A&L (Santander) Mortgage application complaints.

bigandy9

Afternoon all.

I was just wondering if anyone can give me a bit of advice, with regards to how I would be best advised to go about making a complaint to Santander regarding a Mortgage Application I have in progress.

It is going to be quite a detailed, in depth complaint (my notes from dealing with them currently span over 4 sheets of A4 paper, with issues ranging from them missing things off my application, requesting information, but not telling me it had to be on headed paper, sending stuff out via second class post, insisting I supply documents that cannot exist, the list is almost endless!).

I though it would be a simple process to port my mortgage to a new property (and increase it somewhat too), but it has turned into a 6 week nightmare, that has cost me in excess of 12 hours of phone calls to them, numerous special delivery letters and having to explain things to pretty much all of the customer "service" agents there. It is currently stuck because they are requesting SA302 forms, which I (nor HMRC) can provide because they just do not exist. I have pretty much lost the house we wanted to buy now because of it, and stand to be out of pocket to the tune of £750 (depending what the solicitors bill comes in at).

I was thinking that a letter detailing it all would suffice, but I want to make sure that it does not just get swept under the carpet, I want to make sure it has maximum impact, and exposure, and hopefully results in something that can make right the expense we have incurred.

Any advice would be appreciated thanks!

Andy

sockpuppet

Hi, you can get SA302's from the HMRC, just ring them up and tell them which years you want and they will send them out.
They still do this as a client of ours requested some a couple of weeks ago (as they are not sent out automatically anymore) and they were sent out really quickly!

kingstreet

I think you are doing the right thing in writing down all the issues and making your complaint that way.

I will make two small points though. Porting a mortgage isn't an easy process. It involves making a whole new mortgage application on a new property so you have a new mortgage to port the old rate to. You face all the requirements of a new mortgage with a new lender.

Second class mail? Are you sure? Do you know the cost of first class franked mail is a lot lower than the first class stamp you buy from the PO? IIRC, first class franked is 36p, while usual first class is something like 43p.

Good luck with your complaint, either way. I also agree with sockpuppet. SA302s are a standard requirement for many lenders where there's unusual income involved. It's the HMRC standard form for giving you confirmation of your tax/income.

bigandy9

HI folks, thanks for the input, much appreciated.

I understand what an SA302 form is, it is basically the tax calculation for those who have filled in a tax return. The issue I have, is that I have only ever been paid on a PAYE basis, I have always had an employmnet contract, and I have never filled in a tax return (and never needed too I might add). For that reason, SA302 forms will not and cannot ever be made available for me. Instead, my P60 end of year summaries are the documents that detail my tax payments for the year (and income of course). I have contacted my tax office on two occasions now, and they have confirmed that. However, it seems that the A&L underwriters cannot seem to fathom that. They have a "policy" somewhere that states that because I am employed by an umbrella company, and work on an on-going contract (i.e. rolling, not fixed term), I am techincally self-employed, and therefore must be able to provide an SA302 form. I've basically been going round in circles with them for the last 4 weeks, my employment situation. At one point they told me copies of my contract would suffice to back my situation up, but having supplied them, they have changed their mind. That is the crux of my complaint to be honest, the fact that they are requesting something I (and HMRC) cannot obtain. There are loads of other minor details too, but they are much smaller things.

Regarding the postage thing, then yes, I was told by two customer service people that the postage is sent out 2nd class, and can take 5 to 7 days to arrive. Hardly appropriate when I instructed their sales team that I have a 28 days to exchange clause on the conditions of my offer being accepted on the house we are trying to purchase.

Anyway, if anyone knows how best to get the contact details (postal or email) for any people within A&L/Santander that hold a position of responsibility, could you possibly let me know?

Thanks once again
Andy

kingstreet

Address to Compliance Manager;-

2 Triton Square
Regent's Place
London
NW1 3AN

This is the FSA Register address for Santander as a whole.

It may not be the right address, but it will get to where it needs to go pretty quickly.

Thrugelmir

bigandy9 wrote: »

Regarding the postage thing, then yes, I was told by two customer service people that the postage is sent out 2nd class, and can take 5 to 7 days to arrive. Hardly appropriate when I instructed their sales team that I have a 28 days to exchange clause on the conditions of my offer being accepted on the house we are trying to purchase.

Unfortunately your agreement to terms over which Santander have no control or input is not a basis for a complaint.

sockpuppet

apologies, i misunderstood your post. I must admit we use abbey (and the other high street lenders) quite a lot and dont really have any problems as long as the application we are submitting fits the particular lenders criteria.
Most of the high street lenders have set criteria, you are either classed (by their criteria) as employed or self employed. If you are employed you must provide this and if self-employed you must provide that and there is no way around this - no 'individual' underwriting case-by-case.
The problem is when you submit an application with a lender that is not right for your situation in terms of their criteria requirements.
There are lenders who have criteria in place for different circumstances and employment types and really you need to find the one that fits you. I dont think we would have placed you with Abbey in the first place, given your particular circumstances as they are very 'fixed' in what they will ask for and there are generally no variations to this.
I have found that when you make a complaint to (particularly) high street lenders they tend to apologise but its 'tough luck' as it is not their fault you didnt fit their criteria. Obviously then it would be our fault as the advisors for placing a client with an unsuitable lender - but good luck!!

bigandy9

I appreciate that the lenders all have different lending policies, and some are more suitable for different personal circumstances. The annoying thing is though, that as I am trying to port my mortgage across, I phoned up the A&L sales team to enquire about doing so. I explained my employment situation clearly, and they said that should be fine provided I could supply payslips, bank statements, P60s, contract of employment etc to demonstrate my employment and income (which I have done) and yet they still insist I am self employed! I don't know of any other information I can supply that will back up my employment status, and that is the issue. A&L are flatly refusing to consider anything but SA302 forms, which cannot exist for me (according to the HMRC).

I've raised a complaint with them regarding this issue (which is still ongoing), and in the mean time, I have gone back to a mortgage advisor to arrange a Mortgage through another company. It is going to cost us in the region of £90 a month extra, because we cannot port our current interest rate (0.75% above the base rate tracker).

The cynic in me thinks that this may be the cause of the issues. Such a good rate is not likely to make them any money, so they are looking for ways to wriggle out of the application....

Thrugelmir - I was told by the sales team that everything would be done to expedite my application. Using Second class postage is something I consider inappropriate given what I was told. Anyway, that is a minor issue compared to the main points I wanted to complain about.

Thanks for that address Kingstreet

Cheers
Andy

Thrugelmir

bigandy9 wrote: »

The cynic in me thinks that this may be the cause of the issues. Such a good rate is not likely to make them any money, so they are looking for ways to wriggle out of the application....

Santander have no need to wriggle. They care totally within their rights to decline the application as they are under no obligation to offer you a mortgage. Irrespective of what a "sales advisor" says. Only underwriters have the authority to sign off an offer.