Which? selects ‘Recommended Providers’ by looking at which lenders have the best customer satisfaction scores and also offer consistently good deals.
The Which? customer satisfaction score combines two factors – how satisfied members are with their lender and how likely they are to recommend them to a friend or family member. A lender must have offered at least eight top-ten mortgage deals for either moving home or remortgaging in the previous four weeks.
The survey rated 22 lenders and for the fifth year running, first direct (part of the HSBC group) came top of the Which? mortgage customer satisfaction survey with a customer score of 89%.
HSBC was recognised as offering the most top-ten mortgage deals in the selected four-week period, followed by first direct.
Brendan Cook, HSBC head of personal financial services, said: “At HSBC we grew our UK mortgage lending by 9% last year. In fact, we have doubled the size of our book in the last five years.
“This is testament to the ability of a prudently run bank to keep lending even in the midst of a financial crisis. But it also demonstrates the care that my colleagues take to ensure that we lend responsibly and efficiently. I'm absolutely delighted that Which? has recognised the extraordinary effort that the guys in first direct and HSBC Mortgages put into serving our customers.”
