Woolwich and/or broker being far too slow. Any advice?

daverules

Hi there,

This message is quite long, so I'll summarise it to start with then go into full details.

In Summary:
Hoping for your advice as our lender (Woolwich) are taking far too long (over 6 weeks so far) to issue an offer (we are now just 4 days away from the original completion deadline), and our broker (London & Country) doesn't seem to be doing a lot to help us.

In Full:
We (a friend and myself) applied for a joint mortgage on the 25th of September. This had been pre-approved by the broker and the whole application was all done very quickly. Personally, I think we are pretty good customers as, thanks to living at home for a couple of years and very kind parents, we are putting down a 40% deposit and the actual loan is well within our combined affordability. The only negative, and the reason for using a broker, is that I am self employed but have two years accounts. My friend is in a full time and stable job.

Everything started very smoothly, all the documents the lender/broker required were sent to them very promptly but then everything went a bit quiet and the survey wasn't carried out until the 20th Oct. On the 22nd, I had a weird voicemail from the broker saying there had been a problem, but it was sorted out quickly. I suspect that someone at the Woolwich had just misread it (I read that this happened in an old thread, but i'm not allowed to link to it). The broker then said everything was fine and that our offer would be in place with 24 hours.

24 hours passed, and then she said we would have to wait until after the weekend for the offer.

On Monday morning, she phoned to say that one of our credit scores had dropped since the initial check for the application and that our case had been escalated to a senior underwriter, and we'd have to wait another 24-48 hours. She also said that she was being transferred to another department and so we had to deal with another case manager. The credit score excuse was slightly fishy and a check with Experian showed that my score was 999 and my friend's was 994 (out of 999).

Next day, the new guy says that the senior underwriter required more proof of our earnings. Friend had to send in his latest salary slip and back statement, and I had to request copies of my SA302 (Tax Calculation) form from the HMRC. More delays and waiting. It took 8 days for them to arrive and I have now just forwarded them on. However in the meantime, I sent PDF copies to the broker asking whether they could at least use them until the "official" print outs arrived. No answer.

Now, the vendor is understandably very worried. We are fast approaching their original aimed date of completition and they have also put down a deposit on a rental property but if they haven't exchanged by Friday then they will pull out of that, and then won't be able to complete until after the New Year (or possibly worse - find a new buyer).

Our main frustration is with the broker as they don't seem to understand our urgency, take a long time to reply to emails, phone calls always go to voicemail, etc and for "UK's no1 no-fee mortgage broker" seem a bit of a shambles. I understand that the Woolwich aren't great but surely L&C have dealt with them many times before and have some way of cutting queues/getting things done urgently? We have tried to get in touch with someone more senior but that just results in more voicemails and rejected emails.

Anyway, I apologise for the length of this post. If you have any advice as to what we can do to get the broker/lender to hurry up, and/or keep the vendor calm it'd be much appreciated.

Thanks

Dave

TEDDYRUKSPIN

Actually, I agree with woolwich to be honest.

From assumptions - which is'nt great. I believe they should have asked for the following:-

They want 3 years worth of accounts - if not 2 years and the following year prediction i.e. 2009. Since it is coming to January 2010 very soon, your friend/partner should have this ready. Also, 2 years tax receipts.

As for the full time malarky - 3 months full salary slips. Including any commission, if any, 3 years worth of P60's.

daverules

What do you agree with the Woolwich about? That being really slow is great for customer service?

I've only been self employed for 2 and a half years so 3 years of accounts it slightly tricky, but I was speaking to the broker several months before our offer was accepted and he never said it'd be a problem. And if all these forms are required (they havent actually been requested yet) then why didn't they ask them for them 6 weeks ago?

_Andy_

It's probably as they've rescored you and it's come out lower - hence needing more documentation.
Bear in mind that the Experian score isn't especially relevant as each lender scores on their own system/basis.

carpii

daverules wrote: »

Hi there,

This message is quite long, so I'll summarise it to start with then go into full details.

Hi Dave,

It sounds like I'm in a very similar situation to you. I really wish Id never gone with Woolwich, they just seem like a bunch of bumbling incompetents.

Heres my story (still in progress)...

I viewed a property around 8 weeks ago, and liked it so much I made an offer on the same day. The only problem being, I didn't have a mortgage agreed at the time.

So the same day, I rang Woolwich and spoke to their advisors. We went through a telephone application and all seemed well.

Because I'm self employed, they wanted the latest set of accounts.
I couldn't provide these as they were still being prepared by the accountant, but I had the two previous years, which I supplied. The advisor said this is quite common, and would be no problem at all.

