Advice regarding mortgage complaint Natwest

Chuzzle

Righty ho

On 5th March me and DH went to our local branch of NatWest to enquire about remortgaging with them - we are currently with Northern Rock and our fixed rate ended at the end of last year . At the time our mortgage advisor couldn't give us a definite yah or nah he said it had to be referred. I'm thinking this is probably because dh has been on BR tax for the past year as he has stopped being self employed and tax man not worked this out very quickly!

Anywho, by 14th March we'd not heard anything so DH rang mortgage advisor mobile and left message for him to call us. By 18th March we still hadn't heard anything so I rang the local branch and they said that they'd call him and ask him to call us. The local branch did say that he was on holiday the following week.

We've still not heard anything so yesterday I rang and left a message on his mobile asking to call me. by lunchtime I'd not heard anything so I rang NatWest Mortgage services and a nice lady told me we had been declined and they had told the mortgage advisor of this on 10th March :eek:. I am now fuming so rang local branch again and insisted they get him to call me asap. This morning I'd still not heard anything so rang his mobile again and left another message. I allowed a couple of hours and then rang the mortgage service line and enquired if they could tell me why we had been declined we had failed the credit check but it seems we might be able to appeal this decision if we talk to our mortgage advisor! HA! I rang and left another message on the advisers phone this afternoon and rang the local branch. The girl at our local branch had actually spoken to the adviser yesterday and he is aware he needs to speak to us and we are on his radar.

I have now decided that I need to write a letter of complaint but I am no good at phrasing it so wondered if anyone here would be good enough to help out with some pointers. I am just so annoyed/frustrated/:mad: that he has known all this for so long and not bothered to tell us.I have banked with Natwest for at least 10 years, we've had loans with them and cc with them as well.

Sorry for the long post guys, hope someone can help a little.

homer_j_3

Not sure what to say really. You should write a complaint explaining that you feel that you have not been treated fairly.

It could be worthwhile ordering your credit file from https://www.creditexpert.com or co.uk and seeing if there is anything on there which may have caused this.

On a separate post, there was a bank worker explaining how brokers are like this and this post shows that it happens just as easily with the bank advisers.

I would probably go and seek a broker who will value your business if you get no luck with the decision being overturned.

Chuzzle

Hello

Here's the update regarding this. After many many phonecalls I finally got to speak to our mortgage advisor Wednesday 9th. He advised me that the reason we had been declined was to do with how our bank account had been used. We've had some payments returned and we dip into our £100 buffer/overdraft on the account. He suggested that so long as we keep within the guidlines for our account and come back and see him towards the end of the year he'll see what he can do then.

I've looked back through our bank statements and we took out a loan in Feb 2007 (£10k) to cover our £3k overdraft,a credit card and another overdraft on DH account. They also removed our OD facility and we have the £100 buffer. Since that time we've often dipped into the £100 2 or 3 times a month but within 2 days of this there has always been plenty of money going into the account to clear this. We've only had at the most 5 returned payments in the last 12 months as well. We've got no CCJ's but due to lack of funds we have been late with a couple of payments on DH cc. We've always kept up to date with mortgage payments.

Am I right to think that they are being a bit harsh with us even in the current climate?

Our combined income is a little under £35k including all benefits, our current mortgage is £78k (with NR!!) and we have the loan and a credit card paying off so in total we'd like £90k. Both the loan and credit card are Natwest and we have banked wioth them for a while.

minimike2

Not harsh at all. 5 Returned payments in 12 months is a lot. I have never had a returned payment since I have had a bank account. Late paments on credit cards could potentially be a sign of future financial difficulty.

NatWest are a prime lender, off thier own balance sheet. They do squeaky clean and thats it. Thats thier lending policy. It doesnt mean they are being harsh.

Its never a good idea to go direct to your bank for a mortgage anyway. It means you limit youself to about 0.3% of the mortgage market. As homer says, get a copy of your credit files and take them to a broker who will be able to source a deal for you.


All that said, you are still right to complain about the MA. Not good service to you at all. The least he could do was be upfront and honest with you and return your calls.

Gailk

I don't think its harsh - sorry maybe not what you wanted to hear.
Bank returned payments aren't good and personally I think 5 is quite a lot - perhaps a different lender would consider you?

_Andy_

If you are going to complain then you need to be clear about what outcome you want from it. Given what you've said, it's not surprising they've declined the mortgage, so really the most you could expect is an apology for the delays in getting back to you.
Personally I think you'd be better off moving on and speaking to a broker who can find you a suitable mortgage via another lender.

Chuzzle

Thanks for all your input. You're right it's not really what I wanted to hear either!! I suppose I was looking at this situation rather blinkered - these past 12 months have been the best we've had financially for the past 4 years!

I've requested a copy of our credit report so will study that.

Next question - can anyone recommend an independant broker in the Norfolk/Suffolk area - I am in Diss.

Chuzzle

Oh, yeah and all I expect from the complaint is an apology as I think that is the least we deserve.

Conrad

Yes, do complain.

It is unacceptable that the 'adviser' didnt find the trouble to let you know of the decline. It is a nonsense he then didnt return your calls.

THAT IS THE SUBSTANCE OF THE COMPLAINT, forget the actual decline, you wont be able to appeal it.

He and the Bank have a duty to specifically TREAT CUSTOMERS FAIRLY AND TO ENSURE EVERY SYSTEM DELIVERS THIS OUTCOME.

They wasted lots of your time and this for example might mean you end up paying the high variable rate with N Rock as the new remo is not arranged in time.

Ive met this type of individual before and this is how I read him; He cant be bothered to call you as you are'nt an immediate money making opportunity.

Keep your complaint short, with paragraphs, bullet points and NO personal slurs, just say "we have been badly let down and believe the adviser and Bank did not deliver on thier promise to TREAT CUSTOMERS FAIRLY as FSA rules dictate".

Good luck

Conrad

HERE'S THE WORDING;

(Send it to the Compliance Dept)

Ref number / account no
Date


Dear sirs

The FSA require Natwest senior personnel to have tested every process to ensure it meets the requirements under Treating Customers Fairly rules.

We believe you have failed in this duty, not because you declined our application, but because you did not bother to inform us in a timely manner.

As a result we have wasted time unnecesarily and will likely end up on our current lenders SVR which might not have been the case had we been informed of the decline immediately as we would have had more time to arrange an alternative lender.

We were declined on the .......

Despite the following calls (list the dates) the adviser did not come back to us. FLESH THIS OUT

The adviser was on holiday between ....................... HOWEVER, THE FSA SPECIFICALLY ADDRESS THIS ISSUE IN THIER RULES, in so far as a staff member being away from work SHOULD NOT IN ANY WAY DETRACT FROM A FIRMS ABILTY TO COMMUNICATE IN A TIMELY FASHION WITH CLIENTS.

No system delivered the news we so desperately needed.

We expect some form of redress and look forward to your reply.

Chuzzle

Conrad

Thanks so much for the wording I shall get this off in tonights post.

I realise we won't be able to get the actual decline overturned, an apology will be acceptable.

Thanks everyone for your help on this matter