Declined mortgage with Natwest, advice please :(

SilverMist

We are FTB, have had an offer accepted on a house end February and have applied for a 95% mortgage with Natwest. We are using a Mortgage Adviser through an estate agent. Not convinced that was the right choice having read a lot of these threads though .......

He submitted our application on 7th March and it took 3 weeks (and constant chasing from me to our MA) for them to come back and say we were declined due to overdrafts. As our most recent bank statements (had arrived since application put in) were a lot healthier and not in overdraft any more we sent them off and they said they would reconsider. 2 weeks and daily hassling from me to my MA they have still declined us.

I'm so upset, mainly that it has taken them FIVE WEEKS to come to this decision and had I not been chasing constantly probably would be a few more weeks. Also not convinced they even looked at it all properly as they told our MA that we had no utility bills or rent on our statements so probably thought why the hell are we overdrawn. But our joint account clearly shows rent, British gas, Severn trent etc so how can they not be utilities?!

Can any of the brokers on here advise if another lender might be more lenient? Affordability wise we are fine, both have steady jobs with good wages, only have a loan and car payment, empty credit card, no other debts (overdrafts all clear. Bad habits and should have cleared sooner I know). My MA is really nice but I don't know if I need someone who doesn't leave me days without an update, doesn't return calls until I have left a few messages, doesn't reply to emails. Basically I have to stalk him to talk to me! Then he's lovely and I trust that he will do what he needs to do. He says he will now look at alternatives but I'm worried he won't look until end of the week and we are losing time. I don't want to lose the house and I don't want to mess the vendors around. How quick could we get a mortgage agreed? Any suggestions? I'm a worrier and a stress-head and five weeks of waiting has not done me much good!!!

Help!

betmunch

Three weeks to come to a decision then pressing them to change their mind wasted 2 more weeks.

If the problem is your account conduct it wont be picked up at DIP stage, only at full application so theres nothing you could have done there.

Anyway, moving forward, its a simple solution. Go with a lender that isnt going to ask for bank statements. This should be sorted out literally in minutes if its true that affordability isnt a problem.

When I have a case declined I go back to the client with the bad news and the next step. Your mortgage advisor should already know who to try thats more forgiving.

Malmo

A lesson learnt for the future...avoid estate agent based mortgage brokers/advisers. If it's at all possible given the timescales, perhaps engage a decent, knowledgeable whole-of-market mortgage broker.

Try starting a local broker search at unbiased.co.uk.

On the home page, next to the search box, select Mortgage Adviser and enter your postcode and hit search.

When the search results are displayed, in the filters on the left hand side:
Un-tick the Only show sponsored results box.
Expand the heading More filters and under Adviser restrictions, tick the box for Mortgage Broker (Whole of Market)

This should give you a list of potential brokers to contact in your locality.

Ask about their experience and make sure you understand from the brokers you speak to what fees will be charged and at what point in the process. They can be fee-free or fee. Ideally, after contacting them, they'll email you a couple of documents;

• their Terms of Business or Initial Disclosure Document (IDD), which will outline/summarise the service they provide and their fees along with how they are regulated by the FCA etc;
• possibly a Fact Find document that you need to complete to help them understand your full circumstances & requirements.

SilverMist

Just a quick update, thank you Malmo for the information, after a full day of no contact from my adviser again yesterday I followed the link you sent and found an independent broker (whole of market) locally. spoke at length last night and he has called me 5 times today for information ready for a meeting with him tomorrow. He has spoken to his contacts at different lenders to find out our chances before applying. So we are down to 2 options which we will go through tomorrow. I feel more positive now than I have in weeks! So thank you.

Thrugelmir

SilverMist wrote: »

say we were declined due to overdrafts. As our most recent bank statements (had arrived since application put in) were a lot healthier and not in overdraft any more we sent them off and they said they would reconsider.

Lenders will base their decision on your account conduct over an extended period of time. Not just recent statements. From the Credit Reference Agencies they detect the usage of overdrafts.

Princessladonna

I feel like I am in the same situation as you. We are FTB for a 95% mortgage with about 5k on credit cards and cars on Finance. Our application has been taking ages with them constantly asking for more documents. I feel like they are just going to decline us. If you don't mind me asking what are your combined salaries and how much do you owe in on your loan. It's so nerve wracking. You sound like you have a better broker this time.

SilverMist

Hi princessladonna, yes this broker seems more knowledgeable and I feel more informed just since yesterday! Car loan is £10,000 only taken out in January and £3,000 left on other loan. Our credit card is £0. Salaries are approx £42k combined (OH hours vary so can be more and I work part-time). Good luck with your application

Thugelmir - i wasn't aware that's how it worked until today, my new broker told us to get our credit reports last night which were good apart from the overdraft usage. He has been very honest with me but I prefer that! And just to get updated regularly even with no update is better than just worrying that your file hasn't even been looked at. It's definitely more nerve-wracking than I expected! I've learnt a lot off this forum over the last 8 weeks! Should have done that research first but hey ho.

Princessladonna

Fingers crossed you get more luck. It's so annoying as you know you can afford the mortgage but you have their underwritters thinking something else. I am having difficulties with my broker also, if this application gets declined I am going elsewhere

Armorica

If you don't bank with NatWest, speak directly to your own banking provider. The bank you're with know your finances well and may provide better offers for existing customers.

Malmo

@SilverMist, any progress updates since you started using the new broker?

Thrugelmir

Princessladonna wrote: »

It's so annoying as you know you can afford the mortgage but you have their underwritters thinking something else.

In general , with no particular reference to this post, people are optimistic about their finances. Whereas underwriters are quite rightly pessimistic. As they take a top down macro view using years of accumulated knowledge and data relating to risk assessment. Not least that there simply isn't the time or knowledge to underwrite/process individual mortgage applications.