London & Country Mortgage Brokers - Warning!

jtcowie

I used this firm as they came highly recommended on moneysavingexpert.com God knows why Martin Lewis thinks so highly of them. I found them to be a bunch of cowboys. The 'mortgage adviser' I spoke to was very personable and helpful until the point where I set the mortgage process in motion...at which point he lost all interest. I also believe that L&C were economical with the truth, which led me to take out the mortgage when it wasn't the best option for me.

Particular things I had issue with are:-

a) the mortgage adviser left out certain fees which, it later turned out, I had to pay even though I had specifically asked about the fees and whether there would be any extras to the ones he quoted
b) putting the application through on my self-employed income when he knew that I didn't have certified accounts or an accountant, causing me great trouble proving my ability to pay the monthly payments
c) they made a big deal about me having my own 'case manager', but in actual fact she didn't manage the case at all and I could never get hold of her.

I am very disappointed that Martin Lewis recommended this company and will think twice before taking his advice in future.

bigadaj

Raise it as a complaint, give the firm a chance to investigate and then complain to the regulator. You may or may not get something back for your trouble, inconvenience and possibly fees, but sounds as though causing them so inconvenience could be as rewarding as anything else.

In relation to your specific points I would play hard ball on the fees and see if hey suck them up, second point is worrying as self cert mortgages ain't around anymore, how did you prove your income in the end? Last one is just a lazy member of staff so little to be said.

holly_hobby

Whilst I can not comment upon the service recd from the broker, with regards to your self employed income, lenders work off SA302s which mean that neither accounts (audited or not) nor an accountant is reqd for the mge application process.

The rest of it ... well submit a formal complaint and see what their response is.

Sorry, your experience wasn't more positive.

Hope this helps

Holly

jtcowie

Thank you Holly and bigadaj. I have just written to the Sales Director and await his reply with interest! I tried to get an SA302 but was told it would take weeks to come through. Luckily I had some savings which persuaded the mortgage company to accept me as I wasn't asking for a big loan as a % of the property value.

holly_hobby

The mortgage company, unless assessed under fast track ( high A/B credit score), can not loan without verifying income ie review of SA302s in your case, given that self cert products were withdrawn in the fairly recent FSA (now FCA) shake up.

Let us know how you get on.

Holly x

Morgage_Confused

my sa302's took a couple of days to come through...in fact using the online tax return system you can now download your own in seconds.

jtcowie wrote: »

Thank you Holly and bigadaj. I have just written to the Sales Director and await his reply with interest! I tried to get an SA302 but was told it would take weeks to come through. Luckily I had some savings which persuaded the mortgage company to accept me as I wasn't asking for a big loan as a % of the property value.

jtcowie

This is all very interesting...I wish I had taken your advice and not L&C's! The mortgage adviser didn't tell me about the SA302 until after I had accepted the mortgage offer. He then told me it was the only way to get the mortgage and that I had to phone the Inland Revenue for one. If I get any useful reply from L&C I will post the results here.

holly_hobby

jtcowie wrote: »

I tried to get an SA302 but was told it would take weeks to come through. Luckily I had some savings which persuaded the mortgage company to accept me as I wasn't asking for a big loan as a % of the property value.

So proof of income was required .....

jtcowie wrote: »

The mortgage adviser didn't tell me about the SA302 until after I had accepted the mortgage offer. He then told me it was the only way to get the mortgage

What you had was an agreement in principle, not a mortgage offer, which is only issued following completion of full underwriting (status and income verification and property survey).

There appears to have been some confusion on how the process was explained or understood by you.

Anyhoo, keep your complaint factual, concise and clear .... do let us know how you get on, or if you need any help.

Always a shoulder here from me and the guys if you need it ....

Hope this helps

Holly

kingstreet

Were you given a key facts illustration?

What does the "fee section," section 8 say? Are the fees disclosed therein, the fees you have been asked to pay?

Note - lender's legal expenses shown therein are there only as part of the APR calculation and the true cost of the work your solicitor does for the lender will be included in the quotation you have obtained from your solicitor.

How did you intend to prove your income to the lender?

jtcowie

I received a Mortgage Illustration which listed the fees payable to the brokers and the solicitors; it was some of these which I queried. As to my income, I declared my self-employed income honestly and said that I only had annual tax returns to prove this. I also told the broker about my part-time employed income, which was higher than my self-employed income, for which I had P60s. I only found out, after paying the non-refundable mortgage application fee, that he hadn't told the mortgage company about my employed income as I am on a zero hours contract and it was then (apparently) too late to do anything about that.

I started this thread just to warn other people to take more care than I did...I probably put more store in Martin Lewis' recommendation of L&C than I should have!

dunstonh

I am very disappointed that Martin Lewis recommended this company and will think twice before taking his advice in future.

Martin has been asked before why he chooses to recommend big nationals and not small local firms who do the same things. He has said that he has to recommend companies that have the capacity to handle the business that this site generates. Personally, i would like a greater emphasis put in the article on telling people to try their local firms to see if they can get the same service (most mortgage brokers dont charge for mortgage advice unless it is in a low value area where the mortgage commission is too low to be viable - in those cases it is typically £100-£500)

You can understand the approach he has to take as he cannot recommend a small-local-firm specifically. They would be swamped. However, it would be better to position it that there are many small local firms that can do this or you may choose to use big-national.

Also recommendations in many of the areas on this site do seem to focus on cheap rather than quality.