Mike Fitzgerald, sales director at Brentchase Financial Services, said he had noticed several lenders had changed to 0870 numbers after ‘Mortgage Day’ – including Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and Chelsea Building Society.
He said: “Sometimes you can be waiting on the phone for about an hour. How much is the lender making out of that for these phone calls?
“And why has this suddenly occurred after ‘Mortgage Day?’ With all the call centres lenders have, they could still have lower-based phone rates.”
Fitzgerald added: “Another question is that there are lenders, including Bristol & West, Cheltenham & Gloucester and Halifax, who haven’t switched to these numbers, so why are some lenders doing it and not others?
“Where is the justification that some can do it while others don’t?”
Jeff Scott, head of intermediary mortgages at Abbey, admitted that it has switched from the 0845 local rate number to 0870 national rates but said the move would make its telephone service more efficient.
He said: “We had about two or three contact numbers which were causing confusion and concern and so we wanted to streamline this. The easiest way for us to do this was to go to an 0870 number.
“Ultimately, this will make our service more efficient so the length of calls will be decreased.”
But Roy New, a sole broker, who said he too has noticed this switch in phone numbers, said: “So, if we now only spend half an hour on the phone, it will cost us less?
“I don’t think so. I try not to call the 0870 numbers and will look for lenders that don’t use these numbers.
“Mortgage Express’ contact number is absolutely free – and it should be this way across the board. If I had to call one of the lenders that charged national rates, I’d try and get the underwriter’s number.”
