Being charged survey fee on rejected mortgage!!!!

hislan

Help!

I met with my mortgage advisor 3 times and gave him all my details in full. We discussed at lenth which mortgages I'd be eligable for (I'm a singler parent, but receive CSA payments and Child Tax Credits, plus I only need a LTV of 37% and my mortgage repayments would be the same as my current rent!)

I finally chose to get a 5 year fixed mortgage from ING based on the fact that my mortgage advisor said that I was eligable for it! He applied online for me (in full - submitting all my bank details etc) and told me categorically that I'd got it! He even went so far as to call the Estate Agent while I was there to tell them to release keys for the survey to be done as it had been agreed!

I now find out that my application has been rejected (because I have 2 children) - but they are also charging me £225 for conducting a survey even though they were in the process of rejecting my application!!!!!!

Basically, I've been given 'bad' advice from the mortgage advisor (who categorically told me that I was eligable for the mortgage and met ING's criteria) and sucked into applying in full for a mortgage rather than stopping at the 'agreement in principle' stage (which I would have done, had I been applying without advice!)

The mortgage advisor has now gone on holiday for 2 weeks (which is why I think he wanted to complete the application) but I've spoken to his head office who are looking into it!

Does anyone have any advice on what I can do to get my £225 back without a whole load of stress and sleepless nights??? (I've had enough of those already!!!!)

The way I see it, the one person who shouldn't be out of pocket on this is me!!!!

henpecked1

I thought you paid for a survey upfront these days unless you cancel the app with a free survey, then you may get charged. I also thought the survey is done after everything has been agreed. I also didnt think ING were IFA facing for mortgage applications...

hislan

henpecked1 wrote: »

I thought you paid for a survey upfront these days unless you cancel the app with a free survey, then you may get charged. I also thought the survey is done after everything has been agreed. I also didnt think ING were IFA facing for mortgage applications...

Apparently its a special agreement that the Mortgage advisor (L&G run) has with ING to represent their mortgages!

Anyhow....they obviously think something's 'amiss' as have just had a call from the Mortgage Advisors head office to say that if I'm happy to wait till my MA gets back from holiday to look into recovering the costs from ING himself (and if not, they'll give me a cheque to cover the cost!)....Either that, or I can make a formal complaint!

I took the course of less stress and have said I'm happy to wait 2 weeks just so long as I get my money back!

Result! :j

firstaspect

hislan wrote: »

Apparently its a special agreement that the Mortgage advisor (L&G run) has with ING to represent their mortgages!

Anyhow....they obviously think something's 'amiss' as have just had a call from the Mortgage Advisors head office to say that if I'm happy to wait till my MA gets back from holiday to look into recovering the costs from ING himself (and if not, they'll give me a cheque to cover the cost!)....Either that, or I can make a formal complaint!

I took the course of less stress and have said I'm happy to wait 2 weeks just so long as I get my money back!

Result! :j

Sounds like you should get the money back then, that's good.

Seems very odd that a mortgage company would instruct a valuation/survey on a mortgage which hasn't been approved though.

wessexw

firstaspect wrote: »

Sounds like you should get the money back then, that's good.

Seems very odd that a mortgage company would instruct a valuation/survey on a mortgage which hasn't been approved though.

My particular lender does the survey before they approve everything else, then takes the whole file together for consideration after the report is in. Not ideal with all the money you could lose!!

hislan

wessexw wrote: »

My particular lender does the survey before they approve everything else, then takes the whole file together for consideration after the report is in. Not ideal with all the money you could lose!!

It seems absolutely bonkers to do that (especially as the mortgage lenders 'state' that these costs are often non-refundable in the Key Facts doc)! ING argued that some people apply for a mortgage 'product' straight off (rather than getting an agreement in principle first) if they think the offer is going to be taken off the market imminently (so are prepared to take the 'hit' on it if it's refused!)....I wonder if it's more a cost saving exercise on their part (as you say, to look at it all in one go (less man-hours), and have an computer generated request sent to the surveyor)??? Definately NOT for the customers benefit - that's for sure!!!!

wessexw

Yes I was told that it was a cost thing as my lender is a really small one with not as much resources as the big guys. I had my valuation done two weeks ago but my file is sitting with the underwriter at the moment waiting for the final word, but they certainly didn't drag their heels on charging me for it though!!

wodgerdodger

The vast majority of Lenders work on an online system with Intermediaries and they automatically process the application fromday of receipt.It is highly likely thatinstructions were automatically sent to their valuation service at the same time as the fullcredit process was being conducted. If the result was a referral to underwriters and they often work on a minimum 48 hours turnround basis as each case has to be manually checked then I can easily see that a valuation could have been carried out before getting a response from the underwriters.

The get out for the Lender is that they accept the application in good faith from a "professional" who should be fully aware of their lending criteria and if he correctly completed the decision in principle and fully declared everything then it would be unusual to get a decline if a full application was submitted within a few weeks . Do you know if he declared on the DIP you have two dependents? as omitting this info would affect affordability which could be why it has been referred.

wodgerdodger

Whilst ING may be a small player in the UK mortgage market they are certanly not an unsophisticated operation. They are a major force in online savings schemes not just in the UK but elsewhere in Europe and have an uptodate Online proposition.

It would not surprise in the slightest that their mortgage systems are as good if not more up to date than many more common household names.If they want to compete in the UKmarket they will have put the resources in to be qual if not exceed the competition especially working without a Branch base to fall back on.