For brokers, the underwriting department is where the fate of a mortgage application is decided, with the underwriter acting as the gatekeeper for approval.
As a large number of borrowers have gotten rid of historically low fixed-rate mortgages over the past year, lenders’ underwriting teams have been busy.
For real estate agents, the difference between a smooth process and a frustrating one often comes down to getting the basics right. A flexible, common-sense approach to underwriting, with clear communication and access to underwriters, is what brokers desire – not slow response times, repetitive requests for information and inflexible decision-making.
The lenders that have achieved Top Rated or Rated status for underwriting and case processing have proven that they can handle the pressure and deliver the reliable service and systems that brokers need.
Interestingly, mainstream lenders have seen their lowest scores in underwriting and file processing, which could be due to brokers’ frustrations with slower systems or the affordability issues some borrowers face.
Nearly all mainstream lenders with the highest service ratings have received the same award overall for their underwriting and file processing. In the Rated tier, three lenders are commended despite not achieving Rated status overall: Family Building Society, Nottingham Building Society and Precise Mortgages.
Specialist lenders’ underwriting and case processing scores are also lower compared to some other service areas, which may reflect the complexity of the cases and the challenges in meeting broker expectations.
On the plus side, Metro Bank has the distinction of being the only lender outside of the general Top Rated and Rated groups to achieve Rated status in this category.
Underwriting and processing of files also posed challenges for some buy-to-let lenders last year.
Notably, two building societies – Newcastle and Principality – have achieved Rated for Service status in this category, perhaps indicating that brokers appreciate the hands-on approach that some building societies can take to complex matters.
All Rated for Service data can be accessed through the dashboard. To access the ranking data for each rating area, simply select the Ranking button for the lender category of your choice. You can then reorder the data based on the ranking for each rating area to determine the best/worst performing lender.
Factor analysis is also available for each lender category to enable benchmarking of a panel of lenders against the average score for each rating area. This can be filtered by broker type and caseload, providing tailored benchmarks for individual brokers (up to five lenders).
View the full dashboard below: