MIAS said BM Solutions is showing a ‘lack of sensitivity’ on how valuations are performed in Scotland. The specialist lender is insisting that all valuations are to be instructed by Colleys, the west-Yorkshire based surveyors used by the HBoS Group.
As remortgage valuations tend to be carried out before the case is put to the lender in Scotland, MIAS explained that its members’ clients are effectively having to pay for two valuations due to BM Solutions deeming the original to be unacceptable.
The trade body has also criticised the lender for not accepting transcribes whereby Colleys would charge a fee of around £55 to have the valuation moved across from a Scottish surveyor, thereby saving the brokers’ client from having to pay out around £200 for the valuation to be done from scratch. Transcribes are accepted by HBoS Group’s other lenders including Bank of Scotland and Intelligent Finance.
Colin McCallum, chief executive at MIAS, said: “One of our members recently put four buy-to-let cases to BM Solutions and was told that the valuations would not be acceptable. This is unfortunate and narrow-sighted. The client would have had to pay £880 for the valuations to be done through Colleys.
Although our members would not be happy to pay a transcript fee at least this would be a step in the right direction.
“This policy is not good for our members or BM Solutions as it has, and will, lose business this way.”
Matt Grayson, public relations manager at BM Solutions, said: “The valuation is often the only opportunity for the lender to see the property. This is an important part of our overall lending decision. But brokers are well within their rights to go out and get comparable valuations.”
MIAS said it will continue to push for BM Solutions to change its policy and accept Scottish valuations in the future.
