Mortgagegenie.co.uk

Lucy_Lastic

Payless,
Yes, I suppose they are a broker, but I meant as opposed to a face to face consultation.
Also, depends what you call a "small" mortgage, I am talking of £84,000 (not small to me). Why do you say that anyway?

Andrew Smith,
During my search I must have missed the 5.09% deal you mention.

No one has answered my question as to what redress I would have, should I take the advice of a broker and then decide that I was wrongly advised. Also, as to why anyone who has been given the full details in the first place would be able to later say that it ws the fault of the broker.

Do brokers regularly get sued by disgruntled customers?

AndrewSmith

Lucy_Lastic wrote:

Payless,
Yes, I suppose they are a broker, but I meant as opposed to a face to face consultation.
Also, depends what you call a "small" mortgage, I am talking of £84,000 (not small to me). Why do you say that anyway?

Andrew Smith,
During my search I must have missed the 5.09% deal you mention.

No one has answered my question as to what redress I would have, should I take the advice of a broker and then decide that I was wrongly advised. Also, as to why anyone who has been given the full details in the first place would be able to later say that it ws the fault of the broker.

Do brokers regularly get sued by disgruntled customers?

There are, in fact, a number of products with a lower rate than the one you quoted. I have assumed a mortgage to valuation ratio of 90% or below. One of which is with the Nationwide themselves.

Yes, the product you quote has no booking fees attached however the lower rated Nationwide product has only a fee of £399.

Assuming a 25 year repayment term on the mortgage the payments work out as follows:

5.58% 5 year fixed

£455.23 per month


5.18% 5 year fixed (Alternative Nationwide 5 year fixed rate)

£431.25
Plus the £399 booking fee /60 (months in the 5 year fixed rate) = £6.65

Total cost £437.90 per month


This represents the lower fixed rate being £1039.80 cheaper in total over the 5 year period even allowing for the booking fee.

You may ask what benefit is there for you in going to a broker? I have just saved you over £1,000 in the space of a few minutes. That should speak for itself.

Re: Redress

If a broker does his job correctly then no he will not get sued.

However, if in taking the advice of a broker and implementing through him the recommendation he makes, if it is then deemed to be 'bad advice' you have full recourse for redress and can claim for any financial loss you may have incurred.

Brokers giving advice are covered for this by their own professional indemnity insurance. Brokers acting on non advice offer no recourse or redress as to the product, the advice (or lack of) or it's suitability.

There is a place in the market for both types of company however you cannot beat good, old fashioned professional advice.

Hope this helps

Andy

Joe_Bloggs

Let's hope that this will never happen, so lets call it a hypothetical situation.
What level of costs would be involved in pursuing a claim against a broker or their insurer ? Is there a recognised complaints process to avoid the expense of litigation ?
J_B.

AndrewSmith

Joe_Bloggs wrote:

Let's hope that this will never happen, so lets call it a hypothetical situation.
What level of costs would be involved in pursuing a claim against a broker or their insurer ? Is there a recognised complaints process to avoid the expense of litigation ?
J_B.

Your initial complaint would be made in writing to the broker firms complaints dept, or compliance department, at the cost of a stamp.

To be honest the vast majority of complaints are resolved at this level. However you do have further redress,depending on the nature of the claim, via ombudsmed, FSA, FSCS etc. But remember that this protection only applies if you implement the recommendations through the broker.

At this time of night I can't remember the exact costs but i do know that it costs the broker a fee if a case is taken to this level, hence the incentive for a broker to get it right.

Touch wood I've never had a complaint yet :rolleyes:

Lucy_Lastic

Andy, Yes, that has actually been incredibly helpful, and I am very grateful for your reply.

I am now able to mull things over a bit more, do a bit more research and make a more informed choice.

I have not had dealings with Nationwide before, but will be having a good look at their products. At present I am with Natwest, and have no complaints, but I wanted to have the full picture before asking them what they could offer me.

One thing I know, I will not choose C&G, I just took them to the Ombudsman!

Thanks again.

payless

Lucy

Also, depends what you call a "small" mortgage, I am talking of £84,000 (not small to me). Why do you say that anyway?

tly what I meant by saying I assume you had a small mortgage, as above about £25K would be better off on the other NW deal as detailed by andy below ( although other deals still might be better..I don't know, have not checked)
This highlights exactly why we say speak to a a broker....

AndrewSmith wrote:

There are, in fact, a number of products with a lower rate than the one you quoted. I have assumed a mortgage to valuation ratio of 90% or below. One of which is with the Nationwide themselves.

Yes, the product you quote has no booking fees attached however the lower rated Nationwide product has only a fee of £399.

Assuming a 25 year repayment term on the mortgage the payments work out as follows:

5.58% 5 year fixed

£455.23 per month


5.18% 5 year fixed (Alternative Nationwide 5 year fixed rate)

£431.25
Plus the £399 booking fee /60 (months in the 5 year fixed rate) = £6.65

Total cost £437.90 per month


This represents the lower fixed rate being £1039.80 cheaper in total over the 5 year period even allowing for the booking fee.

You may ask what benefit is there for you in going to a broker? I have just saved you over £1,000 in the space of a few minutes. That should speak for itself.



Andy

Lucy_Lastic

Update:

Today I contacted Natwest, they can't match any of the Nationwide offers, so looks like they have lost a customer. Of course they will be wanting £225 "Deed Release" fee. Ah well, it's a price worth paying.

I then contacted my trusty broker and she is sorting it all out for me.

Now I have to find the payslips, bank statements, etc etc, but soon will have my new mortgage.

Thanks for all your helpful comments.