Word of warning about AWD mortgage brokers

happybroker

Vic this thread is about AWD Home Finance....if you "don't give a s!!!!" about them then why do you post so fiercly?

If this is nothing to do with you then please go away, although we are really enjoying baiting you! I have an image now of an agry admin person chained to a post surrounded by loads of mortgage brokers holding back jack russels....oh my life

HelpWhereIcan

vic76 wrote: »

Plus how can they cold call you if they didnt already know your details and when your mortgage was ending.

:rotfl: :rotfl: I love your loyalty, but you have proven why admin are not allowed to give advice or any information which could be construed as advice.

As dunstonh says, you need express consent, which means that they have to be expecting you to contact them about their deal finishing.

Plus, just having their customer data is not enough to qualify as "a pre-existing customer relationship".

You have to be able to show that you have been in regular contact with the customer over the period of their deal and that the original mortgage was not just a one off transaction.

After all, the customer may have done their mortgage 5 years ago and not be aware or care that AWD have bought Carrington Carr. They may have had bad service or not received the ongoing servicing they required. These could mean that the customer would not have the relationship with you "through which the consumer expects to receive such promotions".

They may actually have seen the original mortgage as a one off transaction and object to you calling them (as people here have posted that they do, not least by using the term 'cold calling' - not a great indication of "the customer expects").

That is why most firms get the customer to sign giving permission to be recontacted (which is in itself still not enough).

I make sure all my customers receive regular contact from me in the form of newsletters, xmas cards, protection reviews etc etc (soon to be followed by online log ins and account management) all to show that relationship.

All give me the option to consolidate my relationship with them and the customer the option to terminate the relationship. It is good for business as well as the customer. It is a little thing called TCF - I'm sure you are aware what that is and why it is important.

vic76 wrote: »

You probably signed up to one of the many companies they have taken over, the customer databases are all included as part of the deal

Again sooo wrong. Your statement

one of the many companies they have taken over

actually shows why the rules are set up the way they are.

I am taking over another firm at the moment and have been advised that, although they have already signed one with the other firm, to stay compliant I must get some of the customers to sign a new consent form to allow me to contact them about their mortgage by phone.

Without it I can still write to them asking them to arrange an appointment but cannot chase them up by phone if they do not respond.

I can still call them about other products and services (bearing in mind the rules that apply to them) but not their mortgage specifically. If the conversation gets round to mortgages then I can discuss it.

My Accountant has just retired selling his business to a larger firm. He still had to ask me to come in to have a formal hand over meeting and the new firm still had to send out new terms of engagement for me to sign. If accountants (who you see every year and call regularly) have to do it, why not us?

Getting High and Mighty about CDV etc does not excuse Homefinance who are still operating in a way that reflects badly on the industry as a whole let alone your company.

Try and see past the corporate bullshine and propaganda and accept that many people have posted on this site about AWD Homefinance and Carrington Carr many times for many very good reasons.

HelpWhereIcan

happybroker wrote: »

holding back jack russels....oh my life

Mine's called Tilly - what about yours?

acer1ism

Hi all

Yes a newbbie here - i have been surfing around this site for some time but this is my first post - so hello all!

OK, so i am nearing the end of my current mortgage and been looking around at brokers on line. Then i get a call from AMD and although i didnt recognise the name, i went along with the phone call spoke to a pushy and fairly annoying advisor. My thinking was 'well im goning to need to change, so why not go along with it while they are on the line'...

So i now have an appointment for next week with someone to come to my home.

I have had a look around and noticed that - 1. They are not 'all of market', and 2. they charge a 1.95% fee.

Now i see that a few more of you guys have had bad experiences and im pretty that AMD caught me on a lucky cold call... To be honest, iv'e not been impressed by the phone contact up until now and i have a feeling the appointment will turn into more of a hard sale than a consultation.

Easy question for you all who have had experience of AMD recently or in the past...

Should i cancel the appointment?!

Thanks for your time...

:-)

acer1ism

... and 4. Pushy and obnoxious telephonists.

Fair points - i think i'll be cancelling this one.
Its been useful reading this thread so cheers to all who have posted here.

Also spoke to London and Country today who very polite, to the point and will apparently phone back tomorrow with the best deals they can find me...

No need for a pushy salesman in my front room =

Goonerak

Just thought I'd let you what I was advised to do by AWD:
1) Pay £2500 to come out of a 5.89% fixed rate mortgage (1 year into a 2 year deal)
2) Transfer to a tracker rate mortgage at 6.89%
3) Borrow £10,000 against the new mortgage to pay off a fixed rate loan that has 3.5 years to run.
4) Borrow £2500 against the new mortgage to pay off the remainder of a fixed rate car finance deal that has 1 year to run.

Now, I'm no financial expert but even I can see that paying interest on interest is mad. And paying a lump of money to come out of a mortgage to pay at a higher rate?

grogdog

your monthly payments would probably be lower which is probably where they are coming from and for some people reducing their monthly outgoings is their main priority rather than looking at the overall picture and what it is actually costing,

as an example i recently contacted a client who i had remortgaged just under 2 years ago to talk to as they were coming out of their deal, they had already changed through another broker to borrow more money , the other broker hadnt told them about their redemption penalty of about 2500 which they just borrowed more to cover on top of what the client wanted.

reasons like this are why we charge for doing business as clients have absolutley no loyalty to brokers who actually do look after their interests in the first place , when they then go to some cowboy who charge an absurd amount and as long as they get the money the want are happy.

Cosican

Just been on net Swiss Life have said that AWD HOME FINANCE is to be sold or discontinued.

koexelek

toonfish wrote: »

3 brand new posters all singing AWD's praises - not Cartelesque at all that

Respect for being more creative with spamming though.

Praise your own company, then get you mates to join up for the site and do the same.

Wish I'd thought of it myself :rotfl:

EdInvestor

vic76 wrote: »

Quite honestly I dont give a **** about home finance as I dont work for them but I do work for AWD.... you cant include all the other companies under the massive AWD umbrella in a huge sweeping statement.

AWD Chase de Vere has won awards as has Moneyextra which as I pointed out earlier you can get a mortgage from in the usual way

FSA imposes 1m fine on AWD Chase de Vere for widespread misselling of annuities, drawdown and pension transfers.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1280281

Note this firm was also fined 5 years ago for misselling precipice bonds.

A culture of corruption. :mad: