The Mortgage Works/Nationwide - Redemption Statement request timeline?

Geordie7865

I was wondering if anyone else had experience of requesting a redemption statement/release of property request from The Mortgage Works (subsidiary of Nationwide).

I have had a couple of experiences - last year during Covid i requested one and this was provided without fuss or issue, however this year when i requested another one for a different property they communication was non-existent and calling them was pointless unless you were willing to stay on the line for 40mins plus at a time. Despite repeated attempts to chase no one was willing to help and the level of customer service was abysmal. 

I know most will say you just have to grin and bear it, but it lead to a lot of unnecessary stress both for myself and our buyer (we had exchanged but the redemption amount was needed to complete). The Mortgage Works did admit they missed their own deadline by a couple of weeks however didn't really take ownership or responsibility other than a token amount in relation to compensation. I in the meantime had incurred additional costs, had a buyer who decided to walk way but whom i managed to persuade to stay at the 11th hour.as well as a lot of wasted time and effort chasing up said statement.

My solicitor also commented that such requests re ordinarily dealt with within a week by most financial institutions - i know mine would take a bit longer as it was stated 'up to 20 business days' however it ended up arriving 2 months after the initial request was put in.

Be interested in hearing other's views and experiences - i think there is a mismatch in the level of service provided bearing in mind that a mortgage application/renewal can be done in a matter of minutes however when you are looking to pay back and redeem your mortgage there's additional delays and my lender was insisting on everything being sent via post even though nothing is mentioned in their forms or website.

I have in any case referred my situation to the Financial Ombudsman as i feel it's unfair that banks and lenders can get away with these lengthy delays, blaming it on there being staff shortages, yet still carry on taking on more customers with insufficient resources in place all the whilst making multi-million pound profits.