Mortgage Valuation Refund?

haz85

Hi All,

Hoping to get your advice on whether I should push for a refund of my mortgage valuation which cost £750. The reason they declined the application was a fairly strange one, to do with their interpretation of how I get paid. I would like to dispute it at the very least, but I am not sure, so hoping I can get some views.

Chronology of events as follows:

1. Mortgage broker conducts a fact find about our situation, etc
2. Using this info along with payslips/bank statements, the broker submits this to the lender after we find a mortgage product we like
3. Property valuation is completed

At this point I should mention that my payslips do not have my employing co's name on it (that's just their standard practice) and my monthly salary fluctuates quite a bit due to various allowances etc that I get paid as I am an expatriate in the UK (but obviously looking to stay on in the long term which is why we are buying a house). In addition, my company pays my tax for me so all my numbers are on a net basis when most folks would see their gross salary and then the tax the HMRC has taken on the payslips. I don't have this on my payslips.

As such, it is very difficult for the untrained eye to see how my salary would directly translate to my base salary which I had put forward in the application. I explained all these nuances to the broker, but clearly they didn't pass that onto the lender.

Also to be clear, I am paid substantially more than the base salary I put forward in the loan application but because I wanted to strip out all the other allowances, etc I intentionally submitted a lower base salary as that is more representative if I was a local UK employee. So if anything, my bigger salary made me less of a risk, not more.

(timeline continued)

4. The lender then raises questions around how my payslips don't have the company name and how the payslips do not clearly account for tax etc. They ask for a reference letter from my employer starting my employment credentials, gross base salary and gross bonus for the last two years.

5. My co provides the employment credentials but because I am an expatriate, they do not break down the salary into a gross base+bonus instead provide a total net salary per annum number. Net salary is because the company pays my tax for me so in their mind, providing a gross number is incorrect. My co also tells me there is very little flexibility with regards to this letter as they have a "global" template they have to follow.

6. This letter also details how my salary is first calculated in Euros (I am European) and then converted into a GBP equivalent. I get paid in GBP and payslips only show GBP values.

The broker says it suffices and the letter is submitted to the lender.

7. The application comes back declined and this is supposedly because the lender sees the wording around how my salary is calculated in Euros and this raises red flags as they assume I am paid in a foreign currency. As this is supposedly against the bank's lending criteria, my application is declined.

No other reasons are provided.

My gripe is twofold:

a/ the payslips were submitted at the very outset, so if my salary looked odd why didn't they raise these issues prior to the valuation being complete and me being out of pocket £750.

b/ their fear that I am paid in a foreign currency is completely untrue. I have a UK bank account and my salary is in GBP, which they could clearly see from the bank statements I had submitted at the very outset as well!

Even if I was able to twist my employer's arm to get a reference letter worded the way I want, the broker states that the lender will no longer entertain any further applications from me. So essentially I have lost the £750.

Do you think I have a case?

Many thanks.

Thrugelmir

haz85 wrote: »

In addition, my company pays my tax for me so all my numbers are on a net basis when most folks would see their gross salary and then the tax the HMRC has taken on the payslips. I don't have this on my payslips.

In this form the payslip you receive doesn't comply with the legal requirements within the UK.

My co also tells me there is very little flexibility with regards to this letter as they have a "global" template they have to follow.

Raises more questions than answers. One has to question their payroll methods.

Keezing

That must have been a very expensive property.

I think it's unlikely that you will get a refund as the valuation was completed.

It sounds like either the broker didn't package your income appropriately or selected the wrong lender based on their criteria. If everything is as you say and you meet the criteria, I would have expected your broker to appeal.