HSBC mortgage processing glitch

StickMinus50

Is anyone else currently experiencing a technical hold-up on HSBC mortgage decisions? Have been going through a broker to secure a mortgage with HSBC for over a month now and was told nine days ago that all the paperwork they needed at their end had been received and cleared and they allowed five working days for a decision to be made. Keep calling broker (L&C Mortgages) for updates and have been told there is a technical problem holding up the processing of applications. The seller has no chain and neither do we and this is the only thing delaying things. Now the person selling our house to us is getting jittery and has threatened to put the house back on the market if the situation is not resolved pronto. What can we do and, realistically, could we be liable for a claim against HSBC if the sale falls through?

StickMinus50

Sorry, I should specify we have been waiting nine WORKING days.

AFF8879

I am also waiting on a decision which is taking longer than when I applied 5 years ago as a FTB. When I called them to chase yesterday, they said it would be done by Friday latest but didn’t mention any technical glitches. I applied on 5th August, valuation was done last Thursday.

StickMinus50

Our case was created on 30 June. Final paperwork was with lender on 21 July. By 16:46 on 4 August we were told: "Thank you for submitting your documents to the portal, they have now been reviewed and passed to the lender for assessment. We allow 5 working days for assessment and as soon as an update is available your case manager will be in touch."

PlumLuck

We just had our offer from HSBC yesterday. It took 7 working days from submitting the application, including the valuation.

Arfa__

We applied to HSBC through L&C too. Application submitted by L&C on 27th July, got offer back on 5th Aug. Our solicitor had docs the following week.

Just chasing up a rate-check to try and switch from 1.09% to the newer 0.99% rate. Hoping this won't take too long.

tinytiddles

Put pressure on your case manager to chase it up, or give HSBC a call yourself although they might not speak to you if you’ve gone through a broker. 

And no you can’t make a claim from HSBC - what are your losses assuming you haven’t started the legals yet? They might even decline to offer unfortunately.

StickMinus50

Legals were completed a long time ago - other than sorting out the mortgage transfer obviously. Only thing left to commission is our survey, which we have now started, as if we wait any longer there's a good chance we might not complete by end of September, which is when the remaining stamp duty discount expires. So if we now get refused, we will have paid for a survey unnecessarily. We're currently renting and our rental contract expires 17 September. Fortunately, as a result of the COVID-19 regs, we have a longer time frame to move out (up to mid-November), although our landlord still wants us out by middle of next month. Yep, called HSBC direct to be told: 'It's our policy not to deal with anyone but the broker.' That's AFTER passing security questions, including broker case number. I appreciate the bank has to protect customers against fraud, but we are the primary mortgage applicant and we would be liable if we secured the mortgage and had problems with paying later, so why should we be denied information? And whoever thought the script, 'it's not our policy that ...' was a great way to get folks on side? It just winds people up. Legal cover it may be, but there must be a better phrase to use. And a little empathy wouldn't go amiss. I appreciate we are coming out of a pandemic and there may be problems with short staffing/huge volumes of applications, but in that case don't undertake to deliver a decision in five working days or make it clear that this is the reason for the delay, rather than some IT excuse that is looking increasingly spurious.

AFF8879

AFF8879 said:

I am also waiting on a decision which is taking longer than when I applied 5 years ago as a FTB. When I called them to chase yesterday, they said it would be done by Friday latest but didn’t mention any technical glitches. I applied on 5th August, valuation was done last Thursday.

I got my mortgage offer today, definitely took longer than the first time but I guess that’s mainly a symptom of COVID and much of their staff still WFH.

Irishpearce26

StickMinus50 said:

Legals were completed a long time ago - other than sorting out the mortgage transfer obviously. Only thing left to commission is our survey, which we have now started, as if we wait any longer there's a good chance we might not complete by end of September, which is when the remaining stamp duty discount expires. So if we now get refused, we will have paid for a survey unnecessarily. We're currently renting and our rental contract expires 17 September. Fortunately, as a result of the COVID-19 regs, we have a longer time frame to move out (up to mid-November), although our landlord still wants us out by middle of next month. Yep, called HSBC direct to be told: 'It's our policy not to deal with anyone but the broker.' That's AFTER passing security questions, including broker case number. I appreciate the bank has to protect customers against fraud, but we are the primary mortgage applicant and we would be liable if we secured the mortgage and had problems with paying later, so why should we be denied information? And whoever thought the script, 'it's not our policy that ...' was a great way to get folks on side? It just winds people up. Legal cover it may be, but there must be a better phrase to use. And a little empathy wouldn't go amiss. I appreciate we are coming out of a pandemic and there may be problems with short staffing/huge volumes of applications, but in that case don't undertake to deliver a decision in five working days or make it clear that this is the reason for the delay, rather than some IT excuse that is looking increasingly spurious.

No you have no claim as you could just go an apply with another lender.

The broker made the application which is a different process to you or i applying, why would they want the burden of having to talk/update both the broker the lendee.

saajan_12

StickMinus50 said:

Yep, called HSBC direct to be told: 'It's our policy not to deal with anyone but the broker.' - well if your broker applied for a professionals only mortgage, then that's what you signed up for. They might offer different packages in return for the broker shielding your 20 questions and the lender only having to deal with a professional who knows the process. 
That's AFTER passing security questions, including broker case number. - yes, most call centres check which case first.. otherwise you ask your question, then have to repeat when they actually have your info up and can see the context of your question. They can't weed out every question before the security, and its reasonable to assume only a broker is calling about a brokers only product. 
I appreciate the bank has to protect customers against fraud, but we are the primary mortgage applicant and we would be liable if we secured the mortgage and had problems with paying later, so why should we be denied information? - you're not denied information, you just have to ask the right person (ie broker). 
And whoever thought the script, 'it's not our policy that ...' was a great way to get folks on side? It just winds people up. Legal cover it may be, but there must be a better phrase to use. And a little empathy wouldn't go amiss. - they're politely stating the facts. You're getting that rate precisely because they don't have to do the handholding etc, they're expecting to only speak to a professional to whom its business not personal. 
I appreciate we are coming out of a pandemic and there may be problems with short staffing/huge volumes of applications, but in that case don't undertake to deliver a decision in five working days or make it clear that this is the reason for the delay, rather than some IT excuse that is looking increasingly spurious. 

They may be at fault for the other parts, but this isn't really a valid complaint. Some mortgage products are available to brokers only. Generally you get a better deal or they agree to cover some of the broker's fees to give you more personalised advice etc than a lender would give. However that's in return for them only dealing with the broker, who knows the lingo, procedures, etc so reduces the number of questions and isn't emotionally invested as its business.