Surveyors - Colleys

MillieMay

Hi,
I've had an offer accepted on my house in the first week of June, with the buyers booking in a survey a mere 5 days later. In turn, I've found a house too which I'm keen to move into as my buyers have already sold theirs.

The money is all in place at my end, and the bank have made it conditional that I get the valuation survey done through them. It's cost me £450. They said for another £350, I could get a Level 2, which I duly agreed to. I paid this on 10th June and heard nothing until this week when I pushed for news.

They have said that their surveyors, Colleys, are very busy and can't do the survey until 17th July. I find this an unreasonable amount of time, and I rung round a couple of independent local surveyors, who said they could do it within the week. I've contacted Colleys twice to ask about the delay (and the fact that they've cashed my money without actually delivering a service).

They have replied with the bog-standard, 'we're busy and that's the earliest appointment'. I've tried to complain to their 'customer service' and I still haven't had a reply as to why there is such a delay despite local surveyors saying that they can do the survey within a week. I can't understand how my buyers have had a survey done so quickly, and yet Colleys can't - we all live in the same area and I'm moving 10 miles down the road.

I don't know what I can do in this situation and would welcome advice please. I'm desperately worried that I'll lose my sale and the house. What recourse do I have? Should I perhaps ask the bank/surveyor to refund the Home buyers bit and get a local person to do it? Has anyone been in this situation?

Thanks

kingstreet

Colleys is the LBG in-house firm, so I presume your mortgage application is to Halifax, Lloyds, ScotWids Bank, C&G or BoS?

There is a massive upswing in work in some parts of the country and they simply do not have the manpower to handle the amount of new business coming through. This is true of all the corporates, Allied, Countrywide, E-Surv and Colleys.

Anecdotal evidence suggests if you cancel the "scheme two" and have only the basic mortgage report and valuation done by Colleys it will be done sooner. Then you van get your independent firm to do your HomeBuyer's.

TBH if you'd put this to me before you applied, I'd have recommended you got that route from the outset as I think you'll get a better, more personalised report than you will from a corporate.

FWIW Colleys aren't paid until the work is actually done. You've paid your fees to your mortgage lender and should be able to recover the excess you've paid for the more in-depth report simply by asking them for it.

MillieMay

Thanks for the advice kingstreet. Oh gosh, I wish I had asked you before I booked it. Yes, my mortgage is through LloydsTSB. I'm going to call a couple of surveyors on Monday and fingers crossed that I can get it done.

Just out of interest, do I have any grounds to complain to the Financial Ombudsman about the bank holding on to my money (I had transferred it from my savings account to pay for the mortgage) and not delivering a service? Or is an internal complaint to the bank?

kingstreet

You paid it.

They are attempting to provide a service.

You ask for it to be repaid.

The complaint would surround the repayment not happening.

TBH this is such a widespread problem across all the lenders, I have a certain amount of sympathy. Complain when you have decent grounds. Transferring it from one account to another is irrelevant. If it takes them more than a week to refund the fee for the scheme two, escalate the complaint.

You only get to involve FOS if your complaint, when you make it, takes more than 8 weeks to resolve...

MillieMay

Thanks for clarifying that.

I took the advice and asked for the Level 2 part to be refunded as all the independent surveyors said they could do it within the week. Lloyds said that if I 'split' the survey, I'd go to the bottom of the queue again, meaning that it would be unlikey that would get it done on the 17th (which is already a 6 week wait from when I paid the money).

I complained that this didn't seem fair, but no one is listening. However, I have had my £350 refunded for the Level 2 but have now lost my place in the queue :-( I've written to Colleys and Lloyds to complain. They think that they can squeeze in a valuation survey by the 28th - fingers crossed that I don't have to wait too much longer.