Agreement in principle question...

Jrwhitehead

Hi All,

I was told by an insurance broker that:

• getting an agreement in principle from the Halifax leaves a soft footprint on your financial record
• getting an agreement in priniciple from other sources can leave a hard footprint
• If circumstances change and you need another agreement in principle this could look detrimental when applying for a mortgage

I'm just doing a bit of fact checking really.. How much of the above is true?

Thanks
James

andilong1

Our AIP from halifax left the mark "mortgage quoatation" on our credit file (soft footprint) when we did the full application we then had a "first mortgage" hard check, sorry cant help with the others.

Jrwhitehead

Thanks andilong1.

Anyone else?

kingstreet

Halifax = soft search at DIP = less reliable.

If you have issues of concern and are looking for certainty, this is not the best route, as the DIP only picks up data at recent address. At full application, previous addresses are taken into account over a longer period.

A full "hard" search may give a more reliable result, as long as the data and submission docs at full application match that at DIP.

A broker will be able to ensure you do not submit a DIP request which has no chance of success. Many brokers use the Halifax DIP as a "test the water" approach for clients with previous issues and this can result in a false result.