Platform Mortgage

Sleepflower

Fudgeyod said:

Hi,

just adding my timescales and advice.

Application submitted 31st July,  survey carried out on 5th August and offer received today! At first it was silence for weeks then they started asking questions. They come back to us asking question or for additional documents 4 times between application and offer. At first it was a few queries on myself nothing major as I am employed. A couple of weeks later it was then questions on my partner (I don’t understand why they don’t ask for everything at once that would really speed up the process) my parter has his own business so his queries were more tax related. For anyone who is self employed all applications now have to go through a senior underwriter since Covid. For the last two weeks I have personally called every single day and called up each time new documents have been uploaded. I wish I had started calling sooner and that would be my advice to anyone too - my MA was calling once a week too but it wasn’t getting things moving quick enough. Today we finally received an offer and I honestly think I had not been calling consistently then we would still be waiting.

good luck to everyone, I know how awful the wait is! 

Congratulations! Well done and thank you so much for your advice. We run our own business so expecting a lot of questions as many mortgage lenders don't have a full understanding of Limited Companies. Our MA has submitted everything that has been initially asked for at application stage but from what you've said I'm expecting there are to be asked lots of additional questions. If you don't mind me asking, did you have your survey done before knowing that they were going to offer? We've paid for a Homebuyers Report - we didn't want to go with their free valuation as we wanted the surveyor to go to the property as there aren't any other similar properties like it in the local vicinity - the free valuations I gather are done via AVM (Automated Valuation Model). Apparently Platform application goes to the underwriters first,  if they are happy with everything then they instruct the survey. If they aren't happy with the application then they refund the the Homebuyers Report fee. I'm thinking of taking a chance and asking them to book the survey as soon as possible before the underwrites have made their decision... yikes! I'm definitely going to be calling Platform everyday from now on and put pressure on our MA. Do you know what details I'll need to give Platform when I phone them as MA has submitted everything so far. Congratulations again x 

Fudgeyod

nakiwala123 said:

Fudgeyod said:

DeletedUser said:

Fudgeyod said:

Hi,

just adding my timescales and advice.

Application submitted 31st July,  survey carried out on 5th August and offer received today! At first it was silence for weeks then they started asking questions. They come back to us asking question or for additional documents 4 times between application and offer. At first it was a few queries on myself nothing major as I am employed. A couple of weeks later it was then questions on my partner (I don’t understand why they don’t ask for everything at once that would really speed up the process) my parter has his own business so his queries were more tax related. For anyone who is self employed all applications now have to go through a senior underwriter since Covid. For the last two weeks I have personally called every single day and called up each time new documents have been uploaded. I wish I had started calling sooner and that would be my advice to anyone too - my MA was calling once a week too but it wasn’t getting things moving quick enough. Today we finally received an offer and I honestly think I had not been calling consistently then we would still be waiting.

good luck to everyone, I know how awful the wait is! 

Wow, congrats! 

What was the timescales of being offered the mortgage and it landing on your doorstep?

two months I’ve been waiting for a decision, takes the biscuit!

When I called platform last night they told me it had been passed to offer stage then this morning my MA received the offer via email and sent it to me. They said it’s in the post to me too.

So looks like they might be spot on with their timescales. They told me 14 working days for offer to be sent. 2nd Oct next week will be 14 working days for us. Your timescales seem to match up with this estimate. Hopefully we shall have an offer before end of next week.

We shall still be homeless for a few days as it will be too tight for our solicitor to draw down on the funds and complete by 8th October. 

Question - I'm assuming that we still have to first sign the offer received in the post and send it back before funds can be released to our Solicitors? Is this not required? 

I assume so yes. We are buying a new build house which isn’t ready until November so we still have some time with this. I hope you get your offer very soon! 

Fudgeyod

Sleepflower said:

Fudgeyod said:

Hi,

just adding my timescales and advice.

Application submitted 31st July,  survey carried out on 5th August and offer received today! At first it was silence for weeks then they started asking questions. They come back to us asking question or for additional documents 4 times between application and offer. At first it was a few queries on myself nothing major as I am employed. A couple of weeks later it was then questions on my partner (I don’t understand why they don’t ask for everything at once that would really speed up the process) my parter has his own business so his queries were more tax related. For anyone who is self employed all applications now have to go through a senior underwriter since Covid. For the last two weeks I have personally called every single day and called up each time new documents have been uploaded. I wish I had started calling sooner and that would be my advice to anyone too - my MA was calling once a week too but it wasn’t getting things moving quick enough. Today we finally received an offer and I honestly think I had not been calling consistently then we would still be waiting.

good luck to everyone, I know how awful the wait is! 

