L&C?? Or Independent Advisor or Direct?

Adamc

Hi all

Does anyone have any experiences of comparing all of the above for getting a mortgage.

I am pretty sure I will go with a independent broker but wondered if anyone had used L&C ?

Many thanks

DingerUK

I used L&C to set up my mortgage. I'm a FTB and they were highly recommend on some financial podcasts I listen to. I can't fault the service they offered, yes they earn a commission, but they put my mind at ease and the mortgage advisor was able to take me through the process and helped me with a life insurance quote too. I had looked at beaglestreet but they were not able to offer cover due to medical history. L&C took this in to consideration and found a broker to offer cover that was about the same price as I was able to find myself. L&C found me a good deal on my mortgage and it comes with cash back which is more than the commission they earned. I'd recommend them, you've nothing to lose, you could get their help and advice for free and take up their recommendation on your own if you wanted to.

csgohan4

L and C are fine if you don't have any adverse history or issues, they are free for a reason

Adamc

csgohan4 wrote: »

L and C are fine if you don't have any adverse history or issues, they are free for a reason

I'm a first time buyer. Only had a student loan as finance.

I thought perhaps an independent advisor could provide a more tailored service to help me avoid any blunders of inexperience?

amnblog

PC World, John Lewis, or Amazon

Modest advice, modest service, low cost focus

Advice and Service focused, priced on value for money

No advice, lowest cost focus

Adamc

amnblog wrote: »

PC World, John Lewis, or Amazon

Modest advice, modest service, low cost focus

Advice and Service focused, priced on value for money

No advice, lowest cost focus

So I should get my lamps at John Lewis in keeping with the metaphor?

dunstonh

L&C and a local broker are very different services.

L&C is a factory line service. They want quick and easy cases they can deal with as quick as possible so they can answer the phone of the next person. Works perfectly fine for simple cases. Tends to fall short on complicated cases.

Local broker is there to hand hold and give you all the time you need. More likely to deal with complicated cases better. Having a local face to face contact is useful when dropping things in or them picking them up.

FTBlalala

Hi OP,

I am a FTB too and we used L&C, they were great and speedy and got us a good rate especially as we fall in the 95% LTV. From initial mortgage finder app to official mortgage offer was 11 workings days days. From actual submission of application to lender to offer was 8 working days.

Additionally to what others have said though is that we were an easy case I guess, we have no debt, combined income of £55k and we weren't applying for the max amount we possibly could (i.e AIP's indicated we could borrow up to £260k based on affordability but we only applied for £220k).

Adamc

Thanks all - I am seeing an advisor Thursday who is a personal friend and has a good reputation.

I've had a great quote from L&C but I am wondering if my friend can beat it.
And if it's worth the cost of troubling him?

joanne95

L&C messes me around for about a month before I decided to go with an independent mortgage broker. Our case isn!!!8217;t straightforward though as my husband is self employed and I am on a probationary period in work. Our independent broker has got us from application to mortgage offer stage in less than two weeks. Definitely worth the cost in my opinion.

Adamc

joanne95 wrote: »

L&C messes me around for about a month before I decided to go with an independent mortgage broker. Our case isn!!!8217;t straightforward though as my husband is self employed and I am on a probationary period in work. Our independent broker has got us from application to mortgage offer stage in less than two weeks. Definitely worth the cost in my opinion.

The only thing that isn't clear cut with our case is we had to offer 5K above the asking price.