Hi tt lady, I have already started hassling my broker - told him I would ring him everyday for an update. Seems to have sparked him into hassling Abbey in return. My application is now with the underwriter who should be finished with it by tomorrow, a manager at Abbey has promised to personally pass it through to the department responsible for organising the surveyor. I will keep ringing broker daily now to make sure nothing slips.

Hi Sparky - In my case all the required paperwork was provided at the time of the application - I could hardly provide an August payslip at the beginning of August - I hadn't been paid for the month at that point! Also I have already started the legal process I actually went to the solicitors last week.

Thanks to all for the advice.

Good luck bmonkey - hope everything goes OK.

tt lady:

This is where a good broker should earn their money. Keep ringing them for progress reports which should prompt them to keep hassling Abbey.

If you're confident of getting the loan in the end you could at least get the legal process going which should give the vendor some confidence.

Will keep hassling the broker!

We have started the legal process, could be that it just feels that everything is taking forever! My first house purchase so very impatient.

Should point out in my case application was in my name only then added wife at abbey's request (as she was paying deposit), then drip drip information requests from abbey for her statements, payslips etc..., which undoubtedly slowed things down.

I would add that a good 'broker' would have told you in advance that you would need to provide per person applying:

3 to 6 months payslips

3 to 6 months bank statements

Photographic Identification (Passport etc)

Proof of address (utility bill etc)

Proof of depost (not always required)

Payment for the application and any other fees (valuation etc) not being added to the mortgage.

Details of your solicitor / conveyancer

Full property and agent details (completed on the application form).

As Huckster has said get a complaint raised if you need some traction. You should advise your broker that you are doing this.

HTH

Sparky.

This is where a good broker should earn their money. Keep ringing them for progress reports which should prompt them to keep hassling Abbey.

If you're confident of getting the loan in the end you could at least get the legal process going which should give the vendor some confidence.

bmunky:Just wanted to add my tuppence worth and say I applied for my mortgage through the abbey on 25th August and haven't had my offer yet. Got an agreement in principle before applied fully on 25th. They keep asking for more info, but bit by bit, first payslips, then bank statements, then evidence of my deposit etc.... which going through broker is taking even longer. 4 weeks after making an offer on the house feels like nothing has moved. Again, estate agent of our vendor is getting restless.

My experience of the Abbey is that if you want to get anywhere, you have to make a fuss, by making a complaint. You will find that someone more senior will take over and give your application personal attention. If you don't complain, your application will sit with hundreds of others, be picked up by a different person each time, who will ask for another piece of information.

Don't forget companies under FSA rules have to report the complaints statistics to the senior managers of the company and to the FSA if reportable issues found, so the more people who complain the better for customers who use Abbey in the future.

Huckster

Just wanted to add my tuppence worth and say I applied for my mortgage through the abbey on 25th August and haven't had my offer yet. Got an agreement in principle before applied fully on 25th. They keep asking for more info, but bit by bit, first payslips, then bank statements, then evidence of my deposit etc.... which going through broker is taking even longer. 4 weeks after making an offer on the house feels like nothing has moved. Again, estate agent of our vendor is getting restless.

Graeme Delap:

Hi buzzybee,

I've been speaking to Abbey about your post and frustration. Could you drop me a line at the email address below and I'll see if we can put you in touch with the right person to talk to get your issue resolved.

Hope that helps,
g

Hi, would it be possible for you to review my problems below and advise if there is anything that can be done.

I am extremely concerned as if the original poster's daughter applied for her mortgage on 16th June and has only had it approved in the last few days, then I stand very little chance of getting mine any time soon.

I applied for my mortgage with Abbey National on 6th August, and as yet they still havent carried out the property valuation (6 weeks later!). Quite naturally the vendor is now getting extremely nervous.

At the end of last week I was promised that it would be carried out this week, but on checking with the vendor's Estate Agent they have still not been contacted to arrange the valuation viewing.

On referring back to my broker the Abbey had today said that they won't carry out the valuation without a copy of my August payslip (despite having 3 months at time of application) due to the fact that so much time had passed between my application and today! As I didn't have it on me at the time I have provided them with a letter from my employer stating my annual salary, employment status etc. I will forward the required payslip tomorrow.

I am being advised by the broker that this scenario is fairly typical of Abbey National and that their service levels are extremely poor at the moment. They will ask for something - then it'll spend 2 days being processed - then another 2 days at the desk of someone who will then come back and as for something else. And so the merry-go-round continues - eating in to time and patience. And to add insult to injury they are charging over £1K application fee for this woeful customer service.

I am currently in rented accommodation and have to give one months notice on 24th of the month, and if I miss the September deadline the earliest I can leave without incurring wasted rent will be 24th November. The property I am purchasing currently has a tenant who has notice to leave on 10th October - so my vendor will then have any empty property for 6 weeks.

I really need to know where I stand with the whole process and when things are likely to happen, I'm relatively lucky in that I'm not in a chain - it must be a complete nightmare for anyone in a chain.

I'd be grateful if you would let me know if there is anything at all that can be done to cut through all this nonsense and speed up the process.

Thanks for reading.

I had a similar problem with Abbey two years ago and our purchase fell through because. We were in fact lucky, in view of the ensuing crash, but it didnt feel like it at the time. I wrote to the Abbey employee who had handled my mortgage application, explaining politely and reasonably the distress I felt ...... no response.

Frustrating.

Thank you for your response. At long last it is looking as if the mortgage is going to be approved tomorrow, if it is, things should be ok as the vendor has given my daughter a deadline of Tuesday morning. So we have everything crossed at the moment that tomorrow will bring good news.

If things look like they are going wrong, is it ok to get back in touch with you for some further advice.

Once again, thanks for your help.

Hi buzzybee,

I've been speaking to Abbey about your post and frustration. Could you drop me a line at the email address below and I'll see if we can put you in touch with the right person to talk to get your issue resolved.

Hope that helps,
g

buzzybee:

I have seen other posts to this site, where delays have been experienced with Abbey. This may be down to the Mortgage centre being careful with the lending, in the current climate. Your daughters broker should chase this up and find out the present position. If they are not being helpful, your daughter should speak to the brokers manager about this.

Unfortunately she is in the hands of Abbey and they could still find a reason to reject mortgage. In this circumstance there is not much your daughter could do but to appeal the decision to Abbey Head of Mortgages or the unit manager. Then if they still will not budge, a complaint could be made using Abbeys complaint process, followed by reference to the FOS about the delays and the cost to your daughter. In the meantime your daughter would be faced with having to find another mortgage and then might lose the house to another buyer. The seller would no doubt put the house back on the market, if your daughter had to pull out if Abbey declined.

Huckster

Can anyone help or advise please we are desperate.

On June 16th my daughter had an offer accepted on her first property having already hade a mortgage in principal agreed.

Unfortunately and heartbreakingly it is looking as if she is going to loose the property because Abbey national are taking such a long time. Even though she gave them all the evidence they wanted at the begining of the application as the weeks have gone by they have wanted other info and then it seems to take another week for them to look at the most recent info you have given them and then they want something else and another week goes past. As she has gone through a broker the abbey will not speak to her direct and unfortunately i feel her broker who is from a large national company has not done their job and chased them.

Has anyone else had trouble getting an abbey mortgage or has anyone got any advice to try and salvage this situation so that my daughter can purchase her dream property. Should the worst happen, are we able to seek compensation for the worry and stress that she is going through and the fact that she will not be able to purchase another similiar property as the one she has chosen is definately unique to our area.

Any help or advice would be gratefully received.