Congratulations! Well done and thank you so much for your advice. We run our own business so expecting a lot of questions as many mortgage lenders don't have a full understanding of Limited Companies. Our MA has submitted everything that has been initially asked for at application stage but from what you've said I'm expecting there are to be asked lots of additional questions. If you don't mind me asking, did you have your survey done before knowing that they were going to offer? We've paid for a Homebuyers Report - we didn't want to go with their free valuation as we wanted the surveyor to go to the property as there aren't any other similar properties like it in the local vicinity - the free valuations I gather are done via AVM (Automated Valuation Model). Apparently Platform application goes to the underwriters first,  if they are happy with everything then they instruct the survey. If they aren't happy with the application then they refund the the Homebuyers Report fee. I'm thinking of taking a chance and asking them to book the survey as soon as possible before the underwrites have made their decision... yikes! I'm definitely going to be calling Platform everyday from now on and put pressure on our MA. Do you know what details I'll need to give Platform when I phone them as MA has submitted everything so far. Congratulations again x 

Yes instructed the survey immediately before any underwriting or knowing we would receive and offer. We opted for for the free survey as we are buying a new build.

With all the self employed docs every time we uploaded a request it would take 48 hours for them to be looked at by a case worker and then it would be referred to a senior underwriter then a further 3 days for the senior underwriter to check. Definitely call and let them know when you have uploaded documents to get things moving quicker. I was worried when they first said it had to be referred to a senior but this is apparently normal now so don’t worry if they say the same to you. They asked a variety of questions mainly the names of both applicants, DOB, current address, address of new property and requested loan amount. ‭0345 070 1999‬ This is the number I called and press option 2. Good luck! 

qwerty567111

Application submitted on 03/09, asked MA for update yesterday and they came back to me today saying Platform informed them my application won't be looked at until beginning of October (quoted about 21 working days).

Bola_B

qwerty567111 said:

Application submitted on 03/09, asked MA for update yesterday and they came back to me today saying Platform informed them my application won't be looked at until beginning of October (quoted about 21 working days).

Likewise

nakiwala123

Fudgeyod said:

Sleepflower said:

Fudgeyod said:

Hi,

just adding my timescales and advice.

Application submitted 31st July,  survey carried out on 5th August and offer received today! At first it was silence for weeks then they started asking questions. They come back to us asking question or for additional documents 4 times between application and offer. At first it was a few queries on myself nothing major as I am employed. A couple of weeks later it was then questions on my partner (I don’t understand why they don’t ask for everything at once that would really speed up the process) my parter has his own business so his queries were more tax related. For anyone who is self employed all applications now have to go through a senior underwriter since Covid. For the last two weeks I have personally called every single day and called up each time new documents have been uploaded. I wish I had started calling sooner and that would be my advice to anyone too - my MA was calling once a week too but it wasn’t getting things moving quick enough. Today we finally received an offer and I honestly think I had not been calling consistently then we would still be waiting.

good luck to everyone, I know how awful the wait is! 

Congratulations! Well done and thank you so much for your advice. We run our own business so expecting a lot of questions as many mortgage lenders don't have a full understanding of Limited Companies. Our MA has submitted everything that has been initially asked for at application stage but from what you've said I'm expecting there are to be asked lots of additional questions. If you don't mind me asking, did you have your survey done before knowing that they were going to offer? We've paid for a Homebuyers Report - we didn't want to go with their free valuation as we wanted the surveyor to go to the property as there aren't any other similar properties like it in the local vicinity - the free valuations I gather are done via AVM (Automated Valuation Model). Apparently Platform application goes to the underwriters first,  if they are happy with everything then they instruct the survey. If they aren't happy with the application then they refund the the Homebuyers Report fee. I'm thinking of taking a chance and asking them to book the survey as soon as possible before the underwrites have made their decision... yikes! I'm definitely going to be calling Platform everyday from now on and put pressure on our MA. Do you know what details I'll need to give Platform when I phone them as MA has submitted everything so far. Congratulations again x 

Yes instructed the survey immediately before any underwriting or knowing we would receive and offer. We opted for for the free survey as we are buying a new build.

