Egg Mortgage Refused

bermondse1

Thanks for the feedback ladies and gents...

Interim interest shouldn't be an issue, as my mortgage expires at the end of a month.

Still heard nothing from Egg, so another letter in the post this weekend, I'm not spending 40 mins on the phone trying to get through.

Martyn - re legals - I used a (free) Britannia appointed solicitor when I first remortgaged with them, but with my previous lender, I did the legals myself, with no hassles. I'm no solicitor, so am I missing something? What's so complex about remortgaging that needs a solicitor? Mortgage contracts for mainstream lenders are pretty standard.

MartynwithaY

I'm new to re-mortgaging, but from reading post from mortgage advisors on this board I was under the impression you need to be a qualified solicitor/conveyancer to do the legal stuff.

Have I got this wrong?

The_Architrave

There's a discussion going on in another thread about the legal fees aspect. I also thought do-it-yourself conveyancing was an option at one time, but that was ten years ago so maybe things have changed.

Gailk

When we recently remortgaged to a different lender we had to use a solicitor (which was free as part of the deal). The solicitor was working for the lender rather than us, but the title needs to be transferred so I don't believe its something you can do yourself.
Bermondse1 - were you staying with the same lender? Just curious as to how you were able to get searches and things done? Thanks

The_Architrave

I agree that it would be wrong for Egg to restrict business to existing customers and not be up-front about it.

I have now got the paperwork from them: agreement in principle plus details of the supplementary information they need. And they do say that one of the ways to contact them is by secure message from their site, which can only be accessed if one has an account with them already.

bermondse1

Gailik - if it's a simple remortgage, title doesn't need to be transferred - the charge does. You don't need to do any conveyancing with a remortgage...it's just the registration of the legal charge - which is actually what a mortgage is (it's NOT the loan!)

I think we're talking at cross purposes - the difference between the lender's legal team, and the need for legal representation yourself, and who does what.

Personally I can't see that a lender would trust anyone other than their own legal team to register a legal charge that provides security for the loan.

When I did my first remortgage (to another lender) the building society inhouse legal people did all the necessaries, and I just had to sign papers. Second time round, Britannia appointed someone externally who was "acting for me"...although they paid the bill...quite what they were doing "for me" I don't know...since I got no advice from them, and just signed the papers in the same way as the first remortgage.

Admittedly someone, somewhere needs to do some legal work, but who does it and who pays for it are separate issues! My point in response to Martyn's post was simply, if I don't have responsibility for the doing any legals, why do I need a solicitor?

Gailk

Hi - thanks for the clarification.
Perhaps we are at crossed purposes, and I'm more than willing to stand corrected!! But, I thought that when you remortgaged if you didn't get a deal that included "free legals" you had to pay a solicitor.
There was another thread on here asking about the cost in relation to a remortgage to Egg and the cost was quoted as £300-500.
Maybe I have misunderstood somewhere along the line!. Thanks again.

bermondse1

Just a quick update - finally got my formal decline from Egg today...load of meaningless waffle in the letter. Considering my appeal, was ostensibly the same as The_Architrave's, I think the inference is that Egg mortgages are only available to existing customers.

Gailk - doing a bit more research, I must confess the legals bit is a bit confusing...especially as it's not always clear from lender websites differences between the way they handle purchases and remortgages, and indeed who any solicitor is acting for - I've always assumed they act for the lender, even if you have to pay for it. I've never appointed my own solicitor in remortgaging.

HRBS who did my first remortgage basically have the stated position that if it's a straight remortgage, with no changes to title, they'll handle the searches and registration of new charge, and the payment to the current lender at no additional charge.

Britannia appoint a panel solicitor (who you have to pay £180 for now) who acts ONLY FOR THEM in relation to the remortgage (not as I stated - apologies).

All kinda irrelevant now for me - it looks like I'll be sticking with the Britannia, unless a better deal materialises in the next two weeks.

The_Architrave

bermondse1 wrote: »

...All kinda irrelevant now for me - it looks like I'll be sticking with the Britannia, unless a better deal materialises in the next two weeks.

First Direct are now back in business for non-customers - have you considered them?

bermondse1

Yes have Architrave - but with the increased fees they've now imposed, it's not worthwhile switching.

Egg have now radically repriced their mortgage - congrats on securing an excellent deal!