"We understand that these are big operations, processing a lot of cases and with a lot of moving parts, but some lenders have got to get better."
Of course, there is still a partial holiday to be navigated up until the end of September, but the sheer number of purchases moving through the pipeline is nowhere near the level we saw earlier in the year and hence the stresses and strains lenders in particular are under should not be anywhere near what they have previously had to cope with.
And yet, there is a nagging doubt – certainly from us as advisers - that certain lenders are either still blaming the ‘stamp duty holiday rush’ or ‘staff on holiday’ for what can only be described as incompetence on their part, which – in 99% of the cases – has nothing to do with either.
Perhaps the recent heat is addling brains but here’s a case in point with a recent product transfer client with a top six lender. The client initially felt mortgage-savvy enough to pick the rate themselves and, given their former adviser had left the industry recently, were confident to try and work through their PT on their own.
Until that proved way too difficult for the lender to accommodate – it being unable to change an email address in order to send the right documents to their partner, and then being seemingly unable to send the documents by post for signing, despite suggesting this had been done three times.
We then got involved as the client had realised that, without any adviser help, the chances of them completing the PT before the end of their special rate finished was zero. The process moved relatively quickly until the lender’s valuation of the property – a two-bedroom buy-to-let – came back at more than three times its actual value.
At which point we worked out the client also had their residential home with the same lender and they were using the value of that property not the buy-to-let. The value then came back a mere £250k above its actual value, where it was queried again before coming back at the right amount.
Now this doesn’t seem like a big deal but, as advisers will know, this is just one case of to-ing and fro-ing with lenders who purport to have brilliant service levels and to be running a very tight ship. Extrapolate that out to 150-plus cases and, as we mentioned to the original client, it is no wonder our hairlines are going back at a rate of knots.
There’s other parts of the process that are both utterly mystifying and frustrating in equal measure. Uploading documents multiple times even though you can see the original versions are available on the portal being a particular favourite at present, and woe betide any adviser who mis-types or mis-keys because the never-ending cycle of frustration that this can lead to, is something to be feared deeply.
Of course, lenders are not always helped by others within the process who set expectations that have absolutely no chance of being met. Estate agents who suggest pre-Covid timescales are achievable and tell their clients to expect exchange in three weeks. Surveyors who appear to be valuing homes as if the last 12 months hasn’t happened. Lenders then taking weeks and weeks to process mortgages only adds to the over-riding frustration and doesn’t help anyone.
Advisers and clients are often stuck in the middle here, and while we’re acutely aware that lenders have staff on holiday during the summer months, this happens every single year and they should always have a provision for it. And, let’s face it, less bums on seats shouldn’t be an excuse for poor service levels or being a little bit rubbish.
As the middle-person between the client and all of these professions, it is incredibly difficult to have to inch your way through case after case, repeatedly carrying out the same tasks when once should always be enough. We understand that these are big operations, processing a lot of cases and with a lot of moving parts, but some lenders have got to get better. It’s not as if we don’t have alternatives at the moment.
