Santander - still the one to be avoided?

GMAD

Hi all

We're trying to find a 75% mortage and according to our broker, Santander are coming up best re rate, no up front fees, no val fee, overpayments etc. But I just don't trust their reputation.

Next in line are Nationwide and Virgin, but they require up front fees.

TBH if I know we're going to get excellent customer service (in that event that we need it) then I'd rather pay a few hundred quid up front if that meant getting it. But there is no guarantee is there!

Anyone have any experience of Santander, NW or Virgin recently?

Thanks

pinkteapot

Our new mortgage is with Santander (also through a broker).

Application was approved within two weeks. I phoned them at one point to query something and they were friendly and helpful on the phone.

We're completing in mid-Feb so hoping their release of the completion funds goes smoothly!

I took the view that in the three years we've had our current HSBC mortgage, I haven't contacted them once about it. So even if Santander's call centre isn't brilliant, does it really matter?

A lot of the complaints online seem to be about rejected mortgage applications. If your broker is confident you'll be accepted though then I wouldn't let those worry you...

nidO

My other half has a mortgage with santander, and their service is basically appalling.

I have no idea whether newer products might be different but she's now on their SVR from a "deal" started in 2010, and their system for making overpayments is such a horrible convoluted mess it's unbelievable.

Unlike normal mortgage providers who allow you to simply transfer overpayments of any amount (with maximum limits while in fixed term deals) and have it come off your balance and either reduce your future repayments at the next rate change or reduce your term, Santander require my other half to make overpayments of exactly 1 month's repayment which will then shorten the mortgage by exactly 1 month, and she has to phone them to inform them of the overpayment every time one is being sent.
If any overpayment other than exactly the amount of her monthly payment is made, Santander will just reduce her next DD payment by that much (ie make a £100 overpayment, her next DD will be £100 less) meaning no overpayment is made.

It also took her the best part of 2 hours on the phone talking to Santander to find all this out when she wanted to start making overpayments, because their own staff didn't seem to understand their awful overpayment system either so had to keep passing her from pillar to post to give her an answer.

Edit: Also unlike every other bank there is no online facility to your mortgage while you're in a fixed deal, once you move over to their SVR you can supposedly get setup online with their e-mortgage service though I suspect that might just be a figment of some Santander marketing droid's imagination as despite a number of calls to them from my other half asking to be setup and promises that access information will be setup and sent to her, 6 months after the first of many requests we've never had a thing from them about accessing her mortgage online.


Edit 2: By comparison, we also have 2 other mortgages with Nationwide and their overpayments system is nice and easy and works how you'd expect it to, their online banking works fine for mortgages (whether or not you have a current account with them), they answer their phones, etc.

The only recent hiccup we've had with Nationwide is switching deal on our house and wanting its value re-assessed (with a long and boring justification) to get a better LTV.
It took 5 different people telling us they absolutely cannot re-value a property for a deal switch, even at our expense, unless major structural work has been done until the 6th person (a branch advisor) basically just said "oh yeah with a valid reason we can do that no problem, i'll plug in the new value, yep the system's accepted that fine, here's your new LTV".

Wh05apk

Abbey seem to be one of those lenders who divide opinion, personally I find them one of the best, I use them a lot, they tend to be amongst the most competitive, and provided you know their systems and give them what they want they give no problems, if your broker does not know their systems, and think they can cut corners, and argues with them, they can be a nightmare. Personally I would rate them way above Nationwide, and certainly Virgin.

GMAD

Thanks guys

My broker (L&C) tells me he's happy with the way Santander handle applications, but he doesn't have any client-specific feedback once the deal is done.

Am going to pop into the local branch tomo and see how human they are. Personally I'd expect online access to my account and the ability to overpay in a simple fashion.

Hmm.

Wh05apk

GMAD wrote: »

Am going to pop into the local branch tomo and see how human they are. Personally I'd expect online access to my account and the ability to overpay in a simple fashion.

Hmm.

I wouldn't bother going into a branch, few lenders will offer you decent service in branch, branches are generally there to sell, not service, no branch of any lender will be targeted to service you once the account is set up, they prefer you to deal direct by phone.


The post by niDO does not sound right, I have never heard of anyone having problems overpaying, and certainly not having to make an exact payment.

GMAD

Wh05apk wrote: »

no branch of any lender will be targeted to service you once the account is set up, they prefer you to deal direct by phone.
.

That's the problem. If I need to speak with someone about an issue and am not getting anywhere over the phone then I'd expect someone in a branch to help. After all, they represent the same company/brand/image/portfolio.

I've been a Lloyds/TSB customer for years and each time I've popped into a branch to sort something out they've done everything possible to help. Never had an issue. Nat West and A*L were the same prior to that. Why can't staff at a rival bank/lender be prepared to at least try?

Wh05apk

GMAD wrote: »

Why can't staff at a rival bank/lender be prepared to at least try?

Because generally speaking they are targeted on sales, and servicing gives them no credit.

nidO

Wh05apk wrote: »

The post by niDO does not sound right, I have never heard of anyone having problems overpaying, and certainly not having to make an exact payment.

If anyone else is able to make overpayments sensibly like every other lender manages i'd love to know how, the whole reason we ended up having to query this with Santander was because we paid a "test" £50 overpayment to my other half's mortgage at the beginning of last year, and the following month her DD payment was just £50 less.

She then went into the local branch who, as you've rightly mentioned are literally zero help and said that there is nothing whatsoever they can do to help in any way with any kind of mortgage query and any queries have to be raised by phone.

So we called them and had 2 hours of total incredulity being told while going through several different people that that's how it works with them, and that overpayments have to be exactly a month or multiple of a month's repayments (AND that you have to inform them), and that any other figure or them not being told will simply count as part of your repayment for that or the next month, and your next DD will be reduced.
We then received, at our request, a confirmation of this in writing, that this is how their overpayments work, and with a minimum overpayment amount in any single payment of £500.

It doesn't sound at all right to me either, but this is the result we got from 1) trying to make an overpayment and 2) asking why the payment we made didn't end up actually overpaying anything.

Mrs_Rachel_Trelfa

I'm with Santander and the mortgage advisor at the branch was lovely. Was just an email away with any query we had (and as FTB we had a few) kept us updated throughout the process. We completed mid November ans went into the branch earlier this month to make our first overpayment and she was at the welcome desk/stand thing by the door and remembered us when we went up to her. Asked about how to make an overpayment and she said pop to the counter and they can do it there, just need to fill in a form to say whether you want to reduce the term or the monthly amount. £400 was not a problem and we received letters in the post stating that it had been received and term reduced then second letter backdating the payment to the say we went in (obviously the form was processed the next day) a d the difference in interest (in this case 5p) will come off the next payment.

Thrugelmir

GMAD wrote: »

TBH if I know we're going to get excellent customer service (in that event that we need it) then I'd rather pay a few hundred quid up front if that meant getting it. But there is no guarantee is there!

Obtaining the mortgage should be key. Contact with mortgage lenders is fairly minimal on the whole. If your expectations are reasonable then you'll probably be satisfied.