We contacted a broker for a mortgage deal and Future topped the list. The charges are a little on the high side and it is very expensive once the lock-in ends, should you decide to continue with the mortgage due to it being linked to LIBOR (which is some kind of average rate that banks charge ... Read review
This review already contains more than 120 words. As a Ciao member you could earn up to £5 with this review.
A review by salva_nos on Future Mortgages February 4th, 2006
Author's product rating:
Quality of Customer Service
Very Poor
Advantages:
Rates are competitive
Disadvantages:
Nightmare
Recommend to potential buyers:
no
Full review
We contacted a broker for a mortgage deal and Future topped the list. The charges are a little on the high side and it is very expensive once the lock-in ends, should you decide to continue with the mortgage due to it being linked to LIBOR (which is some kind of average rate that banks charge each other to borrow money, i think), plus a high percentage on top. To buy out of the Lock-in costs thousands of pounds, so it is best to stay with them until the fixed deal ends. Future appear to be a good sub-prime lender (i.e. Adverse risk or poor credit rating), but once you have repaired your rating, it would be a good idea to move to a cheaper lender. The problem with Future is not so much the figures and with it offering deals only through a broker, you shouldn't need to worry about paperwork, but this is not what happens. We applied for a decision in principle and found a beautiful house. We made an offer and because it was just before Christmas, we expected a delay in processing the application, little did we know that hell was around the corner. In the new year, the lies started. A date was given for the application to be processed, it passed and lies were told, other days given, different things were said to our broker and he started to fire off complaints. They said at one stage that they were dealing with the applications from 14th December and that there would be a delay. Time was moving and after all of the complaints, they suddenly moved the case forward and started the process. We paid the £150 for a valuation about two weeks ago and we have been told by the estate agent that the valuer had stated that he would say the valuation is fair, of course, we can't go on that, because the estate agent wants to sell the house and we need official confirmation from the mortgage company that everything is ok. I should make clear that the vender of the house is moving to a new build and the builders are putting pressure on him, so this isn't fair on any of us. We are now into February and Future have now gone back to saying that they have a paper backlog. We have had to submit documents three times because they keep losing them, which is very worrying due to the risk of i.d theft and they refuse to tell the broker which documents they have got, so there are prolonged delays with no sign of any movement. The website does not allow access to the public, but the front page does say that they are part of Citigroup, which is a massive company with many well respected names. Future are are a serious blot on the company name. Due to the delays, some of our documents are out of date and need to be resubmitted. The valuation fee was paid for a valuation that has not been looked at and we are back to square one, but with no time left. This company has the potential to wreck many dreams and if they do not improve quickly, then i hope that they are put out of our misery. We have now written off the £150 and have started the process again with another company that does have a good reputation, but we fear that we may have lost our dream home and the vendor may have lost his new home, if we cannot move extremely quickly. Future were around before, but i am told that they disappeared due to the poor service. I wish now that they had stayed out of sight. Our broker has never used them before and certainly will never use them again. The company has received our complaints and just said 'we are looking into it', but that is all they said. We are stuck in this nightmare and cutting our losses is the only chance that we have. The Ombudsman has received our complaint and i hope that he can deal with the company before too many people get hurt. Our Broker has offered to knock the £150 off his fee, so that we are not out of pocket, but it doesn't change the fact that we may lose the house. The deals may look tempting, but my advice is simply to look at the next one down. You may seriously regret dealing with these people.
More Reviews
Quick review of Future Mortgages Review ofFuture Mortgagesby
knowangel
increases rate 'willy-nilly. (when it 'should' coincide with Bank of England rate activity) Can double your monthly payment. Collections dept staff darn-right arrogant & rude. (this happened to 3 customers that I know of)
Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
...at as of this morning Future Mortgages have announced via the trade press i.e. Mortgage Strategy that they are closed to all new business as of 21/05/2008 due to the challenging circumstances bought about by the current credit crunch. They are also closing their loan business Citifinancial however, they have confirmed that all pipeline business currently being processed will carry on in the normal way.
As a mortgage broker myself I find this to ... ...very challenging to deal with but their area of the market was targeted at people with very challenging circumstances who were always going to have great difficulty getting finance anywhere. They are not the first lender to cease lending due to the current market difficulties but hopefully they will be the last. ...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Advantages: An excellent sub prime lender with very competative rates Disadvantages: They only deal with brokers or mortgage packagers
...Having read every review on this site for FutureMortgages I immediately became disturbed at the reactions and negative feedback that so many people have had towards this particular mortgage lender.
However, after digesting each review it became apparent to me that, although they are from personal opinion, and of course, we are all entitled to our opinions, I felt they were unfairly directed towards the mortgage company itself.
Many of the complaints were focusing on the high rates and other criteria offered by FutureMortgages, but it seems that the fact they are a sub prime mortgage lender has been forgotten. Sub prime mortgage companies do offer rates higher and sometimes considerably higher than the high street rates as their customer base is made up of people with current or historical adverse credit history.
Many people...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: I can now get through on the phone in 15 minutes instead of 45! Disadvantages: Where do I begin!
...As I embark on my journey of buying the first family home Im starting to feel somewhat let down by the whole process. I know people say its one of the 3 most stressful things you'll ever do in life - the other two being having a child and getting married but I already have a wee girl aged 5 months and to be honest its been a lot easier than I expected and certainly a lot easier than getting a mortgage with Future.
We basically decided before Christmas that we would try and buy a house due to the market being quite quiet. We went and saw a mortgage broker and were really only looking for a good deal. I have credit problems which limited the amount of companies that would touch us and we were also looking for 100% mortgage. The broker set a time and we went for a meeting to discuss the specifics. Being somewhat naive first time...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Absolutely none Disadvantages: To be avoided at all costs
...Our first contact with FutureMortgages was a letter which started, "As you are aware, we are your new mortgage carrier and your account is in arrears". Imagine our surprise as we were woefully unaware that our mortgage had been sold nor had we been informed. It transpired that the mortgage had indeed been sold on to FM some five months prior to this contact yet neither FM or our previous mortgage carrier had felt it prudent to let us know. Having recovered from the initial shock, i set about investigating this so called arrears. During the transfer of paperwork from one company to the next it would seem that an arrangement for a payment holiday had been overlooked. FM were ademant that no such agreement had been provided them and insisted that as such the account was in arrears and must be brought up to date immediately. We have been...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
05.01.2008
19.01.2006
08.02.2006
