A surge in remortgage instructions received during the last quarter of the 2016 has resulted in extended processing times of cases, phones ringing out for an hour and documents being misplaced after receipt, leading to delays in client completions.
Mortgage intermediaries told Mortgage Solutions there are concerns over the time Conveyancing Direct has taken to complete transactions in December, which could lead to borrowers paying higher rates of interest if their mortgage deals expire and they move on to the lender’s Standard Variable Rate.
Andrew Hiesley, managing director, Conveyancing Direct, said from today, cases received had been allocated case handlers and are being moved on towards the borrower’s completion date.
He added: “The volume of calls into our main number rose by 400% and, regrettably, we were unable to answer those within our usual service standard of 15 seconds.
“We have liaised with the lenders throughout this period in order to fully communicate the issues and agree measures to recover our position quickly. This has included diverting resource from other areas of the business to progress the existing pipeline as well as external recruitment to bolster capacity and ensure a relapse cannot occur.”
Both Nationwide and Skipton said they were aware of the delays to case completions submitted to Conveyancing Direct and have taken steps to help brokers and their clients.
Nationwide has stopped sending new cases to Conveyancing Direct while it struggles with its service standards. A spokeswoman said the majority of the society’s applicants were proceeding towards their preferred completion date.
A spokeswoman for Skipton said the society was sorry that the service issue was having an impact on its customers. She said: “To support our broker partners affected by this issue, we have worked with Conveyancing Direct and have proactively attempted to contact the broker, providing them with a direct contact number and email address of the case officer handling their client’s application. We are also reassuring them that no Skipton customer will suffer any financial detriment caused by these delays.”
Conveyancing Direct said it had sought to resolve issues with individual borrowers as they arisen. If any complaints have not been responded to, brokers should email enquiries@cdpll.co.uk including the word “complaint” and the case reference.
