FTB, question about mortgage & health issues

MrsWoolfe

Hello all,


I've been a lurker for a while but don't often post. But I'm getting quite stressed and worried and wondered if you lovely people could help?

We have been looking for our first home for 9mths and have recently found a house we really like and after a fair bit of negotiating have had our offer accepted yesterday all good very happy deposit in place solicitors ready to go Mortgage adviser checking out rates and best deals for agreed price ....

then the advisor asked if he could come over and talk through everything tonight, I said sure but could be as early as he'd asked as I've a hospital appointment and may not be back until after 5....

Adviser then comes back and says that he will need my medical history- dates, times all medications taken and diagnosis and details of all sick leave....

I wrote back and gave a summary- I had a severe Kidney infection in Sept 2007 which developed into septecimia- was in hospital for 3 weeks and then had repeat infections for approx 18mths and an allergiv reaction to some of the anti-biotics which caused a few issues- in the end no problems were discovered and no long term damage/issues etc were diagnosed which was really lucky I know the infections simply eased off. NOw all together I had about 6mths on sick leave due to this issue, but since Feb 09 have had no problems related to this until now.

2 weeks ago I went to the docs for something small and when they took my blood pressure reading things weren't good- I had really high BP (was technically in hyper-tensive crisis) so they put me straight on medication and are doing blood tests etc as well as checking with my kidneys to make sure nothing untoward going on given the infections I had before- all ok so far and am just waiting for tests to confirm things are ok, but overall feel fine and am not too worried...

My problem is that now the MA has said that we probably won't be able to get a decision on the mortgage until the investigations are completed and that the lender will want a complete medical history as well as to speak to my GP- the vendor is very keen to complete quickly as they have already left the UK and one of the reasons they agreed to the lower price was on the basis that we agreed to complete within a fairly short time-frame...given that they are checking everything out to make sure everything is fine (i'm only 28 so they are being careful as it's unusual for BP to be as high as mine at my age etc) the test could take a while to do....

SO I guess what I'm asking, is has anyone else had this issue? Is asking for medical history standard now? I would understand if this was for insurance or something but I already have good life assurance and critical illness cover and my work cover me until those policies kick in IF anything should happen, so I don't understand why the lender needs this information on top of the cover I already have?

Help!

I'm sorry it's so long and rambly but it's really upsetting me- feel like I'm being punished for being ill

thanks for reading if you got this far

MrsWoolfe

betmunch

I think you will find hes tying is life insurance to his quote.

Have you used this guy before? I would go over all the paperwork you have been given thus far.

If he thinks that its going to take a long time due to this, seek a second opinion and explain what has been said about your medical history holding things up. If the second opinion doesnt think its a problem and can do things quicker for you then ask him to sort out the mortgage for you.

It all looks suspect to me

MrsWoolfe

Thank you!

well this is what seems strange to me- he was the one who went over all of my insurance and said that I wouldn't need any further cover as what I already had was more than sufficient, and certainly all of the paperwork relates solely to the mortgage- he has mentioned getting quotes for buildings insurance but has not yet done this-

I haven't used him before this as it's a first time purchase- but I've been dealing with him since June and he was recommended by a friend whose family have been using him for over 20yrs- parents, kinds etc...

the only thing I thought was perhaps this is a new requirement from lenders? I wondered if anyone else had had anything similar?he said they would probably hold back on a decision as otherwise they would be underwriting without full knowledge- but I still can't understand why this should be a problem if I already have insurance which covers me in case of illness? IF I am actually ill- nothing is diagnosed as yet and waiting for a diagnosis could take months and still end up with no firm cause for the high BP....

confused and freaked out...I'm guessing now is not a good time to check my BP :S

thanks
MrsWoolfe

betmunch

Are you currently employed and recieving an income? Is your other half currently employed and recieving an income?

Depending on your circumstances you may be able to get the mortgage on your other halves wage so could be irrelivant.

If you are aware of any impending changes to your personal circumstances then you must inform the lender. In my opinion, going to a doctor for tests is not an impending change, however, if the test reveal you must stop working then this would be an impending change that needs to be discussed with your lender if it happens before drawdown of the mortgage.

I urge you to get a second opinion!

sonastin

I am fairly sure this isn't normal - I've never been asked and I've not heard of anyone else giving their medical history in relation to a mortgage product (insurance yes, mortgage no).

I agree that you need a second opinion on this if it is going to hold you up.

MrsWoolfe

Thanks everyone for the replies- it has helped to reassure me a bit.

I am employed and receiving an income and so is my husband, his salary is a bit higher than mine, but I doubt that we could get the mortgage on just his salary. We have a 25% deposit are both in good jobs good credit rating , no other loans credit cards or any other debt at all- we have worked very hard to clear every outstanding loan etc before we even started looking at houses...So I thought we should be in a really good position?!

