Advice Wanted - Rant Needed

gillc1

I am new to here, so apologies if I am in the wrong place!
I shall try to keep this as short as possible and try not to waffle.
9 weeks ago, my husband and I approached Lloyds Bank (we have banked with them for 15 years and husband already has business accs with them) re. a commercial mortgage for a property we wish to buy and run as a B&B. We explained from the onset that I have a default showing on my credit report - (long story but debt 'inherited' from my ex-husband. It is being paid on time and has reduced considerably) and were told that it shouldn't effect our application. We were told the process wouldn't take too long and were given a name to contact. We prepared a business plan, SWOT analysis, financial forecast, etc,etc. filled in all of the paper work required by them and sent it all off to our contact at Lloyds. Since then our application has been passed from department to department and travelled the country (starting in Midlands - ending up in Edinburgh). Calls have not been returned, nor emails replied to. We were eventually informed a couple of weeks ago, that for them to even consider our application, we needed to open a business account in the name of the new business and to do this we needed to have a partnership agreement in place. We queried this as, unless the mortgage was approved, there would be no business to open an account for. Its one of their conditions of lending, apparently??My Husbands accountant couldn't do it due to legalities, so we approached a solicitor. £240.00 for the meeting with him, £900.00 for the partnership agreement Business account opened for the business, cheque book, debit cards etc recieved :j yay!!
We were informed on Tuesday, our application has been declined - as we lack experience in running a B&B and due to the default. I must confess to feeling a little bit sick and incredibly angry :mad: at a few things! 9 weeks to process our application, over a thousand pounds spent so we could open a bank account that we now have no use for and (perhaps apart from the default) hardly a valid reason for declining our application.
Whilst I appreciate Lloyds are not obligated to lend us the money, I do question the fact that we were forced to open a bank account and have a partnership agreement, 7 weeks after they had received our application and before they would even consider it. Surely it would be better to consider our application and make it a condition, should the mortgage have been approved? We have appealed against their decision and are waiting to hear from them re. this (sooner rather than later we hope, bearing in mind how long things have taken to get to this stage), however, can I ask, does anyone else feel we have been treated unfairly and do we stand a chance of claiming back from Lloyds the money spent with the solicitor? Worth complaining or do we not bother?
I look forward to your comments - thank you

ACG

I would complain about the fees incurred definitely.

As its commercial lending you do not have the same protection as if it were a personal application so if they refuse to refund you would have to go to court.

Moving forward, I would suggest you speak to a commercial mortgage broker. I have done the odd commercial mortgage but I think you are far better speaking to someone who specialises in that area of the market - especially with the default.

GMS

You shouldn't have been asked to do anything until the deal was sanctioned.

I have one going through with Lloyds now where they have given a list of requirements but only after the deal was agreed.

How much deposit were you putting into the deal as a percentage.

Is the business already a B&B or are you turning it into one?

gillc1

We are putting in more than a third out of the sale of our property. The setting up of the business (furnishings etc) will be funded out of our personal savings. It was run as a B&B a while ago, but not for a while now x

amnblog

Welcome to the world of business and business risk.

Lloyds_Bank

gillc1 wrote: »

I am new to here, so apologies if I am in the wrong place!
I shall try to keep this as short as possible and try not to waffle.
9 weeks ago, my husband and I approached Lloyds Bank (we have banked with them for 15 years and husband already has business accs with them) re. a commercial mortgage for a property we wish to buy and run as a B&B. We explained from the onset that I have a default showing on my credit report - (long story but debt 'inherited' from my ex-husband. It is being paid on time and has reduced considerably) and were told that it shouldn't effect our application. We were told the process wouldn't take too long and were given a name to contact. We prepared a business plan, SWOT analysis, financial forecast, etc,etc. filled in all of the paper work required by them and sent it all off to our contact at Lloyds. Since then our application has been passed from department to department and travelled the country (starting in Midlands - ending up in Edinburgh). Calls have not been returned, nor emails replied to. We were eventually informed a couple of weeks ago, that for them to even consider our application, we needed to open a business account in the name of the new business and to do this we needed to have a partnership agreement in place. We queried this as, unless the mortgage was approved, there would be no business to open an account for. Its one of their conditions of lending, apparently??My Husbands accountant couldn't do it due to legalities, so we approached a solicitor. £240.00 for the meeting with him, £900.00 for the partnership agreement Business account opened for the business, cheque book, debit cards etc recieved :j yay!!
We were informed on Tuesday, our application has been declined - as we lack experience in running a B&B and due to the default. I must confess to feeling a little bit sick and incredibly angry :mad: at a few things! 9 weeks to process our application, over a thousand pounds spent so we could open a bank account that we now have no use for and (perhaps apart from the default) hardly a valid reason for declining our application.
Whilst I appreciate Lloyds are not obligated to lend us the money, I do question the fact that we were forced to open a bank account and have a partnership agreement, 7 weeks after they had received our application and before they would even consider it. Surely it would be better to consider our application and make it a condition, should the mortgage have been approved? We have appealed against their decision and are waiting to hear from them re. this (sooner rather than later we hope, bearing in mind how long things have taken to get to this stage), however, can I ask, does anyone else feel we have been treated unfairly and do we stand a chance of claiming back from Lloyds the money spent with the solicitor? Worth complaining or do we not bother?
I look forward to your comments - thank you

Hi gillc1.

I'm really sorry to read about the difficulties you've experienced in trying to open these accounts. Our Customer Services team can look into your complaints and get back to you about them. You can find full information on our complaints process here.

Hope this helps.

Thanks,

James

gillc1

James
Aplogies, but did you actually read my post?? We haven't had a 'problem' opening the accounts, as such. It's the fact that we have been forced to open an account, for a business that doesn't exist, at great expence to us, before Lloyds would even consider our application. Sorry to sound dramatic, but it's tantamount to blackmail - 'either you do this, or we wont do that. We have sent a written complaint, to our 'local relationship' manager (what a joke - we're in East Mids - they're in Edinburgh) who has passed it on to executive complaints. They said they would acknowledge within 24 hours. Guess what?? We're still waiting ...

Lloyds_Bank

gillc1 wrote: »

James
Aplogies, but did you actually read my post?? We haven't had a 'problem' opening the accounts, as such. It's the fact that we have been forced to open an account, for a business that doesn't exist, at great expence to us, before Lloyds would even consider our application. Sorry to sound dramatic, but it's tantamount to blackmail - 'either you do this, or we wont do that. We have sent a written complaint, to our 'local relationship' manager (what a joke - we're in East Mids - they're in Edinburgh) who has passed it on to executive complaints. They said they would acknowledge within 24 hours. Guess what?? We're still waiting ...

Hi gillc1.

Can you please send me an email at the address listed on our profile page? The address is in the 'About Lloyds Bank' section. In the email, if you can let me know your name & the name of the Relationship Manager you initially wrote to, I'll get in touch with them to follow this up.

Thanks

James