London & Country Feedback?

philng

I am aware L & C offer free service as a broker. Can anyone offer any feedback good or bad? Just wondering if there are any downfalls for offering this free service?

Mahsroh

I used them to remortgage my BTL a couple of years ago and personally I thought they provided an excellent service. I know people on here will generally tell you to avoid the "free" brokers but I had a very good experience with them.

Filled the form out online. Got a phone call a couple of hours later to talk through. He went away and around 48hrs later came back with a DIP from a high street bank which I thought was an exceptional deal. 

I think they are very good if you have a reasonable understanding of Mortgages yourself. If you're a complete novice and find talk of mortgages quite daunting then you're probably better off going to a local broker who will give a more personal service, but for me L&C worked well. I plan to use them again when we look to move later this year. 

lonibra

They are fine if your requirements are straightforward but won't have the time or mindspace to provide advice as opposed to processing a mortgage.

I would not go to them if I needed things like - maximum borrowing, low deposit, adverse credit, self employed, debt consolidation, landlord mortgages, unusual properties and so on.

Punkcandykane

The L&C broker was fantastic - got back to us in good time and always answered in clear easy to understand ways. Our issue came when we went through to complete the mortgage with the case manager. It was easy enough to fill in the application online and upload documents but to this day I have never a reallt spoken to the case manager. There were a lot of delays from them from the lender when requesting documents etc.....there was a 4 week delay on our first application as the case manager did not let us know more documents were needed which unfortunately ended up with the lender refusing the offer. To be honest everytime i called and asked for the case manger there was almost a sigh from the person on the phone which to me indicates that maybe she was known for not being good.

I would say if our case manager was as efficient as the broker then it would have  even a great service - so hopefully if you do choose to go with them that you get a good one :-)

ukri

Their reviews on TP are actually not bad https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.landc.co.uk

Before I found my current broker, I have used them in the past and they have been decent for salaried mortgages.

You can always give them a shot and look elsewhere if you don’t feel confident that they can deliver what you need.

Mahsroh

Punkcandykane said:

The L&C broker was fantastic - got back to us in good time and always answered in clear easy to understand ways. Our issue came when we went through to complete the mortgage with the case manager. It was easy enough to fill in the application online and upload documents but to this day I have never a reallt spoken to the case manager. There were a lot of delays from them from the lender when requesting documents etc.....there was a 4 week delay on our first application as the case manager did not let us know more documents were needed which unfortunately ended up with the lender refusing the offer. To be honest everytime i called and asked for the case manger there was almost a sigh from the person on the phone which to me indicates that maybe she was known for not being good.

I would say if our case manager was as efficient as the broker then it would have  even a great service - so hopefully if you do choose to go with them that you get a good one :-)

This prompted me to go back and check my e-mails to see how prompt my case manager was and the answer is not bad. From receipt of their recommendation (2 days after initial contact) to offer was a total of 17 days (with various requests for information from me in between, along with the lender doing their valuation) so not bad at all. So you may have just got unlucky with your case manager. 

Stephahkneee89

I using their service right now and they have been great so far. My mortgage broker found me a good deal, the case manager submitted all of my documents on time and they helped with my Help to Buy application form. I got my mortgage approved in a week (subject to valuation). I honestly have nothing bad to say about them! 

dunstonh

Look at past threads asking the same question.   It gives mixed responses.     However, the responses are not atypical of factory line services in many different areas.  i.e. if your affairs are straightforward and you need no handholding then factory line services can be good for you.  However, if your circumstances are unusual or you are pushing limits or you want personalised handholding then factory line services can let you down.