What can a broker do that I can't?

BigBoss

kingstreet said:

BigBoss said:

An occurrence today confirms I was right to question the utility of brokers in general.

A few days ago I send my credit report to my broker which I informed them was the last one I had access to before my free trial had expired. It was generated on 11 September 2022. I sent it on the 10th Oct. So it's 29/30 days old, tops? (I cba to do the exact maths). 

I receive a message today saying the lender needs the latest report as this is older than 28 days. 

What am I paying a broker for if they're not able to tell me about issues like this as they happen?

The broker didn't make the request as soon as he/she received it from the lender?

The broker contacted me today to say that the lender has requested a new credit report within 28 days.

Is there any way I can circumvent the broker and contact the lender directly?

ACG

BigBoss said:

ACG said:

A lender has asked for a copy of your credit report?
Why? 

A lender would usually rely on whatever is on the credit check they carry out on you. 

So I'm being told, yes. Should I doubt this at all?

This is a first-rate high street lender btw, and I've just gone and paid the 14.99 for the report because I'm too impatient to wait for the statutory report process to come through.

In 9-10 years as a broker, I think I have had a high street lender once ask for a copy of a credit report where they picked up a default we had not declared as it was not on the clients report. Were you told to get it with a particular credit agency? 

Its not unheard of, but it is definitely not common. I can only think of once (with a high street lender) in however many hundreds of applications I have submitted. 

BigBoss

ACG said:

BigBoss said:

ACG said:

A lender has asked for a copy of your credit report?
Why? 

A lender would usually rely on whatever is on the credit check they carry out on you. 

So I'm being told, yes. Should I doubt this at all?

This is a first-rate high street lender btw, and I've just gone and paid the 14.99 for the report because I'm too impatient to wait for the statutory report process to come through.

In 9-10 years as a broker, I think I have had a high street lender once ask for a copy of a credit report where they picked up a default we had not declared as it was not on the clients report. Were you told to get it with a particular credit agency? 

Its not unheard of, but it is definitely not common. I can only think of once (with a high street lender) in however many hundreds of applications I have submitted. 

Yes it was a specific and very famous HS lender using a specific credit agency...

Jonboy_1984

On our first purchase the bank in question suddenly started playing silly games (Northern Rock a couple of months before they went under...!).

Our broker dealt with everyone to get us a new lender, refund of survey etc payed to NR (I say that, they had us cancel the cheque NR had received but not yet cashed, and paid NR themselves whilst fighting it and then claimed the refund themselves), smooth over the queries with the EA  etc and generally earned every penny.  

We wouldn't have known where to start...

K_S

ACG said:

BigBoss said:

ACG said:

A lender has asked for a copy of your credit report?
Why? 

A lender would usually rely on whatever is on the credit check they carry out on you. 

So I'm being told, yes. Should I doubt this at all?

This is a first-rate high street lender btw, and I've just gone and paid the 14.99 for the report because I'm too impatient to wait for the statutory report process to come through.

In 9-10 years as a broker, I think I have had a high street lender once ask for a copy of a credit report where they picked up a default we had not declared as it was not on the clients report. Were you told to get it with a particular credit agency? 

Its not unheard of, but it is definitely not common. I can only think of once (with a high street lender) in however many hundreds of applications I have submitted. 

@ACG Same here, I've never been asked by a mainstream lender to share a client's credit report post-application. There have been occasions on which the lender has pointed me towards the credit report for undisclosed commitments, adverse, specific issues (eg: a higher than declared balance on a Tesco credit card) etc. but not for me to send it across to them. 

ACG

BigBoss said:

ACG said:

BigBoss said:

ACG said:

A lender has asked for a copy of your credit report?
Why? 

A lender would usually rely on whatever is on the credit check they carry out on you. 

So I'm being told, yes. Should I doubt this at all?

This is a first-rate high street lender btw, and I've just gone and paid the 14.99 for the report because I'm too impatient to wait for the statutory report process to come through.

In 9-10 years as a broker, I think I have had a high street lender once ask for a copy of a credit report where they picked up a default we had not declared as it was not on the clients report. Were you told to get it with a particular credit agency? 

Its not unheard of, but it is definitely not common. I can only think of once (with a high street lender) in however many hundreds of applications I have submitted. 

Yes it was a specific and very famous HS lender using a specific credit agency...

It sounds odd. 

BigBoss

@ACG @K_S

I ended up sending it anyway, and it cost me £15 for the privilege. Given that my broker charges two small fees (one at application stage and the other if successful + their mortgage fee which is circa 0.5%) is there anyway I can claim back that £15 from them given the unusual circumstances?

Also, is there anyway I can contact the lender and circumvent the broker? I mean it is my data after all.

ACG

Its not a simple yes or no...
If the lender needed it, then I cant see why the broker should refund you. 
Even if the lender did not need it, you could have waited for the free version. It was your choice to hurry it up. 

As for circumventing the broker, some lenders will some wont. 
Whilst it is your data, if things go wrong who gets the blame? The broker for doing wrong, you for taking over or the lender for allowing it? 

K_S

BigBoss said:

@ACG @K_S

I ended up sending it anyway, and it cost me £15 for the privilege. Given that my broker charges two small fees (one at application stage and the other if successful + their mortgage fee which is circa 0.5%) is there anyway I can claim back that £15 from them given the unusual circumstances?

Also, is there anyway I can contact the lender and circumvent the broker? I mean it is my data after all.

@bigboss 0.5% proc fee? Which lender is this, I'm not aware of any large high-street lenders that pays anywhere close to that for a residential application, it's usually 0.3-0.4%.

£15 - if you've had to pay due to a mistake by your broker or they've asked you specifically for something that would leave you out of pocket then yes you can ask them. When I ask a client for a credit report I always suggest a 30-day free-trial with CMF or a free statutory report from Experian/Equifax. I wouldn't ever ask them to incur any expense for the same.

Contacting the lender - you can try, some high-street lenders will entertain direct contact from intermediary-applicants but I doubt that would extend to submitting documents, answering queries, etc.

BigBoss

ACG said:

Its not a simple yes or no...
If the lender needed it, then I cant see why the broker should refund you. 
Even if the lender did not need it, you could have waited for the free version. It was your choice to hurry it up. 

As for circumventing the broker, some lenders will some wont. 
Whilst it is your data, if things go wrong who gets the blame? The broker for doing wrong, you for taking over or the lender for allowing it? 

It was my choice, for what I hope are understandable reasons! We've already been waiting for over a month!