Reply to: Contractor mortgage with one late mortgage payment

[Old Greg]

I would like to personally apologise to all of the members that have commented above to say that you have received poor service from my firm and I would like to reassure you that I am looking in to standards across our entire firm as a result. I have always been very proud of the support that we have been able offer the Contractor UK community from its very birth in 1999 and I am therefore saddened to hear that this service is not as I would want it to be for all prospective clients.

We have had our busiest ever month for new mortgage applications in May, evidence that the housing market seems to have definitely turned a corner and that our clients are feeling optimistic again but I will be the first to admit that the speed of the rebound has caught us out in terms of our staffing levels. We do have a number of new people starting in the next 2 weeks that I expect to make a significant impact and get us back on track so that every client receives the same care and attention that we have always prided ourselves on in the past.

Whilst I realise that this may be too late to win back the trust of people that we have let down, I do hope that we can prove once again to the Contractor community that all of our hard work on the lobbying side with lenders is backed up by the very best standards of customer service when it comes to applying for that mortgage too.

Make it so.

[ContractorMoney]

I would like to personally apologise to all of the members that have commented above to say that you have received poor service from my firm and I would like to reassure you that I am looking in to standards across our entire firm as a result. I have always been very proud of the support that we have been able offer the Contractor UK community from its very birth in 1999 and I am therefore saddened to hear that this service is not as I would want it to be for all prospective clients.

We have had our busiest ever month for new mortgage applications in May, evidence that the housing market seems to have definitely turned a corner and that our clients are feeling optimistic again but I will be the first to admit that the speed of the rebound has caught us out in terms of our staffing levels. We do have a number of new people starting in the next 2 weeks that I expect to make a significant impact and get us back on track so that every client receives the same care and attention that we have always prided ourselves on in the past.

Whilst I realise that this may be too late to win back the trust of people that we have let down, I do hope that we can prove once again to the Contractor community that all of our hard work on the lobbying side with lenders is backed up by the very best standards of customer service when it comes to applying for that mortgage too.

[Old Greg]

I'm happy to name and shame.

Tony @ ContractorMoney, your customer service has gone seriously downhill since I last used your services. I put in quite a detailed request a month ago, full financial breakdown and was promised a call the next day by Luke. I deliberately cleared my diary to make time for this, lunchtime arrives still no call. Try to call Luke, get told 'he is busy' ping him an email advising I'm free all afternoon, still no call. Another email and another phone call and I get an apologetic Kevin on the line promising I'll get the phone call the following week. I'm still waiting on that call and you've lost my business.

OP, I'd recommend you get in touch with Martin at AS Financials. Excellent customer service, got me my AIP with Halifax no problem and has always got straight back to me within the hour regarding any queries I had. That's who gets my business from now on.

That is a shame. I used Contractor Money 3 years ago and they were fantastic.

[Martin@AS Financial]

I'm happy to name and shame.

Tony @ ContractorMoney, your customer service has gone seriously downhill since I last used your services. I put in quite a detailed request a month ago, full financial breakdown and was promised a call the next day by Luke. I deliberately cleared my diary to make time for this, lunchtime arrives still no call. Try to call Luke, get told 'he is busy' ping him an email advising I'm free all afternoon, still no call. Another email and another phone call and I get an apologetic Kevin on the line promising I'll get the phone call the following week. I'm still waiting on that call and you've lost my business.

OP, I'd recommend you get in touch with Martin at AS Financials. Excellent customer service, got me my AIP with Halifax no problem and has always got straight back to me within the hour regarding any queries I had. That's who gets my business from now on.

Thank you Incognito for your great feedback - that is really kind of you.

[Incognito]

I'm happy to name and shame.

Tony @ ContractorMoney, your customer service has gone seriously downhill since I last used your services. I put in quite a detailed request a month ago, full financial breakdown and was promised a call the next day by Luke. I deliberately cleared my diary to make time for this, lunchtime arrives still no call. Try to call Luke, get told 'he is busy' ping him an email advising I'm free all afternoon, still no call. Another email and another phone call and I get an apologetic Kevin on the line promising I'll get the phone call the following week. I'm still waiting on that call and you've lost my business.

OP, I'd recommend you get in touch with Martin at AS Financials. Excellent customer service, got me my AIP with Halifax no problem and has always got straight back to me within the hour regarding any queries I had. That's who gets my business from now on.

[northernladuk]

Not a fan of company bashing in open forums but I have to admit I have been waiting for a response from the same company we are talking about for 2-3 weeks now and have decided to go elsewhere as well. I won't be calling them again.

[cailin maith]

I contacted Contractor Money a few weeks ago, they told me they couldn't help (because of the subject of the subject of this thread). Last Tuesday I contacted Contractor Mortgages Made Easy and received the approval in principle this afternoon (with Halifax).

