London & Country (L & C)

Lorenzo94

I have submitted an application through them, and apparently the broker that they assigned me cannot get hold of the lender for updates. Long story short, I am phoning the lender directly to get updates as well as I managed to push and book the evaluation for the flat (which is the last thing needed after all paperwork have been submitted).
It was very easy for me to get info from the lender directly, so I really do not understand how they cannot get hold of them. Also, I  emailed my broker two days ago informing them about the booked evaluations, and they didn't even bother to get back to me to reassure me etc.
Another thing, they did not put my mobile number on the application so I cannot receive any phone update.
Really disappointed as I did not want to chase the lender directly; also, I hope they haven't messed anything up during the application. But to be fair, I cannot really complaint as they are a free service.

amnblog

But to be fair, I cannot really complaint as they are a free service.

Free means it can be slapdash?

dunstonh

But to be fair, I cannot really complaint as they are a free service.

Its not free.   They earn a commission and commission costs are factored into the cost of the deal.   Indeed, it is possible for fee based mortgage brokers to be cheaper than commission based (i.e. where the commission is higher than the fee, you get a refund of the excess commission).

Unicorn_cottage

dunstonh said:

But to be fair, I cannot really complaint as they are a free service.

Its not free.   They earn a commission and commission costs are factored into the cost of the deal.   Indeed, it is possible for fee based mortgage brokers to be cheaper than commission based (i.e. where the commission is higher than the fee, you get a refund of the excess commission).

The 2 times I have used L&C I have not paid a broker fee and the payment that they get from the lender is very clearly stated in the documentation. I have not found the services provided to be slapdash in any way.

dunstonh

Unicorn_cottage said:

dunstonh said:

But to be fair, I cannot really complaint as they are a free service.

Its not free.   They earn a commission and commission costs are factored into the cost of the deal.   Indeed, it is possible for fee based mortgage brokers to be cheaper than commission based (i.e. where the commission is higher than the fee, you get a refund of the excess commission).

The 2 times I have used L&C I have not paid a broker fee and the payment that they get from the lender is very clearly stated in the documentation. I have not found the services provided to be slapdash in any way.

That doesn't make it free.    It's the age-old debate about commission vs fees.       On investments, when they abolished commission and went to fees, a lot of people moaned about the fees.  However, the vast majority are better off as the terms on products and investments are so much better than the old commission terms that used to exist.   That commission is factored into the costs of supplying the product.
For small mortgages, commission may be best.  For large mortgages, fee with commission offset can be cheaper than no fee.

Unicorn_cottage

dunstonh said:

Unicorn_cottage said:

dunstonh said:

But to be fair, I cannot really complaint as they are a free service.

Its not free.   They earn a commission and commission costs are factored into the cost of the deal.   Indeed, it is possible for fee based mortgage brokers to be cheaper than commission based (i.e. where the commission is higher than the fee, you get a refund of the excess commission).

The 2 times I have used L&C I have not paid a broker fee and the payment that they get from the lender is very clearly stated in the documentation. I have not found the services provided to be slapdash in any way.

That doesn't make it free.    It's the age-old debate about commission vs fees.       On investments, when they abolished commission and went to fees, a lot of people moaned about the fees.  However, the vast majority are better off as the terms on products and investments are so much better than the old commission terms that used to exist.   That commission is factored into the costs of supplying the product.
For small mortgages, commission may be best.  For large mortgages, fee with commission offset can be cheaper than no fee.

It was free to me. I checked the mortgage deals on offer and agreed with the mortgage they offered me. They got payment from the lender.

dunstonh

It was free to me. I checked the mortgage deals on offer and agreed with the mortgage they offered me. They got payment from the lender.

And to repeat, the commission is recovered in the terms of the deal offered to you.  So, it's not free.  You are just not being explicitly charged.

ChrisW91

How long do people find it generally takes to hear anything following putting in the mortgage finder application? I did this over a week ago and haven't hear anything yet. 

Unicorn_cottage

dunstonh said:

It was free to me. I checked the mortgage deals on offer and agreed with the mortgage they offered me. They got payment from the lender.

And to repeat, the commission is recovered in the terms of the deal offered to you.  So, it's not free.  You are just not being explicitly charged.

But this was a deal found on mortgage finders websites. I am not a complicated mortgage case.

Marek_Nowak

I'm looking to use them to understand how much we'd be able to borrow, but we don't have any house in mind yet. If I fully fill up their form do you know if it will leave a permanent check on my credit report? Apologies if this is not the right place to ask.