Advice on poor mortgage service

PERMOTIO

Hi there, was wondering if someone could help me.

I applied for my mortgage with Natwest on 1 June and submitted all of the necessary documents. Pretty straightforward case with a good LTV. I paid for my valuation on 3 June and received it back on the same day - came back as expected.

Yet I am still waiting to hear back from Natwest on my documents (tax returns, accounts, etc) - despite them claiming that it only takes 2-4 working days for those documents to be checked and a decision to be made.

• I called on 8 June for an update and was told it’d be chased and I’d hear back on 9th
• On 9 June I was told it’d be reviewed by Wednesday (10th June)
• On 11th of June, they apologised for the delay, told me they didn’t understand the hold-up and would urgently chase
• On 13 June I spoke to an advisor on live chat who admitted they messed up behind the scenes and forgot to send my Agreement to an underwriter hence the hold-up, and that they'd again urgently chase it and have it back to me as soon as possible. I was told I'd hear back on Monday or Tuesday but that a "worst-case scenario" would be Wednesday.
• On Thursday (aka "worst-case scenario day") I chased FOUR times throughout the day over the phone, my case was escalated, and I was promised an update by 2pm. 2PM came and went, my case was chased again, and I told I'd hear back from someone by 5PM. 5PM came and went, and I was told there's no chance I'd hear anything else. I was then advised to put in a complaint as they can't understand why it's taking so long/can't do anything to speed it up.

I appreciate that there are delays due to COVID-19 but every time I’ve told the advisor has been shocked at how long I’ve had to wait and told me they’d escalate it. I’m hearing the same thing every day and nothing seems to be getting done about it.

Does anyone have any advice? Is it time to pull the plug and look for another lender?

jamielutz1987

How did you pick NatWest? If time is of the essence, there may be other lenders more suitable for you.

haras_n0sirrah

anyone who is self employed - expect a long haul and a lot of questions
It is painful

csgohan4

going direct will always be a pain, I went through a broker, gave them all my documents  and they do all the chasing, not once do I need to phone or contact the lender. 

Still took 6 weeks and it was a desktop valuation for a remortgage

whirlyhead

I'm self-employed and am just completing a remortgage by the end of June.  It's taken about 5 months all up - if you're self-employed it's that much more difficult.

dunstonh

To be fair, it is under 3 weeks from the application and there is a backlog and a bunch of new underwriting requirements.  
If time was an issue, then other options would have been better.

ayvamummy

I think it’s down to lender and being self employed also will slow things..
im salaried and I applied to virgin money last Wednesday for DIP- hard search. I passed and went to full application- that was June 10th.  

June 15th - payslips and signed application form returned to lender 

June 16th they rang me for the product fee and told me it was going to day 1 underwriting  17th June - they rang me and told me mortgage is approved and offered once valuation is back! It was my birthday too so bonus!  Literally 7 days and that’s virgin money - valuation is booked for Monday 22nd June 

ACG

I dont think the concern is about the backlog, I think the concern is that if you are being told it will be looked at by x multiple times, then it should have been done. If there is a backlog then you should be told that and you can plan accordingly. 

Your case appears to have fallen through the cracks, I believe it is taking around 3-4 working days to assess things and yours is well beyond that. We have had a case go to offer today (admittedly submitted pre-lockdown but there were all sorts of issues which was not my fault nor natwests). If you have been told to make a complaint, do it - you should have had an answer by now and you might get someone who knows what they are doing picking it up.