Leeds Building Society - Ridiculous delays

Nxa219

Hi

I had a decision in principle approved by Leeds Building Society on May 9th.

8 and half weeks on they still hadn't finished underwriting or instructed survey. The product was a 2 yr fix with free survey.

The case itself couldn't be any simpler, 2 working professionals, 20% deposit no debts, loans, or anything on finance and good credit history. every time they say it will be done in a few days this had been going on for weeks, the vendor we are buying off is getting frustrated. The broker keeps contacting the helpdesk to be told the same story , they have had unprecedented demand they are working as quick as they can. They hadnt even looked at the file it seems for weeks on end, then they ask for the latest months payslips as its dragged on so long its reached end of month. this is provided the next day, only for the broker to be told its now gone to the back of the queue. We are getting extremely stressed out.

So last week the BDM says to get this moving we can change to a 3 yr fix but no free valuation. We were given assurances that payment would be taken in 24 hrs and surveyors instructed.
Been a week now and still no where. Yesterday the helpdesk said the underwriter is not happy to instruct until the BDM sends him an e-mail.

The situation just seems to be one big joke to Leeds BS, there is no urgency and we may well lose the property we want for no reason other than this company is so utterly incompetent. It seems we are at the mercy of the building society

Does anyone have any similar experiences and is there anything I can do to get anything back if this doesnt work out as they have already taken a £199 admin Fee, and am I able to get anything back for all the stress, hassle and constant chasing. Can i complain to the regulator or any such thing

Any help/guidance would be appreciated

Regards

N

ACG

You can complain to leeds in the first instance, you need to allow them time to investigate etc.

I imagine if you pulled out and went elsewhere they probably would refund the £199 as it is outside their normal timescales - but dont hold me to that.

Im not a massive fan of Leeds, my BDM is useless and I do not trust their call centre to do a decent job.

Dave_Ham

With the current property market I would not trust Leeds to progress a case quick enough on a purchase.

Attractive rates, but painfully slow underwriting.

Evidence suggests that banks pay very little back for stress, inconvenience etc. and Leeds are hard work to get just the admin fee back.

Fingers crossed.

Kirstyb1987

My friend has just literally completed on her purchase a month ago....Took over 5 months to have an offer, numerous issues with wiring the money, sent wrong amount, charged a fortune to keep wiring it back. 12 months from start to finish, majority of problems were LBS.

Nxa219

I really wish I never had gone with these jackasses in the first place.

Over a week since the BDM gave assurances survey fee would be taken and instructed. How hard can it be to take payment when you are a financial institution.

Anyone even considering this company.. do not go near them with a bargepole. Its looking like i'm going to be out of pocket and lose the property i really wanted ... I cant beleive they are allowed to do this to people and get away with it.

Their intermediary website updated a few days states turnaround time of 14.5 days from date of minimum document set submission. Another bunch of lies

roubaix

How frustrating for you

If you don't want to risk losing the property you may be quicker starting again elsewhere. From when I first applied to when my offer documents were with my solicitor was 12 days including the 3 days the surveyor took to do the valuation and the couple of days I took to send the required documents. That is with first direct which I believe brokers can't use but if you want to stick with your broker am sure he will suggest someone else suitable who is working to shorter times. You can then fight to get the £199 back after though if it is your dream house it is probably worth losing £199 to be sure you keep the house!

I hope it is sorted out for you soon either way.

Nxa219

Thanks for all the responses

Finally the BDM has done as promised 8 days later. Valuation fee has been taken which will keep the vendors happy and get things moving , however underwriting continues from 2 weeks ago when they asked for recent payslips. I dont really get how these guys work

Nxa219

So when I thought things might actually get sorted


This company never ceases to amaze me... after taking the valuation fee, they take ages to get moving again .. then they ask for some documents ... mrs old mortgage that was for her mum initially (since then now in her mums name and mortgage cleared over 6 months ago)
so we send this off with the usual reassurances that it will be done within 48 hrs bla bla...


The next thing they come out with is oh we proff of your wifes address, she wasnt on the electoral roll at the time of the application and we can only go with this... to which we tell them they have bank staements with her name on it.. oh we cant use this because its being used as proof of income.. we need something else (honestly? are they for real)... so we give another bank statement for her ISA account... this whole palava took three weeks

since then they have been saying offer is imminent its in the queue for final sign off and packaging .. and everyday its 24-48 hrs it is imminent.. this has been going on just over a week now

In the meantime the solicitor has had all the local searches done and i've been on holiday and no offer letter

The broker keeps claiming he cant do anything except chase the BDM and the helpdesk and the BDM has no real power cant do much, what exactly is the point of a BDM and a useless helpdesk.

Is there anything that can be done and how do I go about making a huge complaint at the end of all this.

Thanks in advance

ACG

Write to the lender to make a complaint.
You may find if you write your complaint now, someone will pick it up and walk this through to try and avoid it going to the ombudsman... thats assuming they pick up the complaint sharpish.

This is one of the reasons why I dont use Leeds that much. My BDM is shocking, and if she cant be a....ed then I have no hope with a call centre should things go wrong.

This is where thoretically a broker comes in to their own as they know who to avoid due to bad service - but there will always be exceptions.

Nxa219

Broker claims he used them a lot before and in earlier part of this year and had no problems...

Hes not using them now and telling everyone to go elsewhere albeit with higher rates.. BDM keeps saying they have too much volume of applications..

Who should the complaint go to.. website seems to just have a postal address or a phone number.. should it be done in writing etc

ACG

They have to accept a complaint no matter how it comes in - post/fax/email/over the phone/in branch... more often than not they will want it in writing so they can address all of the issues and ensure nothing is missed off but your free to make the complaint however you like.