Is www.money.co.uk good? - Halifax 95% LTV

Eye4aBargain

Hi disney_cjd,

Whist it's always valuable to get feedback from other forum members, I think it's important that statements are based on the facts. Unfortunately, most of the posts responding to your original query are simply wrong. (I work for money.co.uk)

The first thing to note is that our mortgage data is supplied by Defaqto, who also supply the FSA with their mortgage data, as used on http://www.moneymadeclear.fsa.gov.uk/. So, if our data is not compliant then neither is the FSA's own website!

The mortgage you mention is real, it is NOT fake and it IS listed on the Halifax website. See http://www.halifax.co.uk/mortgages/existingcustomer3yrtracker.asp#greater_than_85.
The product name is actually "Halifax 3yr BBR + 2.59% Tracker LTV 95% Ex/C Direct Mortgage". The rate is unfortunately not 2.59%, it is "BBR + 2.59%", ie The Bank of England Base Rate + 2.59%. (I agree, 2.59% would be too good to be true!)

As opinions4u and payless correctly stated, it is for Halifax's existing mortgage customers only. This information can be found on our site under the details for this mortgage "This product is available to Existing borrowers not moving home".

I can also confirm that we are not a "lead farm". If you are on one of our mortgage comparison tables and select the "proceed" button for certain mortgages, you will be presented with an overlay that summarises how the mortgage can be applied for, and the pros and cons of applying direct or applying via a broker. You then have a clear option of either navigating to the mortgage lender's website or completing a form for a mortgage broker to contact you. If you choose the latter option, we detail the specific mortgage broker that has been selected for you before you confirm you want to complete the enquiry and submit your data.

Very few UK websites provide whole of market mortgage data as we do, and too few are as transparent as us as to the pros and cons of applying direct or using a broker.

However, this thread does highlight one useful point - the fact that we should make it clearer that "BBR" stands for Bank of England Base Rate. I have therefore recommended this change to our content team, and it should be implemented next week.

payless

thanks for your input..

I am sure its very hard to have all these deals in a format that meets the regulations and being correct

I notice FSA use certain filters- I guess on their site ( unlike yours) this product is filtered out when selecting
FTB, remortgage or house move on their site - as believe this particular product is in fact none of those, rather a existing retention rate

On certain pages on your site it is listed as
House Puchase to 95%
RTB 95%
but later says not available for certain classes - so I'm sure the OP is not the first to be mistaken ... do you give refunds to brokers who have "brought" the lead , of 95%ltv clients who thought they were able to get that rate ?

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As far as clear " then have a clear option of either navigating to the mortgage lender's website or" why do you have masked hyperlinks - ie

you show
www.halifax.co.uk/mortgages BUT it actually goes to another of your pages, which then gives consumers another chance to consider going direct or to pass details for broker


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Lead farm ?
Do you provide your own advice to all enquiries or are the "details " passed to other brokers ? if the latter , then I guess I would call it a lead farm

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You use the term " apply via Independent Broker" - therefore I assume you ensure all external firms are independent and not just Whole of Market , and as such offer a fee-only based service with full commission rebate ( on top of any other services they offer)

I'm not having a go, as I actually like your site- just rasing a few points , and its got other bits other than mortgages- the mortgage bit is like Mform ( what happened to them)

Eye4aBargain

do you give refunds to brokers who have "brought" the lead , of 95%ltv clients who thought they were able to get that rate ?

Your signature states that you're a mortgage advisor, so I know I don't need to explain the value of mortgage brokers to you(!), but the primary reason for using a broker (in my opinion) is not simply to get help in completing the application process for a mortgage deal already chosen, because if the user is certain this is the mortgage for them, they may be better of applying directly. The value of using a mortgage broker is so they can find a mortgage that is not only market leading, but also best meets your personal circumstances. Hence, our message is not "apply for this specific mortgage via a broker", it is "apply direct or apply via a broker and get independent advise as to the best mortgage for your circumstances".

As far as clear " then have a clear option of either navigating to the mortgage lender's website or" why do you have masked hyperlinks - ie

you show
www.halifax.co.uk/mortgages BUT it actually goes to another of your pages, which then gives consumers another chance to consider going direct or to pass details for broker

Correct. This link you are referring to is on our mortgage details pages, rather than the comparison tables. It is simply working in the same way as our proceed button (mentioned previously), in that it is at this point we make the user aware of the options available via an overlay. We use an overlay to make it 100% clear to a user that they are still on our website. They can then click on the company's logo or "apply direct" button to continue navigating to the desired website.

Lead farm ?
Do you provide your own advice to all enquiries or are the "details " passed to other brokers ? if the latter , then I guess I would call it a lead farm

I think this is just semantics. Yes, we pass details to a broker at the user's request (which is very clearly stated to the user), so we are generating leads in those cases (as do all large financial websites), but the term "Lead Farm" has connotations of a site whose sole purpose is to generate leads at any cost, even to the extent of misleading the user in order to get their details. This was the distinction I was trying to convey.

There are clearly numerous ways in which a website can be structured, and data presented. The important point I wanted to convey was that the mortgage deal originally queried was real, our data is FSA compliant and accurate and we provide a really valuable service for those researching the various mortgage deals available.

payless

To me - A blue hyperlink saying one thing should go there directly
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I understand that the term "lead farm" could be taken to mean something else , so have added a commet on my previous post ...

that said - am I right in suggesting that the main source of your income from the mortagge comparison section of your website is the "sale of leads"

Eye4aBargain

that said - am I right in suggesting that the main source of your income from the mortagge comparison section of your website is the "sale of leads"

Actually, no! But we do generate income from "sale of leads".

Glad to hear you like the site btw.