Anyone heard of, or used, "Your Mortgage Decisions"?

gjm123_3

I've done a bit of looking online but found no references to anyone having used them.

They're a whole of market mortgage broker, and work with or are a part of Easylife.

We've had problems over the last few years (many of us have!) but are turning a corner. We came off a fixed-rate with Britannia about 6 months ago and as we thought we might be selling up, 'rested' on their SVR until now.

We're not selling (yet) and wish to remortgage, consolidating debt at the same time. LTV looks to be OK, but our credit history is frankly appalling.

Your Mortgage Decisions have found a lender who will agree to the loan albeit at a significantly higher rate than most of the market are currently offering. The lender's valuer told us at the time of inspection that he felt our house was easily worth one value (£220k), then told the prospective lender it was worth £190k. We're contesting this and are confident that the valuation will be revised - the lender's valuer is from over 100 miles away and three independent local RICS valuations actually exceed our expectations.

YMD receive a commission from the lender, and charge a broker's fee. This fee started at £5000 (give or take a few pence) but when challenged was instantly reduced to just under £1200. There's also a £500 bill for legal fees (reduced from £800 when I challenged it) and £410 for the nonsensical valuation.

So the fees aren't ideal, but we're hardly model customers.

The 'tame' (and tied) advisor at Britannia has advised that an application to them would be thrown out in the first instance, but he is familiar with our situation and has said he will fight our case until he's told to stop. As opposed to being told it's denied... No guarantees there, though, which is fair enough.

So... Does the company - YMD - sound OK? Has anyone else dealt with them? And should I be horrified by the fees/charges, or accept I've got into a mess and this will get me out? (Which it will! )

dimbo61

Why are you leaving a good deal the SVR with a high street lender to waste over £2000 in fees and pay a much higher interest rate ( what happens at the end of the deal ?)
You need to look at how much you are spending each month and STOP
Pay your mortgage first, then council tax ,gas/elec/water
Stop using the Credit cards and repay this debt DONT ADD IT ONTO THE MORTGAGE

gjm123_3

We're in a mess, and our outgoings are exceeding our income. Unemployment was followed by setting up an initially successful business, which has subsequently failed following non-payment of three consecutive significant accounts. I may - eventually - see some money from the receiver, but it's unlikely. In the meantime we're now - effectively - £40k down.

I've re-entered the world of the employed, but it's at a lower income than before. In the meantime we didn't save for a rainy day and now have debts that need to be paid. CC companies are resolutely refusing to 'deal' on any level, and the choice was either re-mortgage (wipe the slate clean, work to rebuild a reasonable credit history, and actually have some money left at the end of the month), apply for an IVA , or worse.

For us it's a way out. I entirely agree about the fees, and what is worse is that there's no overpayment facility on this proposed mortgage and the fees for getting out early are horrendous.

The debts are now all CCs. We have no loans (other than the mortgage) and no CCJs. But we've learnt the hard way - as have so many others - that credit ain't free and CC companies aren't lenient or even helpful. If you can pay, irrespective of how hard it is, they'll keep taking. Maybe it's a case of being damned if you do and damned if you don't? Irrespective, I'm making no excuses: it's our fault.

The broker has told us that this mortgage is the only one available to us. This may be ((I'll say this politely! ) a 'sales technique' but it's also possible that it's true.

I'm not saying I like it - I don't - but it does appear to be a solution. Any suggestions for viable alternatives are very, very welcome!