon as possible, as I knew they would not be around long.
They both dithered on the advice of some expert down the pub, and are now looking at paying about £100 per month more.

minimike2

LOL yes you are right....so many people are like "well my dad / brother / nan / nans dog says......"

"Oh really, what is your dad / broher / nan / nans dogs occupation?"

"Driving Instructor"

"OH wow, I didn't realise driving instructors had to be CeMAP qualified and have a full working knowledge of the daily changing mortgage market these days!!"

koexelek

minimike2 wrote: »

LOL yes you are right....so many people are like "well my dad / brother / nan / nans dog says......"

"Oh really, what is your dad / broher / nan / nans dogs occupation?"

"Driving Instructor"

"OH wow, I didn't realise driving instructors had to be CeMAP qualified and have a full working knowledge of the daily changing mortgage market these days!!"

When you put into that context, it is so ridiculous, isn't it ?

Imagine one of our clients come to see us, walking with a limp..

"What's wrong with you ?"

" The doctor says I've sprained my ankle"

" No, No, that's not right, your leg must be amputated immediately... I'll get my saw " :rolleyes: