Peter O’Donovan, mortgage manager at Bestinvest, criticised Halifax for its service and his inability to get through to the lender on the phone, claiming that it was ‘unable to cope with the demand.’
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O’Donovan said: “This is a problem for all intermediaries as many lenders are struggling with the demand, but we’re stuck trying to get through. We can tell the client about the problem but it just makes us look stupid. The products are really good, it’s just the time you have to take to get through to it that is the issue.”
This followed ongoing concern that lenders were using and publicising premium rate 0845 and 0870 broker contact numbers.
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Alan Cleary, managing director of edeus, claimed that lenders that used premium numbers could get some of the money from the call charges, so it was in their interest to keep them hanging on. He also claimed that most lenders had alternative numbers, which borrowers and brokers could use, but refused to market them and give up the extra money they made through their intentionally slow service.
Paul Chapman, head of sales at Halifax Intermediaries, said: “We've got some great products in the market at the moment. We have been experiencing very high demand, but the vast majority of our applications are still being offered within 14 days.
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“One thing we have noticed is that we are receiving a lot of calls from brokers trying to find out if their applications have been received. I’d like to reassure brokers that, if you get a roll number, then your application has been received. We also publish a service level update on our website to keep brokers informed of any issues.”
