Cheltenham and Gloucester customer service nightmare!

whiteroom184

Guys, dont really know if any advice can be given, but if so greatfully recieved.

Agreed a mortgage in principle 5 weeks ago with c&g for £209k, the lady stated due to my good credit rating etc no proof of income required and i would have the funds cleared within 2 weeks of returning my application.
I eventually applied for £185k a few days later after finding a much cheaper property and getting a better sale price for my property. As such i made an offer on the prospective property and agreed a 4 week completion timescale as they were after a quick sale, and as c&g had stated 2 weeks, i thought not a problem. All forms went back complete etc the same day.
2 days later i spoke to them to ensure we were still on track, they now stated i needed proof of income, and they acknowledged i didn't need this for a mortgage £24k more!
i duly sent this to them, 3 months wage slips and 3 months internet banking statements. a few days passed and i called to ensure they had received them and everything ok. They stated mortgage now declined as they could not accept internet statements! as they cant identify its my account, even though it is the account they have been pulling the dd out of for the last 3 years! i have now requested paper copies from my bank but have been informed this will take 7-10 working days! i cant even go into my local branch to collect them as they do not have that facility!
as you can see this 4 week timescale is slowly being eaten away!
i then spoke to mortgage processing who stated the statements were needed for affordability reasons to prove my expenses re-inbursments, child benefit and tax credits as my salary only accounted to £35k p.a. I told her this was incorrect and asked her to re-calculate the sums from my wage slips, she came back and stated, yes a mistake had been made and that the figure should read £42k!! how can they make such a mistake? she still stated she needed the statements.
i then did some further digging and found out using c&g's online mortgage calculators, i could have a mortgage for £205k just on my confirmed salary, without the need for the bank statements to be bought in for additional income!
i spoke to them again today and asked to speak to the team leader/manager so i gave them a run down of the above and was advised i would be called back tonight, but guess what, no call!

guys i'm really frustrated, we are due to move on 22nd Oct, and if we dont complete by this date, the vendors will put the house on the market, i have spent nearly £2k on costs already!

what else can i do?

dunstonh

i then did some further digging and found out using c&g's online mortgage calculators, i could have a mortgage for £205k just on my confirmed salary, without the need for the bank statements to be bought in for additional income!

That doesnt mean anything.

ex Lloyds branches, ex TSB branches, C&G branches and direct applications all had different lending limits and criteria and requirements. Indeed, different staff in the same branch could sometimes have different lending level discretion. So, getting different requirements from different distribution channels is not unusual.

That said, I used a C&G branch for my mortgage originally. They were superb on service and couldnt fault them. Some years later when we moved, I used an ex Lloyds branch and the staff member there was a disaster. She was too inexperienced (although banks are prone to that) and made many mistakes that I had to pick up on.

whiteroom184

dunstonh wrote: »

That doesnt mean anything.

tbh the guy on the phone said that tonight but should not have been out by £20k! surely this is false advertising on the banks part?

my main argument is that a higher mortgage was agreed without proof of income now is declined without it! and is now causing a big delay which could lose me my house!

sophievenusdoom

whiteroom184 wrote: »

tbh the guy on the phone said that tonight but should not have been out by £20k! surely this is false advertising on the banks part?

my main argument is that a higher mortgage was agreed without proof of income now is declined without it! and is now causing a big delay which could lose me my house!

Have you pointed this fact out to them? Sometimes, just sometimes, this hurries banks along a little!

Thrugelmir

whiteroom184 wrote: »

tbh the guy on the phone said that tonight but should not have been out by £20k! surely this is false advertising on the banks part?

Until you make a formal application for a mortgage , nothing is guaranteed. A mortgage in principle is what it says it is, in principle. However verification of submitted information is required before a formal offer is issued.

Don't be bullied by an unreasonable vendor either.

whiteroom184

well, will call again tommorow, and if i get upset to point of tears again then, i will probably tell them that........

whiteroom184

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Until you make a formal application for a mortgage , nothing is guaranteed. A mortgage in principle is what it says it is, in principle. However verification of submitted information is required before a formal offer is issued.

.

thanks, that is part of my argument though, no verification was asked for initially, only completion of application forms! if i had know they needed all this additional stuff i would have requested it day 1 not day 10

Thrugelmir

whiteroom184 wrote: »

thanks, that is part of my argument though, no verification was asked for initially, only completion of application forms! if i had know they needed all this additional stuff i would have requested it day 1 not day 10

Lenders are under no obligation to fast process your application ahead any others in the queue. Mortgage funds aren't in abundance so lenders can delibrately slow up processing if they wish.

Let the estate agent deal with the vendor. Thats part of earning their fee.

House purchase is stressful enough without winding ones self up. So chill out and everything will come together in the end.