Ridiculous survery admin fee

LillyJ

I have a mortgage application going through with halifax, just waiting for valuation.

I upgraded the standard valuation to the homebuyers report, and paid £490 for it. This was only £100 more than the valuation so seemed worth the extra.

However when I received the info from the surveyors, it said the cost for the homebuyers is £390.

When I questionned Halifax over this, they said that they charge £100 admin fee :eek:

They said if I went direct I could pay less, but then it wouldn't be accepted as a valuation for purposes of the mortgage.

This seems so unfair and an added cost to FTBs which we don't need going in the pockets of the mortgage company!

Does anyone else think £100 is a bit high for an admin fee?:mad:

EDIT Just realised I spelt it "survery" instead of survey in the post title! Ooops can't seem to be able to change it now.

MarkyMarkD

You can change the thread title but I can't remember how!

It's not unreasonable. It's a fee which they choose to charge and you agreed to pay.

Debt_Free_Chick

Typically, this kind of fee isn't directly related to the survey. It's just "an application fee" and applies to just about all mortgages.

In fact, for some mortgages currently on the market, £100 is a bargain. I see that the range of mortgages offered by HSBC this week has HUGE fees!

LillyJ

Actually that is not quite true. I was told (over the phone) that this was the charge for the survey. I then had to pay there and then by debit card, otherwise I would have been hit by increase in interest rates as Halifax put them up the day after.
I also did not agree to pay them £100 I agreed to pay £490 for a survey as they told me that was how much it cost. Never told me there was an admin fee.

This is also an extra that they don't tell you about, as you HAVE to pay it to get the mortgage, they should add it to the fees to make it more transparent.

I also can't see how it costs £100 to pass my details to a surveyor.

EDIT I already paid £500 fees, so this is NOT an application fee!

PasturesNew

Their £100 fee will be for somebody to be employed on a salary, with holiday pay and training. To sit in an office building with associated overhead costs. A PC, a phone, desk, chair.

That person will have to receive your application and arrange for the survey. They will then have to update the computer system. Then when the survey comes back it will need to be opened and read by them, the computer system updated, somebody to decide if there's anything to pick up on before forwarding the file for approval etc.

£100 isn't a lot if you try to think about the costs of that function.

Yes it's a lot of actual cash. But at the end of the day it's a company who has to employ people and the associated costs of people/buildings/legislation/equipment.

LillyJ

PasturesNew wrote: »

Their £100 fee will be for somebody to be employed on a salary, with holiday pay and training. To sit in an office building with associated overhead costs. A PC, a phone, desk, chair.

That person will have to receive your application and arrange for the survey. They will then have to update the computer system. Then when the survey comes back it will need to be opened and read by them, the computer system updated, somebody to decide if there's anything to pick up on before forwarding the file for approval etc.

£100 isn't a lot if you try to think about the costs of that function.

Yes it's a lot of actual cash. But at the end of the day it's a company who has to employ people and the associated costs of people/buildings/legislation/equipment.

Fine, but why do they not make this transparent? Or add it to the fees?
They do not make clear that this is what you are paying for in any way. They tell you that that is the cost of the survey.

Seeing as everyone has to have a valuation if they want a mortgage, surely the fees should cover things like this? Maybe an increase in fees would be needed, but at least it would make it more obvious where your money was going.

LillyJ

And no, they do not have to arrange the survey, the surveyors do, as they rang us to ask for the EA's telephone number.

cajef

One of the facts of life whether you like it or not if you want a mortgage with the Halifax you have to pay their fees, otherwise go somewhere else, the choice is yours.

It may seem extortionate to you, but that is the joys of house buying the alternative is to pay cash for the house which very few people can afford to do.

LillyJ

Why can't people read what I write!!!????

I HAVE PAID THE FEES. THIS WAS AN EXTRA THAT THEY NEVER, AT ANY POINT, INCLUDING WHEN I WAS PAYING IT, TOLD ME ABOUT. I FOUND OUT ABOUT IT FROM THE SURVEYOR.

My point is why are they not honest and up front about it? And why do they not just make the fees (which I have no problem in paying) higher rather than trying to trick people?

airhostess

Hi LillyJ,

If it's any consolation I think it is unreasonable. Charging admin fees on top of the valuation is not very fair, in my opninion, as you don't use that as a comparison when choosing a mortgage. The £100 should really have been included in the mortgage application fee for clarity, if it was a Halifax fee and not an outside independent survey company fee. I guess it's another question to ask lenders vwhen asking about fees, was it clear on the Key Facts Illustration? If not, see your broker, or approach Halifax direct.

I guess it just sums up lenders attitudes at present. They aren't bending backwards to get customers, or fighting off the competition, in fact, quite the opposite, it's as if they don't want the business! When I took out a mortgage in 2004, the survey was £100, it was a special offer they were doing. I suppose this just goes to illustrate the state of the economy at this moment!

cajef

People are reading what have written, all you are doing is moaning because you have been charged £490 instead of £390, that was the inclusive Halifax fee for a survey, without paying it you would not get the mortgage.

Just because the surveyors told you their fee was less does not mean the Halifax cannot charge more.