Similar, thanks to Freelancer Financials we also now have a decision in principal

Cannot believe I wasted 4 weeks like that but hey ho.

[Freelancer Financials]

The illustration that you refer to comes directly from the Halifax system as, unlike other brokers who for ease of use rely on online sourcing systems such as trigold or mortgage brain, we do prefer to go directly to the lender to source all of our illustrations in order to ensure that the details we receive are 100% accurate and will match the Lenders individual criteria exactly. Whilst this is a slightly more lengthy process, we believe that it saves risk, time and potential hassle for you further in to the mortgage application process as the initial illustration is far more accurate than one that is sourced from a generic system.

Oh please, who are you kidding, it only takes 5 minutes at most to produce an Illustration from Halifax directly (It's an online system).

[Ketchup]

Thanks for your response but no, I won't be contacting you again.

I originally contacted your advisor on 7th May. Thats almost 4 weeks ago. I could now be 4 weeks further along the process than I am now. With that in mind, it was only after I posted on this forum regarding this issue that you contacted me and in turn I managed to finally correspond with your advisor.

The illustration is not sat in my spam folder.

I guess we have to reach the conclusion that although it appears from your system that it was sent, it simply never reached me. Odd when your advisors other emails reached me.

Again, thank you for taking the time to reply.

I contacted Contractor Money a few weeks ago, they told me they couldn't help (because of the subject of the subject of this thread). Last Tuesday I contacted Contractor Mortgages Made Easy and received the approval in principle this afternoon (with Halifax).

[ContractorMoney]

Thanks for your response but no, I won't be contacting you again.

I originally contacted your advisor on 7th May. Thats almost 4 weeks ago. I could now be 4 weeks further along the process than I am now. With that in mind, it was only after I posted on this forum regarding this issue that you contacted me and in turn I managed to finally correspond with your advisor.

The illustration is not sat in my spam folder.

I guess we have to reach the conclusion that although it appears from your system that it was sent, it simply never reached me. Odd when your advisors other emails reached me.

Again, thank you for taking the time to reply.

In that case I'm genuinely sorry that we couldn't help and I wish you all the very best of luck with the application.

[cailin maith]

I am sorry to hear that you feel you have received poor service from Lisa and following your post I have looked in to our response times and can see that the Adviser sent you an email with the illustration at 5.30pm on Wednesday which is within the ‘close of play’ promise that she originally quoted. I apologise if that illustration didn’t reach you, (perhaps its sat in your spam) and you felt that the Adviser had not kept to the agreed time frame but I would be happy to forward this on again to show that she had delivered.

The illustration that you refer to comes directly from the Halifax system as , unlike other brokers who for ease of use rely on online sourcing systems such as trigold or mortgage brain, we do prefer to go directly to the lender to source all of our illustrations in order to ensure that the details we receive are 100% accurate and will match the Lenders individual criteria exactly. Whilst this is a slightly more lengthy process, we believe that it saves risk, time and potential hassle for you further in to the mortgage application process as the initial illustration is far more accurate than one that is sourced from a generic system. I am sorry that this took longer than you had hoped but again, I would point out that it was sent to you within the timeframe you were given by your Adviser.

Please rest assured that we always endeavour to give the highest level of service to every client regardless of the loan amount or remuneration that we may receive and we pride ourselves on never charging a fee for our advice. If remuneration was our primary motivator then we would opt for the fee charging approach that other brokers have adopted but using our fees-free approach means that it is in our interests to see your mortgage through to completion as unlike these other brokers, we don’t receive any remuneration if the mortgage application fails to complete. I hope this reassures you that your Adviser was trying to ensure the illustration was accurate and was not delaying the process deliberately.

I hope that you will get in touch with me via PM so I can try and right the wrongs that you feel you have suffered as I would very much like to help you with your mortgage.

Thanks for your response but no, I won't be contacting you again.

I originally contacted your advisor on 7th May. Thats almost 4 weeks ago. I could now be 4 weeks further along the process than I am now. With that in mind, it was only after I posted on this forum regarding this issue that you contacted me and in turn I managed to finally correspond with your advisor.

The illustration is not sat in my spam folder.

I guess we have to reach the conclusion that although it appears from your system that it was sent, it simply never reached me. Odd when your advisors other emails reached me.

Again, thank you for taking the time to reply.

[ContractorMoney]

Well, here I am again.

I spoke to the lady in your office last Wednesday who assured me that I'd have the mortgage illustration by the close of play that day..... nothing.

I've since discovered the illustration that she'd been "waiting for from the Halifax" doesn't actually come from the Halifax, it's computer generated by yourselves. Not really sure why she felt the need to be dishonest about it.

