Ian Crampton, sales director at Ferndown Ltd, contacted Mortgage Introducer upon reviewing a client’s existing deal with IF. He explained IF had made the decision, along with most other lenders, to allow clients to port a mortgage product across to a new property they wish to buy but found problems when trying to do the deal.
He had a client tied into a 5.19 per cent fixed rate with nine months left and they wished to borrow a further £120,000 to purchase a new property. Crampton asked for the additional borrowing at IF’s tracker rate of 4.95 per cent as the client wished to review their total mortgage once their fixed rate finished.
He said: “I was advised this was not an option. I was informed that, unfortunately for any IF client, the only product available to them – should they despicably want to borrow additional funds to further fuel the already spiralling houses prices in the country – is its SVR at 5.7 per cent. So much for being an existing customer with IF and I will think twice about advising clients to deal with the lender in the future.”
Jennifer Blackwood, senior communications manager at IF, said: “Our SVR has consistently been one of the lowest in the marketplace. System limitations mean that it is not always possible to meet every individual client scenario put to us.
“However, we do always welcome feedback and would be happy to arrange for someone to contact this broker. Having been trading for only five years, IF is a young bank and is continually evolving in line with the market and the requirements of those that use us.”
