HSBC account Plus

Skiduck

we were going to re-mortgage with our bank HSBC and were told by one of the clerks, if we upgraded our account to "plus" we would get money back and therefore get this facility free for a year.
This was after the mortgage advisor saying to us, the mortgage looks fine, everythings going through.

We then asked for a little bit more of a mortgage, again she didn't see a problem with the ammendment going through.

Suddenly, the mortgage was turned down (we found out it had been cancelled by the mortgage advisor a few days before we called the telesales to find out the progress.)

We were given no reason for this, my "credit report" is excellent from both equifax and experian.

Now we are left with this monthly charge for a "priviledge" account. I know we signed up for it before the mortgage was complete, but all indications were that it was a formality - her words not ours.

Would I be able to cancel this 12 months account contract or put it down to a misinformed decision?

_Andy_

Technically no, unless you're within the 14 day cooling off period.

Could you clarify - was the mortgage approved / agreed in principle in a branch?

It would be worth ringing the mortgage approval unit (the case would be refered to them if your LTV was 80%+ anyway) and ask to speak to a sanctioning officer to find out why the decline. (Sorry, I don't have the number to hand but if you ring 0800 494 999 they can give it to you)

If you still have no joy with the mortgage I would try progressing the Plus issue as a complaint, i.e. pointing out you only took it up on the premise of the £100 cashback.

Hope this helps, any other questions let me know

Skiduck

_Andy_ wrote:

Technically no, unless you're within the 14 day cooling off period.

Could you clarify - was the mortgage approved / agreed in principle in a branch?

It would be worth ringing the mortgage approval unit (the case would be refered to them if your LTV was 80%+ anyway) and ask to speak to a sanctioning officer to find out why the decline. (Sorry, I don't have the number to hand but if you ring 0800 494 999 they can give it to you)

If you still have no joy with the mortgage I would try progressing the Plus issue as a complaint, i.e. pointing out you only took it up on the premise of the £100 cashback.

Hope this helps, any other questions let me know

yep it was agreed in principle, and all through the process the advisor indicated it's just formalities. The only reason I can think of is that the LTV got past their thresh-hold with the extra cash we asked for, but I see no reason why they could not have told us the reason.
It was quite underhand, as I said, it was cancelled a few days before we knew about it - we called to see the progress and were told then, rather than being phoned by the advisor.
We definately did take it up on the premise it would cost us nothing as we would get the cashback - there is nothing in the plus account we could really benefit from and didn't need it.

cheers for the reply.

_Andy_

What was the LTV you were after? It shouldn't have made it a decline unless it was past 95% but then I would assume they would just say, OK we'll lend you slightly less than what you need..
I'm really curious to know what it was, because they would have done a Mortgage Approval In Principle (provisional credit check) and Agreement In Principle (affordability check) at the branch.
Therefore I can only think that they found an outgoing you hadn't mentioned/forgotten about, or something random was on your credit file (unlikely). I'm assuming there were no missed payments on your previous mortgage?
Have you spoken to the mortgage arranger in the branch since? I think that should be your first port of call, and then possible the mortgage approval unit.
Once you have clarified that you're definetely not going to get the mortgage, then I think it's worth submitting a written complaint asking that the BA+ is cancelled without charge.

Skiduck

hi, the LTV would have gone to 96% - the AIP was done as was the affordability check, my credit files come out excellent (top 2% of population) so I doubt anything was missed in their checks. We spoke to her since and she said she couldn't say why it was turned down. we immediately got an offer and completion from the one account afterwards, so we won't be taking their mortgage any further.
I think a nice but firm letter may be our first step.

cheers