Tesco Mortgages: what a bunch of jokers.

liverpoolbear

I applied for a mortgage with Tesco almost two weeks ago. I put all my details in and submitted the application only to find it had been "referred". Upon calling I was told it had gone to the underwriters and that they would be in contact within 3 working days. After the period was up I called them only to find that the underwriters wanted more information.


They wanted to know what my monthly outgoings were, majoring in on how much I spent on holidays and going out. I pointed out that I have a young family (two children under the age of 4, including an 18-month-old) so going out is not really a possibility and to be honest our "clubbing" days are well past us.


They wanted to know if I had a credit card and how much was on it. I told them it gets paid in full at the end of every month as I use it rather than cash.


The mortgage application was in my name only and based upon my details & income only, however my partner picks up a number of the household bills.


I pointed this out, but they then wanted to disregard her contribution to the monthly expenditure "just in case the situation changed". You what?


Even after taking her contribution out I can afford the mortgage, it is a five-year fixed rate, so no danger of it going up when the rates start to rise.


I called up tonight after being told they'd be in contact yesterday. They then re-run my application and call me back. In the meantime I had refreshed the webpage and found that it had been declined!


They rang me back and said it was because they didn't think I could afford the mortgage! Even if the rates go up, it won't affect me.


I am seriously annoyed with their poor service. I have had to jump through hoops for them, answering the same questions two or three times.


I have never been refused credit or a mortgage before. I am actually borrowing almost £30k less than my last mortgage two years ago, and I've had a couple of pay rises since then.


Absolute joke.

GMS

Why was your partner not on the mortgage? Are they on the current one?


Speak to a broker to see if there is a way forward.

Thrugelmir

liverpoolbear wrote: »

Absolute joke.

Times have changed. Best to accept they have and move on. Days of easily available credit are over. Affordability may look good at the moment. Not so once interest rates begin to rise.

liverpoolbear

GMS wrote: »

Why was your partner not on the mortgage? Are they on the current one?


Speak to a broker to see if there is a way forward.

After all the messing around at the end of last week I contacted London & Country. They have taken my details, ran them through their system and told me that based on my details I have a choice of mortgages, They have recommended a 5-year fixed rate with my current providers, Nationwide. The rate is not as good, 3.39% versus 2.99% at Tesco, but the fees are much lower (£99 against £1,300).

liverpoolbear

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Times have changed. Best to accept they have and move on. Days of easily available credit are over. Affordability may look good at the moment. Not so once interest rates begin to rise.

But I have fixed the rate for 5 years and I can still pay it even if the rates go up by 3% (as the BoE have indicated). I am also putting a 30% deposit down on our new house.


By the time the fixed rate ends I will have had a number of cost of living pay rises.


I'm just going to go with L&C, just annoyed with the messing around Tesco have put me through. I have had to do all the chasing as they never contacted me when they promised. Complete waste of time.

Mortgage_Mark_2

liverpoolbear wrote: »

The rate is not as good, 3.39% versus 2.99% at Tesco, but the fees are much lower (£99 against £1,300).

The rate is a lot better if you can actually get it.

amnblog

Nice fish counter though

liverpoolbear

They did check my credit score with Experian after telling me they wouldn't. I got my report yesterday and there is a marker on there from Tesco.

They have also withdrawn that mortgage too.

Faith177

liverpoolbear wrote: »

But I have fixed the rate for 5 years and I can still pay it even if the rates go up by 3% (as the BoE have indicated). I am also putting a 30% deposit down on our new house.


By the time the fixed rate ends I will have had a number of cost of living pay rises.


I'm just going to go with L&C, just annoyed with the messing around Tesco have put me through. I have had to do all the chasing as they never contacted me when they promised. Complete waste of time.

Is that guarenteed do you have it in writing from your job? If not they can probably only take into account your wage now and what the rates could be after the 5 years.

Thrugelmir

liverpoolbear wrote: »

By the time the fixed rate ends I will have had a number of cost of living pay rises.

Can you provide the evidence to support this claim?

If not it's a worthless statement that has no bearing on your application as it stands.

bigsamih

Yeah, you have basically made the assumption that your income goes up every year regardless, interest rates will be 0.5% for the next 25 years and the chance of your and your partner splitting up is NIL.


Reality is interest rates do go up, you could get a pay freeze. Your employer could go bankrupt/you could be made redundant. You may split with your partner. You might get sick.


Lenders are just more cautious these days. Dont take it personally. Sounds like you were given the run around, though. But I suppose you should have gone to see a broker in the first place (I would say that!)