With all the self employed docs every time we uploaded a request it would take 48 hours for them to be looked at by a case worker and then it would be referred to a senior underwriter then a further 3 days for the senior underwriter to check. Definitely call and let them know when you have uploaded documents to get things moving quicker. I was worried when they first said it had to be referred to a senior but this is apparently normal now so don’t worry if they say the same to you. They asked a variety of questions mainly the names of both applicants, DOB, current address, address of new property and requested loan amount. ‭0345 070 1999‬ This is the number I called and press option 2. Good luck! 

Calling this number now to see if it's any different in response. Our application pack came with one that ends with 550, option 2 then 4 and 3. 

ES1989

Iv also just spoken to Platform. The advisor I spoke to was very helpful and advised they are currently reviewing applications from 28th August, he did advise that they are getting through 3 days worth of applications each day and said ours should be looked at next week. He also advised that our valuation has been completed but won’t be assessed until a credit handler has reviewed the file, which would imply valuations are done prior to underwriting. Finally, he mentioned that providing the case handler has everything they require, the application can usually go to offer relatively quickly, however given some of the experiences I’ve read on here I’m not sure how accurate that is. Hopefully they are getting through the backlog and slowly we can all start offering our congratulations to each other!  

Sleepflower

ES1989 said:

Iv also just spoken to Platform. The advisor I spoke to was very helpful and advised they are currently reviewing applications from 28th August, he did advise that they are getting through 3 days worth of applications each day and said ours should be looked at next week. He also advised that our valuation has been completed but won’t be assessed until a credit handler has reviewed the file, which would imply valuations are done prior to underwriting. Finally, he mentioned that providing the case handler has everything they require, the application can usually go to offer relatively quickly, however given some of the experiences I’ve read on here I’m not sure how accurate that is. Hopefully they are getting through the backlog and slowly we can all start offering our congratulations to each other!  

That's interesting re valuation, that it's been completed but won't be assessed until credit handler has reviewed the file. Were they able to tell you what the valuation was? Was it the free valuation? We have opted to have a Home Buyers Report. I hate to think how long it will be for underwriters to start work on our file as MA submitted our application on the 11th Sept.  I'm beginning to wish we had gone with another mortgage lender as I'm reading many people in this forum are experiencing such long periods before file looked and there after. Been in the phone for two hours trying to speak to someone!!

ES1989

We just had a call from our MA confirming the valuation agrees to the sale price but they can’t see any further detail, so that seems to tally with what we were told this morning by Platform. Ours was just the free valuation so I’m not sure if the process is different. Is your valuation booked in? We applied the beginning of Sept and the valuation only took place yesterday. It’s a really stressful period as it feels like we’re so out of the loop. Slowly but surely we will get there I hope! 

Deano89

Sleepflower said:

ES1989 said:

Iv also just spoken to Platform. The advisor I spoke to was very helpful and advised they are currently reviewing applications from 28th August, he did advise that they are getting through 3 days worth of applications each day and said ours should be looked at next week. He also advised that our valuation has been completed but won’t be assessed until a credit handler has reviewed the file, which would imply valuations are done prior to underwriting. Finally, he mentioned that providing the case handler has everything they require, the application can usually go to offer relatively quickly, however given some of the experiences I’ve read on here I’m not sure how accurate that is. Hopefully they are getting through the backlog and slowly we can all start offering our congratulations to each other!  

That's interesting re valuation, that it's been completed but won't be assessed until credit handler has reviewed the file. Were they able to tell you what the valuation was? Was it the free valuation? We have opted to have a Home Buyers Report. I hate to think how long it will be for underwriters to start work on our file as MA submitted our application on the 11th Sept.  I'm beginning to wish we had gone with another mortgage lender as I'm reading many people in this forum are experiencing such long periods before file looked and there after. Been in the phone for two hours trying to speak to someone!!

They're no worse than any other lender to be fair, the backlog is due to covid & increased demand due to stamp duty relief which can't be helped I suppose, plenty of people on here are slating their MA's too but to be fair I wouldn't expect mine to be sat on hold for over an hour when it won't speed things up in the slightest I could just do that myself if I wanted an update, if they did that for every client they'd literally spend their life on the phone & get nothing else done (I know a few MA's personally & they're all tearing their hair out at the moment with the way things are going but that's Covid for you its brought the world to a standstill pretty much)