Disappointing that the dealings I have had have been so poor. Especially when so many on here have sang your praises. I realise we don't want to borrow a massive amount and will probably not generate much fees for you but I'd have thought that was rather short sighted given that we'd probably look to move up the ladder again in the future.

Regardless of Contractor Money, I've nothing but the highest of praise for Freelancer Financials who have been brilliant - quick at getting back to me, getting me the fact find to fill in and just generally being super helpful including being available to speak to, long after usual business hours.

I am sorry to hear that you feel you have received poor service from Lisa and following your post I have looked in to our response times and can see that the Adviser sent you an email with the illustration at 5.30pm on Wednesday which is within the ‘close of play’ promise that she originally quoted. I apologise if that illustration didn’t reach you, (perhaps its sat in your spam) and you felt that the Adviser had not kept to the agreed time frame but I would be happy to forward this on again to show that she had delivered.

The illustration that you refer to comes directly from the Halifax system as , unlike other brokers who for ease of use rely on online sourcing systems such as trigold or mortgage brain, we do prefer to go directly to the lender to source all of our illustrations in order to ensure that the details we receive are 100% accurate and will match the Lenders individual criteria exactly. Whilst this is a slightly more lengthy process, we believe that it saves risk, time and potential hassle for you further in to the mortgage application process as the initial illustration is far more accurate than one that is sourced from a generic system. I am sorry that this took longer than you had hoped but again, I would point out that it was sent to you within the timeframe you were given by your Adviser.

Please rest assured that we always endeavour to give the highest level of service to every client regardless of the loan amount or remuneration that we may receive and we pride ourselves on never charging a fee for our advice. If remuneration was our primary motivator then we would opt for the fee charging approach that other brokers have adopted but using our fees-free approach means that it is in our interests to see your mortgage through to completion as unlike these other brokers, we don’t receive any remuneration if the mortgage application fails to complete. I hope this reassures you that your Adviser was trying to ensure the illustration was accurate and was not delaying the process deliberately.

I hope that you will get in touch with me via PM so I can try and right the wrongs that you feel you have suffered as I would very much like to help you with your mortgage.

[cailin maith]

Please accept my apologies if we've dropped the ball on your mortgage enquiry as we normally pride ourselves on the service we give. If you could PM your details I'd like to look into this straight away

Well, here I am again.

I spoke to the lady in your office last Wednesday who assured me that I'd have the mortgage illustration by the close of play that day..... nothing.

I've since discovered the illustration that she'd been "waiting for from the Halifax" doesn't actually come from the Halifax, it's computer generated by yourselves. Not really sure why she felt the need to be dishonest about it.

Disappointing that the dealings I have had have been so poor. Especially when so many on here have sang your praises. I realise we don't want to borrow a massive amount and will probably not generate much fees for you but I'd have thought that was rather short sighted given that we'd probably look to move up the ladder again in the future.

Regardless of Contractor Money, I've nothing but the highest of praise for Freelancer Financials who have been brilliant - quick at getting back to me, getting me the fact find to fill in and just generally being super helpful including being available to speak to, long after usual business hours.

[Freelancer Financials]

Am not sure if they can access all products or just the ones that pay them commission to get but it won't do any harm doing your own home work. There are some good ones out there and I don't think the agents get any special rates to beat some of them. Often calling your existing supplier will get you a discounted rate that anyone walking in couldn't get.

A Directly Authorised Contractor Mortgage Specialist, will have access to Whole of Market, we certainly do anyway.

The only lenders that we do not have access to are lenders like HSBC, First Direct and ING Direct, who generally do not go through intermediary channels. I agree with NorthernladUK, the rates from these lenders are often very competitive and if your accounts stack-up, worth a try. The only problem is that they typically use low income multiples (around 3.5) and assess affordability based on salary & dividends which can reduce potential borrowing for contractors working in a tax efficient way.

[Freelancer Financials]

If you have 2 or 3 years of accounts you can go to a lender direct.

There is no need to involve a broker.

I had sh*t from one of the brokers who posts on here due to taking a 3 month break a couple of years ago however the lender I finally chose had no issue with it.

Not sure why you had a problem, especially if it was a couple of years ago. Halifax would have been absolutely fine and it shouldn't have been a problem for the broker to get you an exception from Clydesdale.

But, I do agree, if you've got 2 years accounts and your drawings are sufficient to borrow what you need, then you can go whole of market.

The only time you need to use your contract rate is when your salary & dividends are low.

A good mortgage broker should look at your accounts first before looking at contractor mortgages.

There are also lenders that will take the net profits before tax plus the salary.

So there are options. The trouble with some contractor mortgage brokers is that they just want to use your contract rate as it's easier. Or they're just too busy and take two weeks to get back to you.