First Direct wasted our time - Lloyds great!

neverdespairgirl

We applied for a First Direct fixed 5 year @ 4.29%. That would have meant we'd be paying about £2,450 a month on repayment.

They messed us around a lot, though - when I first talked to them, I gave our incomes, and the fact we were self-employed. They dithered for a fortnight, confirmed via our documents that we had earned what we said, and then told us they lend a max of 2.1 multiple if you are self-employed.

We then went to Lloyds, with whom we both bank. I applied over the phone last Tuesday, the valuer went to the flat on Wednesday, and we got the mortgage offer through today. That's bloody fast, I'm seriously impressed with them!

Their 5 year fix wasn't great, it was over 5%, so instead we've fixed for what they call 2 years, but is in fact until August 2013, @ 3.05%.

That means our payments will be £2141 a month. We intend to pay the same as we would have on the 5 year fix, so we'll overpay a total of £8,652 by the end of the fixed term of 2 years.

So although we're likely to have a significantly higher interest rate after the fix is up, we'll have paid a good extra amount off, so we're taking the risk.

Wh05apk

Nice to hear about your problems with First Direct / HSBC, while they are being so picky/awkward, it means us brokers still have a chance!

Glad you got it sorted, Lloyds have done no more or less than any lender should be doing, unfortunately this is not the case with most.

kingstreet

C&G's current speed doesn't surprise me. It was closed to broker business a couple of weeks ago, so the staff are probably running under capacity until they get the elbow.

anselld

Wh05apk wrote: »

Nice to hear about your problems with First Direct / HSBC, while they are being so picky/awkward, it means us brokers still have a chance!

Their more cautious approach to lending probably also helps explain why they didn't need to be rescued by the tax payer.

neverdespairgirl

It's their money, and they are perfectly entitled to lend it to whoever they like.

What is irritating is that we rang up and said we wanted to make an application with 2 x self-employed applicants, and for £x. It was three weeks later when they told us that their policies did not allow for lending £x to 2 x self-employed. Waste of their time as well as ours!

kingstreet

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

It was three weeks later when they told us that their policies did not allow for lending £x to 2 x self-employed. Waste of their time as well as ours!

That doesn't surprise me. The skill levels and experience of bank employees must be at a fairly low level, given the number of staff they've axed over the last few years.

They didn't necessarily keep the ones they should have done. :mad:

GMS

HSBC offer fantastc rates which will lead to plenty of applications enabling them to cherry pick the best ones. People are driven towards direct lenders with the lowest rates regardless of criteria.

If HSBC were a shoe shop you would find the the latest Jimmy Choo's advertised at £99 instead of £499.

Queue as far as the eye can see with many disappointed customers who do not fit in to the size 2 or 5 they offer.

Choosing the correct lender is not driven purely by rate.