Mortgage declined by underwriter for affordability

fanofmse001

Hi Gurus,
I have a mortgage application with Natwest directly (no broker involved)
1) AIP was successful.
2) I then had an appointment with advisor an hour long appointment and soft credit check, income verification and they said I could afford it.
3) I then had another appointment with an advisor again about 2 hours where they told me about various product offerings and other advise. Ran the hard credit check and said it was affordable.
4) Application was submitted, valuation was done again valuation was successful i.e. as much as price agreed in the sale.
5) I have now received a call from underwriter saying the advisor missed to check something and we are about 28K short in terms of affordability!!!

I don't understand how an advisor with a hard credit check can say we can afford it but then underwriter rejects it for affordability (its not that they disagree with my income proofs or so provided)!
I can get part of 28K but not the whole and may lose the property can I complain or get compensation?
I really don't want to go through a new application as the seller may not want to wait that long and I will get a an interest rate which is almost 1% higher from what it was when I made my application back in April 2022.

Any advice is appreciated, thanks for your time.

[Deleted User]

The underwriter is the one with the more detailed knowledge - the advisor is more the front line salesman.

There's no compensation for a declined application. 

If you still want the home, you may want to consider using a broker, who will know where to best place your application.

fanofmse001

Deleted_User said:

The underwriter is the one with the more detailed knowledge - the advisor is more the front line salesman.

There's no compensation for a declined application. 

If you still want the home, you may want to consider using a broker, who will know where to best place your application.

Thanks ZX81 I was hoping that someone would say it was bad advise and so
Does that mean hard credit check success doesn't necessarily mean I can afford it (this really caught me off guard)?
I am worried that I will need to undergo multiple hard credit checks before one of the underwriter considers it to be affordable but all this while it will keep hitting my score making matters worse.

What is most annoying is Underwriter hasn't got any disagreement with income or evidence submitted,
They say adviser missed to notice a detail and said it was affordable when they shouldn't have.  

[Deleted User]

Your score isn't a factor in lending, so forget about that. Credit searches are a fact of life in credit application and are to be expected.

But that doesn't mean you should apply carelessly, so use a broker.

ACG

If the broker has made a mistake, they need to put you in the position you would have been had the mistake not happened. 
So apply for a new mortgage and then I think you are within your rights to ask them to bridge the difference - from what you have said. 

simon_or

Wow. 2 appointments, 3 hours on the phone, countless checks only to be told that you can't borrow what you need and no explanation of why. What a pointless waste of time.

You should most definitely complain. I don't think you'll get more than a token compensation as you have the money to make up the shortfall but still do it.

And next time, use a broker! I don't think I've ever spent more than 15 minutes on a call with my broker for an application. I can never understand why anyone would apply direct, it's such a faff for no gain at all.

gingercordial

I think you have cause to complain about the adviser, if it is something that they should have picked up from what you told them.  However at most that will get you a small gesture for your wasted time.  It isn't going to mean they give you the mortgage you want, unfortunately.

K_S

@fanofmse001 Definitely sounds like the NatWest Mortgage Adviser made an error so you should have cause for complaint.

If you go ahead with the purchase at the lower borrowing, then you may be offered a small compensation of £50-100 by NatWest for the error and associated inconvenience.

[Deleted User]

simon_or said:

Wow. 2 appointments, 3 hours on the phone, countless checks only to be told that you can't borrow what you need and no explanation of why. What a pointless waste of time.

You should most definitely complain. I don't think you'll get more than a token compensation as you have the money to make up the shortfall but still do it.

And next time, use a broker! I don't think I've ever spent more than 15 minutes on a call with my broker for an application. I can never understand why anyone would apply direct, it's such a faff for no gain at all.

Different people have very different circumstances - which you might one day, and sometimes it can be a positive and successful method.

Sistergold

Always best to use a broker, always best to apply to whole of market. Broker will find who will lend rather than just getting a yes or no from one lender after investing same amount of time and checks. Now you have to do the process all over again. 

simon_or

Catsacor said:

simon_or said:

Wow. 2 appointments, 3 hours on the phone, countless checks only to be told that you can't borrow what you need and no explanation of why. What a pointless waste of time.

You should most definitely complain. I don't think you'll get more than a token compensation as you have the money to make up the shortfall but still do it.

And next time, use a broker! I don't think I've ever spent more than 15 minutes on a call with my broker for an application. I can never understand why anyone would apply direct, it's such a faff for no gain at all.

Different people have very different circumstances - which you might one day, and sometimes it can be a positive and successful method.

You're absolutely right, to each his/her own. If you feel more comfortable doing it direct or don't like using a broker then that's what's right for you. And brokers can make mistakes just like the NatWest adviser has above.

I was simply stating my personal opinion that I don't see any advantage at all to going direct unless of course you need to use direct banks like Lloyds or First direct. But obviously it's just my opinion.

You get the same rates (or better as you're looking at the whole of market), same free service (plenty of fee free brokers and even those that may charge a fee often do it fee-free for returning customers), same or next day appointments even on a Sunday afternoon, short phone calls only (not always needed), no messing about with criteria, clear informed responses within a day, invaluable if you need to maximise borrowing, change to a cheaper lender post-offer, etc etc.

The huge caveat is of course that you need a good broker and I'm lucky enough to have one that does all the above and does it brilliantly.

Again, sorry if it came across that way but my intention was not to disparage anyone that goes direct. It's a personal preference after all and whatever route you take at the end of it all you want is a mortgage