We have just terminated our Mortgage with Mortgages Plc at the end of our one year fixed deal.
We had to go down the route of self certification as my partner had a job which paid heavily on commission, making it difficult for a high street lender to give us anything more than 65% loan to ... Read review
Advantages: Not many unless you like parting with ££££ Disadvantages: Loads of errors, poor communication
...just terminated our Mortgage with Mortgages Plc at the end of our one year fixed deal.
We had to go down the route of self certification as my partner had a job which paid heavily on commission, making it difficult for a high street lender to give us anything more than 65% loan to value. We went through a broker and he came up with a deal through Advantage Home Loans, a sub company of Mortgages PLC. The deal itself was OK, we had expected ... ...be paying per month from Mortgages Plc, the quote seemed fine, we could afford it and it set out their charges which they informed us could be added to our final loan amount.
We completed the rather ardous application form, which took us 3 days to work through and despite it being true self cert (they make no checks on your income), the were not happy with the application until we had given employer details and kept sending it back ... more
We have just terminated our Mortgage with Mortgages Plc at the end of our one year fixed deal.
We had to go down the route of self certification as my partner had a job which paid heavily on commission, making it difficult for a high street lender to give us anything more than 65% loan to value. We went through a broker and he came up with a deal through Advantage Home Loans, a sub company of Mortgages PLC. The deal itself was OK, we had expected a higher rate for self cert candidates, it tied us in for 1 year.
We thought the quote was good enough to continue with and we propmptly found a place and put an offer in, we got a quote again for the amouts we would be paying per month from Mortgages Plc, the quote seemed fine, we could afford it and it set out their charges which they informed us could be added to our final loan amount.
We completed the rather ardous application form, which took us 3 days to work through and despite it being true self cert (they make no checks on your income), the were not happy with the application until we had given employer details and kept sending it back until we had done so.
When we fonally heard they were processing our application, we were happy, but it took 4 weeks for them to send a surveyor out because they had forgotten to arrange it, we had to hassle and hassle them to do it. They sent us a vague copy of the survey.
All leagl work was happening and we received our offer...for £4000 less than what we'd asked for. At the point we were selling my home and coming close to the completion date. Our solicitor telephoned and advised them of their error, the were unhelpful and told her it would be another 5 working days until another offer could be issued, taking us beyond the completion date of my house. We eventually got our solicitor to comprimise with them, if we would pay for a courier, they could dispatch the offer, have it brought back and then agree to release the funds. We did this at a cost of nearly £300 then they advised it was another 5 working days before they could relase funds.
Again, thanks to our solicitor, it took 3 days as she said we'd be homeless and would be charging them for accomdation as no where in ANY of their literature that the timescales would be this long, in fact, it stated they could do everything within 48 hours of receiving paperwork.
So, we exchanged contracts and got slapped with a bill for £2500 in fees from them, we were concerned that they had promised us this would be added on to the mortgage on our agreement in principle, they then said this had changed and we were advised in writing. We then asked for a copy of the letter, which they couldn't produce, after much too-ing and frow-ing, the stood their ground and threatend not to release funds until we paid it, we had to, otherwise we really would have been homeless for a few days.
So, not off on the best foot. Our mortgage started and we had very little trouble from them for the first few months, then THEY cancelled our direct debit and charged us £57 for the trouble. We were eventually refunded to our mortgage account, but it took 3 months for them to do this.
We found it really hard to communicate with them, it was either they didn't understand what you wanted them to do ( refund us!) or the right person wasn't there or the computers were down or they had training sessions, it was really hard to get anything across to them, and no, before you asked, this isn't an offshore call centre, this is Glasgow.
After the hassle we had, we decided t change and they tried to increase our redemption charge from £1500 to £6000 saying their terms and conditions had changed, again we asked for proof of being sent this and again they couldn't provide it. We got, around the same time our annual statement of account, most decent companies provide this free as a matter of course but no, there was a £27 charge for this.
Various other charges followed for changing companies, we totalled up about £600 from them all in all, they then phoned up to ask why we were changing when they had provided us with such a high level service! When we told them we had experienced terrible service, the gent became fairly cocky and said we obviously had such high standards we couldn't cope with a smaller lending company!
We're glad to be away from them now, communication both through the post and on phone is extremely difficult, they take ages to respond to letters and become very unhelpful once they know you are changing lenders.
Overall, poor service from the outset that never improved, charges galore and a higher interest rate that can be beaten by shopping around. One to avoid at all costs.
Advantages: Sub-prime lender, varied number of products Disadvantages: some of the interest rates tend to be a little high
Mortgages Plc are based in Scotland, the main reason I would recommend these is that they offer sub-prime mortgages which are aimed at people who do not have perfect credit, and for many of the products have competetive interest rates, this is an option good for those people who may find it hard getting a mortgage with High Street lenders, they also have self-cert schemes which allow you to state an income higher than you would normally e.g. good ... ...this is not normally the case. There product range is also good as they offer mortgages to suit all, Buy to Lets, First Time Buyers, Let to Buys, Right to Buys etc. And they have a good customer service team who won't keep you on hold all day ...
zazzyzoe 22.08.2003
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Advantages: POSTAL AND INTERNET BANKING Disadvantages: LACK OF BRANCHES
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Mortgages - retail and wholesale.
Household insurance.
Personal lending.
Retail savings.
Commercial mortgages.
You can contact HQ at:
Northern Rock PLC.
Northern Rock Hse.
Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne.
NE3 4PL tel : 0191 285 7191.
They also offer OFFSHORE ACCOUNTS these are based in Guernsey and are operated by post or the Internet. You can contact them at:
Northern Rock.
(Guernsey) Ltd.
PO. Box 521
St Peters Port,
Guernsey, Channel Islands.
GY1 6EQ
There are facilities for banking in Ireland as well.
I?ve just started using the Silver Savings Account that offers a high interest instant savings at competitive rates. Rates are linked to the Bank rate until 2010.
MORE DETAIL LATER ...