3 weeks passed, and since i heard nothing from them, I called my advisor, who told me to speak to the mortgage processing center, who put me through to the underwriters department, who then told me to go back to my advisor.
Very frustrating, it seems like nobody in the organisation speaks to each other.

It turns out they had now decided the accounts Id given were no good, and they did want the latest. I was in a real hurry, and so I asked them if my accountant could fax them, and they said yes that will be fine so long as they're signed.
I got my accountant to finish the accounts, and fax them.
A few days later Id again heard nothing, so called them again. They said a faxed copy is now no use, and they wanted the originals (yet another contradiction on what they'd told me previously). By now I was getting pretty annoyed.

This time I got my accountant to courier them, and I called to make sure they had arrived. I was ringing every other day to check the progress, and eventually my advisors direct line changed, and he stopped taking my calls. Ridiculous really, I wasn't giving him any hassle over the phone, just asking for an update (I think sometimes they forget who is the customer and who is the provider)

I called the processing center last week, who told me they would get back to me yesterday at the latest.
Needless to say, no call, so I rang them today.

They are now not happy that the accounts are unaudited. I'm a sole trader. I dont know of any sole trader who gets his accounts audited.

I'm just sick of the whole thing with Woolwich, and after 8 weeks of them messing me about with no sign of progress to the sellers, the sale is now at risk of falling through :mad:

The monthly mortgage repayments are only 30% of my disposable income, and Im putting down a 40% deposit, and with a good credit history I cant see why they are being so reticent to agree the mortgage.

Good luck with yours. I hope both our mortgages turn out ok, but I suspect Ill be hearing bad news from them (thats if they ever bother to call me)

Conrad

daverules wrote: »

Hi there,

"UK's no1 no-fee mortgage broker" seem a bit of a shambles.

Dave the commision after tax and expenses is very small, especially given the work involved. I liken L&C to the B&Q experience when compared with the advice an experienced local hardware shop / builder would be able to bring to bare.

I charge fees, but I am straight on to any problems (last night I worked hours to sort out 2 cases that had problems yesterday). I can afford to do this as I have already been paid a reasonable fee up front.

To be fair to L&C, Woolwich for me are the worst lender. It's beyond me why they would chose them unless of course a typically inexperienced 'broker' at L&C merely bases the decision on rates offered, as they are told to do in training. A decent thinking broker knows rate is only one half of the consideration process.

Conrad

carpii wrote: »

Hi Dave,

They are now not happy that the accounts are unaudited. I'm a sole trader. I dont know of any sole trader who gets his accounts audited.

This is standard with the Woolwich and typical of why I have not used them in years.

Abbey are recently proving difficult in many instances although there is no telling - they offered a self employed case for me in 1 week!

Standard Life are quite good (but expensive), but you must present the application in a certain manner. C & G I find fairly useful, but again they can take months if the case is presented in anything other than a perfect manner.

Try an experienced, small local broker that just does mortgages (not an IFA that does a bit of everything), but be prepared to committ a fee if you expect him/her to give it 100% (the commision after tax and expenses is very low, so no right thinking busy broker would need to work under such conditions).

carpii

Conrad wrote: »

This is standard with the Woolwich and typical of why I have not used them in years.

Conrad, are there any mortgage providers which are typically quite efficient in processing applications?

I have a feeling I may need to seek a new mortgage later this week, and Ill be hoping to find one which can process my mortgage very quickly, even at the expense of a less competitive rate.
Im wondering if a small mortgage provider might be the way to go, rather than the lumbering high street behemoths like Woolwich

Thanks

herbiesjp

Plenty of lenders are efficient

Woolwich have always been poor in mortgage servicing in my experience, so it is as shame they were the chosen option - however it should have been offered by now

You should find other comparable rates out there also

carpii

herbiesjp wrote: »

Plenty of lenders are efficient

Woolwich have always been poor in mortgage servicing in my experience, so it is as shame they were the chosen option - however it should have been offered by now

You should find other comparable rates out there also

Thanks for the response, but do you have any specific recommendations on lenders who tend to be a cut above the rest when it comes to processing applications?

If you'd told me "plenty of lenders are efficient" before I started looking for a mortgage, I think I still would have gone for Woolwich anyway, assuming they were included in your group of plenty

Due to family circumstances I really cant afford another lender spending 8 weeks on 'due diligence' only to turn round and reject it, especially as if they look at my income over the past 3 years, and the deposit, the mortgage really is a no-brainer in terms of risk

Thanks

newidea

Agreed, I have found Woolwich customer service to be a bit hit and miss. They do have some great deals at the moment so it is hard to discount them.