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Mark Beynon

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Review of the Hinckley & Rugby Building Society, Mortgages:

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Friendly staff, painful systems and processes

Rarely leave negative feedback on sites, as I appreciate that most people are trying to do the best they can, often in situations where they are under resourced. However, renewing our mortgage through H&R was hands down the most torturous process I have ever experienced, so felt compelled to say something. As existing customers, who previously had a positive experience with the Building Society, we made the mistake of thinking that changing our mortgage deal (to better reflect our circumstances 4 years down the line) and requesting a small mortgage extension (£10k) would be reasonably straightforward. How wrong we were. We even explained to the staff at the beginning of the process that we wouldn't bother with the extra borrowing, if it were likely to complicate or slow the process. With interest rates rising and cost of living crisis looming, we basically just wanted to make sure that we were on their most competitive deal. Regardless, we were assured it would be relatively straigtforward and decided to push on with the process. What followed was the most protracted, confusing, inefficient and sometimes farcical application process I have ever experienced. Endless hours of discussing hypthetical scenarios over the phone with different advisors, having to provide all information and documentation as if we had just walked in off the street (as opposed to being existing mortgage holders), being asked to provide the same information repeatedly, being bumped from one person to the next with no advance notice, etc, etc. There was even a laughable situation where H&R wouldn't accept their own paper bank statements as evidence that we lived in the property, that we had mortgaged through H&R. They then asked us for evidence of savings, which again were held at H&R! There didn't seem to be anyone in control of the process, with little thought given to continuity of contact for customers. To be honest, it got to a stage where I would happily have walked away and taken our business elsewhere. I appreciate that companies have a clear duty to ensure that their mortgages are affordable for customers, but the level of scrutiny applied here felt massively disproportionate to the ask. We also made the mistake of mentioning that we were expectig a baby, which then sparked a further rounds of questions on how we were going to pay our way during my wifes' short maternity period. You could honestly have sworn this was the first time that the Building Society had experienced a customer having a child, as they made us feel that this was some sort of irresponsable financial risk, rather than it being a happy and normal life event. Again, I appreciate that all customers have to be treated the same, but we are a couple in our late 40s, who lucky enough to be financially secure, have significant equity in our property, and were asking for a mortgage that was 12k less than we originally borrowed when we first came to H&R (loan to value of approx 23%). The payments for the new mortgage were to be less than what were already paying. Why then were we subjected to months of painful, repetitve questioning around hypothetical scenarios, and why was seemingly no credit given to the fact that we'd been solid, reliable customers of H&R for 4 years. I dread to think how customers experiencing any degree of financial challenge would be made to feel. On a more positive note, the staff that we dealt with were friendly and helpful. It felt as if many of the staff were new to the company, and were trying to make sense of outdated, clunky processes. I felt sorry for the staff to be honest. Deadlines were repeatedly missed, and we found ourselves having to chase a completion of the process as my wife went into labour. We now have our mortgage in place on a 2 year deal, but it is hard to see how we would ever put ourselves through that process again with H&R. The Society made us feel like we were doing something wrong, that we somehow represented a risk, and that H&R didn't really want our business. People deserve better. Reviewed on: 25th August 2022

Reply from Hinckley & Rugby Building Society We are very sorry to hear how disappointed you were with our service. We strive to offer the highest standards possible and are sorry that we did not do this on this occasion. We are investigating the circumstances and will be in touch very soon. Response date: 30th August 2022

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