Currently there has been no mention of anything serious enough for me to not to be able to work- it's more making sure that there isn't anything else happening which needs dealing with- right now the BP is being treated with medication and monitored, I feel that shouldn't be an issue really, as even IF there are issues long-term I already have insurance which will cover things- but right now I don't see that it ought to be an issue...

I think you guys are right and I really need to get in touch with another broker, work have been really helpful and put in touch with a broker they often use for client's so I can at least ask his opinion and get some advice as to whether this is an issue or not- will try and call him tonight and see what he says,

Thanks for all the advice...I knew coming on here would make me feel better!

MrsWoolfe

betmunch

Would you mind letting us know what is said?

And if you do change brokers?

MrsWoolfe

Hello again,

well I spoke to the other broker and he confirmed what you all said- it should not affect the mortgage application...

Funnily enough when I brought this up with the existing broker this eve when we met up again- he then said no he didn't think this was an issue- he had meant it would affect the payment protection insurance...but that definately isn't what the e-mail said...it's now a moot point in any case as I saw the specialists today and they confirmed that every test came back fine...nothing wrong with me other than high BP and the crisis was most likely a blip due to the amount of stress i've been under for the last year....

So for now we are going ahead with the mortgage through exisiting broker- we have got a good deal lined up which I'm happy with and I just want things to move along now.....

BUT...

I AM slightly confused about how much insurance we need- I know we need Buildings ins, I already have good critical illness and life assurance, do we really need payment protection insurance as well??? he seemed to be saying that we really ought to have this but I really don't know...I'm tempted to do only the mortgage and then do the insurance myself. anyone with any more good advice for me?

thanks for all your help so far!

Littlebutterfly_2

I was in a similar position to you: the insurance co. wanted a high premium because of me...Thanks to advice given on here, we realized that we didn't need all this insurance that was being suggested.

As my hubby works full time and me only part, we just got him insured on a reducing amount plan. Both of us have our pays covered through plans at work, so critical illness was not needed. Nor did we need insurance for me as hubbies wage easily covers the mortgage and so he could continue to afford it without me...whereas I could not afford it without him!:p

I went to confused.com to get the insurance btw...

betmunch

Well done on sorting out the second opinion, personnally I would be concerned about a Mortgage Broker saying your health situation was holding up the mortgage, when it was actually not a problem, but it would cause a problem for payment protection insurance that you dont even know if you want!

I am sorry to say that I think you have got a "Mortgage Salesman" as he seems to be foisting insurance on you that you dont know if you need or not.

What you want is a "Mortgage Consultant" or "Mortgage Advisor" who will do the job in such a way that you get what you need.

Unfortunately there is no way to tell if you got a salesman or advisor until its too late, unless they slip up by giving you poor info such as: You health situation will hold up your mortgage.

If you speak to an advisor they will sit with you and discuss what insurance you have and its suitability. What other protection there is available to you. Discuss your concerns about what could happen to you in the future. From this discussion he will then recommend which insurances are suitable for you, and how much they would cost.

Has your guy done this? If the answer is no then I would be inclined to speak with your second opinion again.

It seems from your posts hes just said: your having this......

MrsWoolfe

Well!

Just an update- after all that, Accord has rejected our application- we don't have any exisiting credit and apparently this means we score low....

I worked really hard so we could pay everything off and we did so in June- the last thing cleared was a loan in my husbands name back in June....just not sure what to do now- are there companies that are known for doing this?that way I can avoid them?

MA was totally useless- he has been calling all morning and faffing- why did i have a higher student loan payment in sept on my payslip? UMM well look at the salary it's a bonus payment and so pay was a lot higher than usual, then it was- when does your student loan end? I thought most people (certainly hoped a MA) knew how student loans worked...in any case I have always thought that these were not taken into account for mortgages?

Now he is faffing and saying he just can't understand why they have rejected- good deposit, good salaries, both professionals etc, he then mentioned that he spoke to a collegue how had had exactly the same thing happen...I'm so mad right now- surely I'm paying him because he should be aware of lenders that are likely to do that? at least if someone in the same office has had the same thing?

he then went on to try and push a 30mth fix- when I've been clear that we want a 5yr fix then eventually said he'd call around and see what deals were around- but he had an important meeting and hadn't yet prepared for it so we would probably not hear anything until monday........


beyond P**** right now- have left a msh on other MA's phone and over the weekend will be trying to call lender's and find out if we can get a better deal elsewhere........

wish me luck guys...I think I'm going to need it....

MrsWoolfe