Halifax backed out - appeal process?

Champagne-Anarchist

I'm in the middle of a house-purchase crisis.

I found a house I wanted to buy and put in an offer which was accepted. I approached Halifax via a mortgage broker, applied for a mortgage and this was accepted in principle, subject to the usual checks (first-time buyer, 85%). My credit rating was clean, although Experian showed that I was not on the electoral register. Halifax confirmed that I'd passed the credit check 'with flying colours'. I paid Halifax for the survey. A couple of weeks went by, still no survey report.

Yesterday I got a call to say that Halifax had backed out and cancelled the application.

I checked Experian again and a default notice had appeared out of nowhere. After some panicked checking it turned out to be a mobile phone account which should have been cancelled a year ago, but which was left open. As I'd moved house, and despite letting them know that, letters chasing this had gone to the old address.

I'm now panicking as the seller wanted to move quickly and I'm scared the whole thing will fall through.

I contacted the mobile company and paid the £49 owing on the account. They sent me a letter confirming that the account is closed and cleared. I've contacted the Council about the postcode problem on the electoral register and they sent me a letter confirming that I am registered; and they are updating the postcode.

My mortgage broker has both of these letters and is appealing. He doesn't seem optimistic, however.

Has anyone been through this? Is there anything else that I can do to try and persuade the Halifax that this was a small glitch and insiginificant against a clean credit record going back for years? What are my chances of success? And how long do appeals take? Can I get my survey money back if the survey was not done?

Presumably if a rejected mortgage application and a default stay on my credit record, I'll find it very difficult to get a mortgage from anyone.

opinions4u

Is there anything else that I can do to try and persuade the Halifax that this was a small glitch and insiginificant against a clean credit record going back for years?

You can only state the facts as part of the appeal. Nothing more, nothing less. Anything emotional as part of the appeal will be ignored. Too much emotion on an appeal can lead to relevant facts being ignored.

What are my chances of success?

Not great, although if you introduced another 10% deposit they would increase significantly. An extra 5% may make a difference.

And how long do appeals take?

It used to be 2 working days.

Can I get my survey money back if the survey was not done?

Yes.

Presumably if a rejected mortgage application and a default stay on my credit record, I'll find it very difficult to get a mortgage from anyone.

A rejected mortgage won't show as anything more than a search.

The default won't help, but I would expect a good broker to be able to find you a lender with the amount involved being relatively small.

Champagne-Anarchist

Thanks for the reply. I asked my broker to handle the appeal to avoid anything dubious creeping into it (as you say, an emotional plea probably isn't a good approach). If it's still 2 working days that will be great. I'd heard horror stories about people waiting for months! Fingers crossed :-)

What makes you think my chances are not good? Are they not likely to take the circumstances and amount of the default into consideration?

herbiesjp

A default for £49 should fit inside the criteria of most lenders, on an otherwise unblemished credit file.

Not sure why your broker is not more confident, as if Halifax refuse there are other lenders that would help.