Employer refusing to give letter confirming employment to lender

[Deleted User]

Myself and my wife are in the process of moving house (offers accepted) and I am trying to get my mortgage ported to the new property. The existing mortgage is with Abbey (Santander) and was taken out around 10 months ago.

My wife is currently on maternity leave and due back at work in April. The underwriters have asked for a letter from her employer confirming a return to work date,salary details and hours. However the employer has refused to provide this. I believe this is in part due to concerns over my wife's fitness to return to work as she has had post natal depression since having the baby. They have said she will need to see Occupational Health who will decide either to sign her off sick (on full time pay) or allow her to return to work part time (which she originally requested to do).

I was wodering if an employer is allowed to refuse to provide such information? If so, is there any other way to satisfy the lender? I spoke to the contact centre who said they didn't think the application could proceed without a letter, although the employer has agreed to speak to Abbey by phone confirming employment details.

Thanks
Anon

Meeper

Absolutely they are allowed. The lender wants to know when your wife is going back to work, and the employer will not provide this information as it is not clear whether she will go back to work at all. It's perfectly reasonable.

If the employer will confirm employment details by phone, why won't they do it in a letter? That part simply doesn't make sense. Why not just put wheatever they would say on the phone down on paper?

Wh05apk

Not sure on this, I think the employer has to confirm she is entitled to return to work on a certain date, whether she will be fit to, or wish to is irrelevant, the lender is purely asking whether she is entitled to, anything else I think would be discrimination?

Thrugelmir

labrajaws wrote: »

The underwriters have asked for a letter from her employer confirming a return to work date,salary details and hours. However the employer has refused to provide this.

If your wife has not confirmed her intentions to her employer. Then the employer is in no position to make assumptions on her behalf and put these into writing to your lender.

dunstonh

I was wodering if an employer is allowed to refuse to provide such information? If so, is there any other way to satisfy the lender? I spoke to the contact centre who said they didn't think the application could proceed without a letter, although the employer has agreed to speak to Abbey by phone confirming employment details.

If the employer is already aware that your wife may be put on sick leave then they have to take that into account in their response. As such, the employer is not in a position to let the lender know what is going on. All they can say is what may happen.

Wh05apk

dunstonh wrote: »

If the employer is already aware that your wife may be put on sick leave then they have to take that into account in their response. As such, the employer is not in a position to let the lender know what is going on. All they can say is what may happen.

I think the issue is that the lenders ask, is she entitled to return, which she is, whether she is likely to be off sick, is another matter.

dunstonh

Wh05apk wrote: »

I think the issue is that the lenders ask, is she entitled to return, which she is, whether she is likely to be off sick, is another matter.

Yes. She is entitled to return. However, if they are already looking at long term sick then that ultimately when mean an end of income at some point and probably an end to employment. If the employer is aware of this already then they can offer no guarantees.

Thrugelmir

dunstonh wrote: »

Yes. She is entitled to return. However, if they are already looking at long term sick then that ultimately when mean an end of income at some point and probably an end to employment. If the employer is aware of this already then they can offer no guarantees.

Also it would appear in a part-time capacity. The terms of which are subject to negotiation.

Wh05apk

dunstonh wrote: »

Yes. She is entitled to return. However, if they are already looking at long term sick then that ultimately when mean an end of income at some point and probably an end to employment. If the employer is aware of this already then they can offer no guarantees.

The purpose of the letter though is to confirm she is eligible to return, I don't think they are legally allowed to say much more than that, at the moment she is on maternity leave, whether she goes on to sickness in April they cannot say.

They are not guaranteeing that she WILL be returning to work, simply that she will be ELIGIBLE.

[Deleted User]

i am the wife that is being mentioned.
i have informed my employer in 2 letters of my intention to return to work part time of which only one letter has been replied to in writting, the second one has never been replied to although i know it has been received as i took it in personally and when i met with my manager she refered to this letter.

i am currently on a fulltime permenant contract and this won't change until the part time hours commence which isn't certain yet as if occupational health say i'm not fit for work i shall remain on the full time hours on the sick.

why she won't put it in writting when she will say it verbally on the phone is so annoying, and i can't see why she is doing this.

anon

WhiteHorse

Although the employer cannot say when your wife will return, they can confirm that she is employed now, and should do so. Refusing to co-operate at all is a little strange.