Alex Murray, group director of mortgages for Thinc Group, said he had two recent cases where the rate had not been booked at application and, with a very short time line in place to go to offer, the client was then told the rate had expired.
Murray said that the majority of lenders book rates once the application is received, and time lines as short as seven days did not allow sufficient time for the client to get valuations and surveys that may be delayed outside their control. He questioned the fairness of the client having paid their fees once, only to have to pay again.
Murray said: “I’m not aware of other lenders that secure the rate at offer. Is this ‘Treating Customers Fairly?’ I’m surprised that such a high profile lender appears not to be securing funds until the offer is in place. It leaves the clients in a difficult position because costs will have to be incurred.”
While Advantage agreed to honour the original rate in one case, the second case remained unresolved and the client was forced to go to another lender.
Keith Dearling, managing director of Advantage, commented: “Advantage is committed to providing competitively priced products that are flexible. We are unable to extend our product withdrawal dates indefinitely and do not comment on individual cases. However, we can confirm that all price changes are communicated directly to brokers and on our website prior to changes taking place.”
