Is my Financial Advisor useless or am I being too harsh?

Retikulan · 20 Jan 2018 at 15:57

I thought I'd ask the people of OCUK there advice about mortgages and Financial Advisors as both my wife and I have little experience of them.
A bit of background is required first though. We are trying to get our first mortgage and have enlisted the help of an Independent Financial Advisor to find us the best mortgage deal and get the process moving. Now we supplied all the relevant information to the Advisor on the 4th of December and he stated that this would now get the Mortgage process started and he'd keep us informed of the progress.

Since then though he's not kept us informed at all, no phone calls, no emails, no mortgage decision in principal, nothing at all.He never keeps us updated, it's us that have to phone him for any updates and even then it's usually straight to voicemail whereupon he finally phones back 3 or 4 days later with the only information being "he's working on it".

On the 20th December we managed to get hold of him and he said he had not had time do much as it was the festive period and he would start again after the new year. On January 15th we managed to get hold of him and his latest excuse was that it's his wedding anniversary and he'd call us back to organise an appointment for Friday the 19th of January. Well that time has passed and (surprise surprise) no phone call and no appointment.

Surely this is not the norm for getting a mortgage arranged by a Financial Advisor?

Destination · 20 Jan 2018 at 16:00

Have you paid this person?
If not, tell him to forget about it, and find another.

-edit, seven weeks to arrange a mortgage is utterly insane, he should have a good idea of what is on offer to you with a couple of days, then provide you the paperwork to fill out to get a mortgage in principle, then you go find your purchase, then the actual wait starts when you buy the thing and have to await all the legal processes before it is yours.

cainer · 20 Jan 2018 at 16:01

Destination said:
Have you paid this person?
If not, tell him to forget about it, and find another.

i was just going to say do you owe him any money? if so dont pay it, and have you paid him any money? if so try to get it back!

Narj · 20 Jan 2018 at 16:03

Call London & Country tbh. They've been great for me in the past and won't cost you a penny.

I'm not affiliated with them in any way, just pleased with the service I got from them.

edscdk · 20 Jan 2018 at 16:06

Id never trust one, I bet they suggest a 2 or 3 year fixed rate.. so in 2 or 3 years you go back to them for more advice..

Jim99 · 20 Jan 2018 at 16:09

No, that's ridiculous.

My broker paid me ~£400 for doing my mortgage and was available at least 12 hours a day Mon-Sat by phone and was incredibly responsive.

dowie · 20 Jan 2018 at 16:12

He's useless, that isn't reasonable at all. If you want mortgage advice you can spend a bit of time talking to one on the phone(doesn't usually take long to schedule the call, call itself takes a bit longer these days due to tighter regs) and then get a recommendation from them then and there and/or an e-mail with a few recommendations.

Generally it is a good idea to check HSBC/First Direct too - they're often (or were) competitive and IFAs/mortgage brokers didn't used to cover them (dunno if this has changed).

Also, for a mortgage, unless you've got some special circumstances that perhaps could do with specific market knowledge re: which banks are more likely to approve contractors etc... then you might as well just check the comparison sites.

Ross1234 · 20 Jan 2018 at 16:12

Mine had my application submitted and survey booked in 2 days!

rodenal · 20 Jan 2018 at 16:13

It's not normal

Don't pay anything or if you have try and get it back.

Also as above unless there is something really unique about your circumstances you can likely figure out the best deal for yourself. Rates through mainstream lenders are generally very competitive now. We are with nationwide who have always been fantastic and hassle free tbh

In terms of application process our first mortgage application was sorted within a week. Over a month without contact or any requests for data is a nonsense

NewGamer11 · 20 Jan 2018 at 16:13

Are your circumstances particularly complicated? If not get on some price comparison websites and organise things yourself.

EDIT - dowie gazumped me

Roar87 · 20 Jan 2018 at 16:19

If you think your service is unacceptable then tell him to do one, you don't need anyone's permission.

VincentHanna · 20 Jan 2018 at 16:22

Incidentally, I know two 'Financial arvisors' and both went bankrupt.

BYTEr · 20 Jan 2018 at 17:03

Useless, tell him to forget it.

We got our first mortgage a few months ago, our financial advisor came round our house one evening to take all our financial information and within 24 hours came back to us with all the options and then came back to our house a few days later to explain everything in person, getting the mortgage in principle was relatively quick and stress free tbh.

Retikulan · 20 Jan 2018 at 18:54

Thanks for all the replies Guys, it's confirming what I already suspected. Just been on the phone with my brother and his advice echoes all the advice given here. And no, this guy has NOT been paid for his services, nor is he going to be.
It's infuriating as there's been around 4 properties that we were interested in all of which are now gone. And we're now back at square one with our mortgage process :mad:

Slam62 · 20 Jan 2018 at 19:11

Why do you need an advisor at all, can you do simple maths, presumably you know what you're paid etc, I would do my own research online. Probably apply online as well.

wesimmo · 20 Jan 2018 at 19:30

I used to be a mortgage advisor back in the 90s and even then I could have searched my panel of lenders and found best product for you in hours after the initial meeting to discuss your situation.

I just went to HSBC when I bought 6 months ago as I've banked with them for years and they do decent products if you're a premier account holder. But if I was to go through an advisor I'd not be paying a penny, they normally get paid an introducer fee, and want to know what panel of lenders they use.

BDEE · 20 Jan 2018 at 20:30

If they really are an IFA then that is the mistake you made.

IFAs (Proper ones who do investments and pensions) are not interested in mortgages as they make them very little money compared to investment and pension business. A lot are actually terrible at mortgage advice because they hardly ever do it and a lot employ individuals in the firm to specifically do the mortgage business. What you need is a mortgage broker / advisor (whole of market), not an IFA.

Rroff · 20 Jan 2018 at 20:43

BDEE said:
If they really are an IFA then that is the mistake you made.

IFAs (Proper ones who do investments and pensions) are not interested in mortgages as they make them very little money compared to investment and pension business. A lot are actually terrible at mortgage advice because they hardly ever do it and a lot employ individuals in the firm to specifically do the mortgage business. What you need is a mortgage broker / advisor (whole of market), not an IFA.

Dunno how common it is but I know someone who owns a financial planning company (proper IFA) and they only do mortgages for existing clients, friends and family - they won't do it for a private individual who isn't already a client with them for investments, savings/pension or inheritance.