Vida Mortgage - Appeal?

Toodlepips

Hi, this may be a little long winded so please bare with me! 
Roughly two weeks ago we applied for our mortgage on a HTB house via Vida... our broker placed us with them due to adverse credit on our files of which I will list below with some more info incase needed. 
1 CCJ for £783 filed Dec 18 
5 Defaults - One settled (although not yet showing as such) The rest with payment plans in place and will be paid come summer all from 2018
We earn a joint income of 40k currently pay rent of £575, have no loans or car payments to make. 
We are both in full time work and have 2 dependants. 
I am in no denial about how bad my credit history is due to bad decisions and times of struggle, which is why I was very surprised to get a DIP in the first place. 
We put in the application 2 weeks ago and have heard back today that we were declined because we don't meet their criteria, our broker is adamant that is not the case and has the backing of her manager to appeal the case, it is now with a senior underwriter but I am not feeling too confident that they will suddenly change their minds. 
We also had a DIP with Precise before Vida however this was a higher interest rate, although still affordable
I suppose my question is... is it worth trying Precise and risk another decline or admit defeat and lose the reservation fee and walk away?
Our landlords are selling up, so either way we need to move, it just made sense to attempt the mortgage route before rent. 
Any other advice or reassurance would be welcomed right about now, thanks. 

ACG

When were the defaults registered and how much are they for? 

Toodlepips

Hi acg thanks for having a read! 

all from 2018. 

1 for 355
1 for 1000
1 progressed to a ccj for 783
1 112- that’s the settled one
1 for 325 
could possibly settle the smaller ones by the end of the month but not sure how much difference it would make. 

ACG

Vidas criteria is no more than 4 defaults in the last 24 months. 
5 means it falls outside of criteria unless any of those defaults were in Jan or early Feb?
If that is the reason, your broker is flogging a dead horse until at least one of those defaults is over 24 months I think. 

Toodlepips

Ah, perhaps this is where she believes she has a case then as two of the defaults were January 2018? 

ACG

Actually, just checking again and it is combined defaults and CCJs. So that means you have 6 and they accept 4. 
It sounds like this has been declined based on underwriters discretion rather than criteria. If that is the case, then the broker is not responsible for that, it is just one of those things which can catch anyone out whether you have adverse or not. 

Toodlepips

Ok that makes sense, so if two of those were over 2 years ago would that make a difference?
Our mortgage broker has been brilliant and she appealed it before telling us we had been declined. 
In my head I suppose I am looking for plan b when there really probably isn't one! 
Is Vida the last resort for credit history like mine? 

ACG

Sorry, I have just re-read my post. I wrote something and then meant to delete it and restart the post. 
It sounds like you have 4 which are relevant which is within criteria the ones over 24 months are more or less ignored. You are obviously pushing the limits on defaults/CCJs and are only just in criteria. If you are pushing other limits - ie tight affordability, maybe a gifted deposit etc, I can see why the underwriter has taken the decision. 

There are maybe 2-3 other lenders you fit with from what you have said.

Toodlepips

Completely understandable, thank you very much for explaining it.
Any experience with Vida Homeloans and appeals by any chance? 
No amount of googling is calming my thoughts haha 
It's a little better knowing there may be alternative lenders though. Thank you. 

ACG

I think we sent them 3 cases last year. 2 were accepted and the third was declined. But the third was a 50/50 punt as the alternative was far more expensive. I did not appeal the decision as the underwriter called to explain the decision and I knew there was a good possibility it would get declined for the reasons she gave. 

Toodlepips

Update: our appeal was declined, so unfortunately now on to our plan b.. broker is putting in an application tomorrow with Precise, I have everything crossed for this otherwise its back to renting and we loose the house. 
Any one had any dealings with Precise? I am not sure what to expect with this one, all my google searches were based on Vida lol.