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Suffolk Building Society, formerly Ipswich Building Society: Mortgages reviews

4.66
Based on 106 reviews, last reviewed 23rd Jun 2025
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in the past 90 days
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Latest highest rating:

5

Excellent Experience I came direct without a broker and had an excellent experience with Suffolk. I found the deal myself and found it to be very compatible with what I wa... Read more Reviewed on: 23rd June 2025
Tom J's avatar
Tom J

Latest lowest rating:

1

Incompetent, frustrating and time-wasters Utterly incompetent. Took 2 months to event get our re-mortgage application processed (costing time, and money) and then every single thing we put was... Read more Reviewed on: 13th March 2025
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Clare R

About this product

Suffolk Building Society, formerly Ipswich Building Society Mortgages reviews (106)

Review of the Suffolk Building Society, formerly Ipswich Building Society, Mortgages:

Beware false promises from this lender!

1
We were pre-approved for a loan, which was a 35% loan to value purchase. With our large down payment and small loan we felt comfortable making an offer on a home we liked and expected a fairly simple closing process. Then we were told the parameters of our loan had changed despite already being pre-approved. We agreed to the change, though it put a bit of strain on us. Now, we believed we could proceed, but after foot dragging by the lender, once again they changed the terms, and once again we reluctantly found a way to make it work. And then, after all our capitulations, we found out that our loan was denied on a technicality we had never been made aware of. So we have a contract with no lending secured after weeks thinking that approval was already somewhat assured. We feel deceived and cheated out of precious time which might result in us losing our contract on our purchase and out the fees we incurred from this lender and our solicitors. Reviewed on: 12th August 2024
Reply from Suffolk Building Society, formerly Ipswich Building Society Hi Valerie, we are sorry that our services have not met your expectations. Please can you get in touch with us on [email protected] or 0330 123 0723 so we can discuss the matter further with you. Response date: 19th August 2024
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Suffolk Building Society, formerly Ipswich Building Society

Personal Service. Always able to talk to someone from Ipswich Building Society

5
We got a Buy To Let mortgage over 4 years ago. It was straightforward with support with the complexity of any mortgage dealt with by a dedicated member of staff at IBS from start to end. We would 100% use them again. Reviewed on: 26th January 2022

Easy and helpful

5
Really happy with the service we have recieved form Suffolk Building Society. Love the quick response times and the personal approach that we have had to date. The product was very competitive and the application process was far easier then other companies that we had reached out to. Reviewed on: 24th January 2022
Reply from Suffolk Building Society, formerly Ipswich Building Society That is so fantastic to hear! We really appreciate you taking the time to leave us this feedback. If you'd like to sign up to our newsletter we'd love to hear from you. The sign up form is at the bottom of this page. https://www.suffolkbuildingsociety.co.uk/members/ Response date: 24th January 2022
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Suffolk Building Society, formerly Ipswich Building Society

Fantastic service

5
A fantastic service where I can speak to a real knowledgeable person and can answer my queries in real time. Brilliant. Reviewed on: 17th January 2022
Reply from Suffolk Building Society, formerly Ipswich Building Society Thank you so much for taking the time to leave us a review. We're really delighted to hear such positive feedback about our service. Response date: 21st January 2022
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Suffolk Building Society, formerly Ipswich Building Society

Excellent personal service and rapid response

5
I phoned expecting to wait for ages to get an answer. Carly responded promptly and passed me on to the Admin Department. The information I needed was sent to me almost immediately and I am now able to resolve a pressing financial issue. Reviewed on: 30th November 2021

Very antiquated

2
The lender has some niche areas in terms of underwriting but their overall processes are very backward compare to the rest of the mortgage market. Ideally they will look beyond their own world and see what others are doing to help clients. Reviewed on: 19th November 2021
Reply from Suffolk Building Society, formerly Ipswich Building Society Thank you for taking the time to bring your concerns to our attention, I apologise that our services have not met your expectations and would be happy to discuss your comments in more detail if you would like to contact us directly. As part of our recent rebrand to Suffolk Building Society we have begun reviewing our existing processes and internal systems. We will take your feedback into consideration during this process, and anticipate the upcoming changes will provide a much better customer experience and more streamlined process for all involved. Response date: 3rd December 2021
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Suffolk Building Society, formerly Ipswich Building Society

Customer care

5
Found staff-especially Mr. Paul Blaking - very helpful and patient in our dealings. Reviewed on: 28th September 2021

Ipswich-so easy to do business with

5
I needed money to purchase a dream motorhome. Rang Ipswich, thinking this is going to be difficult, but they agreed in principal very quickly. Money arrived on time and what’s more so much cheaper than a bank! Thank you Ipswich ! Reviewed on: 17th September 2021

Lack of customer service

1
Unable to provide accurate information or clear updates. Chose as local but shall stick with a bigger mortgage provider. Reviewed on: 11th September 2021
Reply from Suffolk Building Society, formerly Ipswich Building Society Thank you for providing us with your feedback and we are sorry our usual high standards fell short for your mortgage enquiry. We are currently experiencing a high volume of enquiries and appointments, which, sadly, have clearly impacted our ability to give you the service we strive for. Your feedback is incredibly useful as it helps us to monitor our service standards and, having fallen short of expectations, we will review this and act accordingly. Thank you once again. Response date: 14th September 2021
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Suffolk Building Society, formerly Ipswich Building Society

Avoid at all costs!!

1
reviews IBS As it says on the title, avoid IBS! Having had a mortgage with the society for close to 5 years, they have outrageously high early repayment charges( much higher than any other lender). Poor customer service, no customer loyalty. Archaic in lending- no opportunity to speak with someone at any senior level, if you request a call back with senior management they will forward messages on. Highly judgemental organisation that needs to move to the 21st century. So pleased to have left them and have always advised family and friends to AVOID! Reviewed on: 16th August 2021
Reply from Suffolk Building Society, formerly Ipswich Building Society Thank you for your review of our mortgages. We are sorry to read you have been unhappy with our service and in particular our Early Repayment Charge. All of the fees and charges relating to our mortgages are displayed upfront and listed in the individual ESIS document, so we are sorry that you feel unhappy with those charged on redemption of your mortgage. In relation to your comment about being unable to speak with a member of our senior management team we apologise for not being able to meet this request – we will take this feedback on board and are committed to improving service standards for our members. Once again thank you for your feedback and we apologise we did not meet your expectations. Response date: 24th August 2021
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Suffolk Building Society, formerly Ipswich Building Society

Helpful, professional and a good mortgage deal

5
It is very easy to contact Ipswich Building society and to speak to an advisor. I received good advice and I am very happy with my mortgage. Everything was set up with the minimum of fuss. Reviewed on: 15th July 2021

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