Complaint against a mortgage broker

sOULsista

I engaged the services of a broker as he came highly recommended by a relative. Unfortunately, based on the trust of this recommendation i did not run any checks of my own when i decided to go along with this broker.

I was asked to make payments of £1,800 upfront. The first DIP i received was a KFI which he didn't end up going with in the end.

His customer service was appalling or you can say almost negligible. Replies to emails only after i have sent the same emails a few times and never picks up his phone when i ring. Never returns messages.

The payments we made to him was via a bank transfer to a personal account as well.

Midway through the process he simply disappeared on us and we got contacted by another broker stating that our first broker had gone off on holiday and he was taking over whilst he was on holiday. However, all correspondence with the broker we paid ceased and we were serviced by a new one.The handover to this new broker was terrible as he wasn't aware of my marital status etc.

In the end, the application wasn't successful due to the lack of attention to detail from the broker on the docs we had to submit and things fell through.

We are now in touch with the first broker to ask for official receipts of our payments to him. He is refusing to provide an official receipt on a proper letterhead with an IFA registration number.

His response by email was:
This will not have any company registration as not limited and neither will it have IFA number as this is consultation not regulated advice.

All regulated advice would have been given on the KFI from Mr X (second broker), also part of those fees would have being given to Bridging adviser to get the original offer from XX Company.

But the issue here is no monies were paid to the second broker. All monies were paid into a personal account of the first broker.

I would like to know if anyone has been in a similar position as i have and what would be the next thing to do to get this sorted properly.

Thanks in advance for any advice given.

Hoploz

If the first broker conducts business as a sole trader instead of a limited company then it would be done under his own name rather than any company name. Nothing wrong with that. Not your whole issue I know, but just thought it was worth pointing out as he is not necessarily doing anything underhand with taking payments into an account with his own name on. Others will comment on the rest of it I'm sure.

Malmo

sOULsista wrote: »

I was asked to make payments of £1,800 upfront. The first DIP i received was a KFI which he didn't end up going with in the end

No advice as such (apologies), but what was the fee of £1,800 comprised of? If it was literally just the broker's fee for his time and services, then that is astonishingly high. More knowledgeable members will add more value to this thread, I'm sure. Was a Terms of Business / Initial Disclosure Document provided to you by this person?

Mortgage_Mark_2

sOULsista wrote: »

This will not have any company registration as not limited and neither will it have IFA number as this is consultation not regulated advice.

All regulated advice would have been given on the KFI from Mr X (second broker), also part of those fees would have being given to Bridging adviser to get the original offer from XX Company.

This sets alarm bells ringing.

What does your initial IDD say about who is actually providing their services to you, and what their fees are?

sOULsista

Hiya,

There was no Terms of Business / Initial Disclosure Document provided by this person.

And on the word document so called receipt he has provided all he has indicated is 'Please accept this receipt for fees paid for consultation, research and procurement for AIP from XXXX'.

You can tell its not an official letterhead of his as its all made up on the word document as we have been asking for an official receipt with his IFA number since he is a sole trader on a proper company letter head. But he indicated a company name on the top of the letterhead. So this is all getting very strange.

Mortgage_Mark_2

I think you should seriously consider contacting the second, aka 'regulated', broker and suggest that he tells you what the hell is going on, I'd be contacting the FCA about that first chap pronto.

If he provided no initial document detailing fee structures, he CANNOT charge anything - this guy sounds like a total fraud!

sOULsista

Hi Mortgage_Mark,

Many Thanks for the advice. I am going to get in touch with FCA as i don't think getting in touch with the second guy is going to be of much help as the first one and second one kind of work together.

Just goes to show how important it is to do your own research. Going with a family member's recommendation isn't always the best thing!

sOULsista

I have gotten in touch with FCA this morning and they have directed me to Action Fraud as this appears to be a scam.

Did did mention that i need to get in touch with all my banks and cards stating that my details may be compromised.

My concern right now is - it seems like my details have gone through several hands. Will this minimise my chances for securing a mortgage right now for my new home??