igroup mortages/adverse credit

Sassafras

I have some adverse credit due to my divorce. 3 defaults. No CCJs or anything. I wish to remortgage to release equity to pay off these and repair my credit record. High Street lenders won't go near me it seems. I have been offered remortgage by igroup. I have never heard of them. I would like to know if anyone can say if they are a reputable company to be trusted, or sharks that will bury me. :-)

They are offering a fixed 3 year rate at 5.24% on £70,575. This equates to repayment of £308 per month interest only. I have not had paperwork yet so don't know if any tie-ins or missed payment penalties etc.

AndrewSmith

I group are owned by GE Money Lending. I would assume that you have had a visit from someone like 'The Money Group' or similar? The probably recommended a GEM3 mortgage with iGroup. I know this as I used to work for a specialist broker who used iGroup.

My advice is to contact a mainstream mortgage broker who can look at a range of products from high street lenders with whom your criteria may fit.

If you have been approached and visited by a specialist broker firm, they usually do not have access to the High Street lenders thus will recommend you to 'Adverse Lenders' making your situation out to be worse than it actually is.

This is the whole reason I left that particular company.

Also with iGroup watch out for the redemption period which used to be 6 month's interest within the first 4 years!!!!

Hope this helps

Andy

Barney088

Sorry to hear about the defaults, however, as Andrew says there are loads of lenders now who ignore them, I'd also advise getting a broker to look into it for you.

The defaults will stay with you for a maximum of 7 years from the date they were registered, once this time has passed you'll be free to join the high street again. Worth thinking about this when selecting a rate.

Monkeybutt

I too would not be overly worried about the defaults, if they are settled then they may not be treated as badly as they could be, I have one from about 4 yeras ago and have received an offer for a mortgage > 300K from a high st bank at 4.9% fixed .

LollyLou_2

I'm interested (and amazed!) to hear that some high street lenders ignore defaults. I defaulted on a loan approx 3 years ago. I have almost settled the account and apart from this, the rest of my credit history is impeccable. What are the chances of me being accepted for a mortgage from a high street bank next year once the account has been settled? And who are these lenders?

AndrewSmith

Impossible to say for sure without full details Lollylou, but don't be to amazed to hear that High Street lenders will accept adverse credit, a lot of them have done to a certain degree for years. It's just knowing that is the issue. You may in fact find that you do not have to clear the default completely, simply adhering to the payments may satisfy the lender.

A lot depends on the circumstances and amounts behind the adverse credit and what attempts have been made to rectify it.

It is not uncommon these day for people to have some degree of 'missed payments' which as such should not automatically class them as an adverse mortgage case.

Hope this helps

Andy

LollyLou_2

Thanks AndrewSmith. Basically, I was unemployed and got myself into a bit of a mess with my finances. In terms of bringing the account up to date, I've been making monthly payments (which are in fact larger than the original monthly payment!) and I have also made two large payments of £1300 & £700. I will probably settle the loan faster than if I hadn't defaulted! As I mentioned before, other than this my credit file is immaculate, and I think I show a healthy history of well managed credit (timely payments on credit cards, mobile phones, and one other loan which I have now paid off) What do you think my chances are?

AndrewSmith

Without full details not possible to say, however as long as you have a good income and equity / deposit then I would say it's worth a pop.

Andy

Monkeybutt

Hi LollyLou,

I don't know if I'm allowed to mention names but if I said they had an association to a place of worship then you might be able to work it out from there

they did mention it on the initial application, I explained that it was a CC debt incurred when my wife was on maternity leave and they were happy, I also had a CC that was over the limit and they were not concerned about that either. Saying that I have been with them for the last 5 years and have perfect repayment history with them, go for it, you may be pleasantly surprised.

LollyLou_2

Thanks everyone - good stuff to hear!

Sassafras

Hi folks - thanks for all the interest in this. I have a friend who is a solicitor specialising in conveyancing. He's kindly offered to go over the I group paperwork for me with fine toothed comb to make sure I'm not committing myself to anything untoward.

I have been offered a number of mortgages through brokers , even with my minor adverse credit, but keep having to tell them to stick their offers where sun don't shine when they tell me they want a £2K brokers fee. It is very interesting to note how quickly they come back with a better offer & a reduced fee. Sharks these people are.

The broker that offered me the I group mortgage of my choice is not charging a brokers fee only a valuation fee of £245. Significantly different eh? :-)