Results from the online mortgage company’s survey into lender service levels show borrowers believe the extent to which they are kept informed about applications is the weakest part of the mortgage process.
It received a 67.6 per cent satisfaction score from borrowers – the lowest out of 16 service measurements rated by mform.co.uk’s research. A total of 4,275 GB borrowers were surveyed by research company YouGov and the results are being used on mform.co.uk’s website to enable borrowers to measure lenders on service levels.
The average satisfaction score across the 16 mortgage service criteria selected was 73.2 per cent. The highest satisfaction score was achieved on the extent to which funds cleared on time which was 80.25 per cent. UK mortgage lending hit an all-time high in January 2007 of £26.8 billion, Council of Mortgage Lenders’ figures show.
Francis Ghiloni, marketing and business development director at mform.co.uk, said: “Service levels are generally good in the mortgage industry and lenders are to be congratulated on the work they have done to make the application process as smooth as possible.
“However, inevitably some customers are unhappy with the service they receive and lenders will want to address these issues. It appears customers are most unhappy about the extent to which they are kept informed on their application.
“Service is a vital part of the mortgage application process. A market-leading rate is devalued if customers struggle to make applications or become frustrated during the application process.
“We are committed to monitoring how customers feel they are being treated because we believe it will ensure customers and lenders are better informed. Lenders should be able to compete on how good their service is as well as on how low their rates are.”
The data below shows the mean satisfaction scores on the 16 criteria mform.co.uk surveyed customers on.
CRITERIA / MEAN SATISFACTION SCORE
Extent to which you were kept informed regarding your application / 67.6 per cent
Extent to which you got through to someone without the phone lines being engaged / 69.63 per cent
Extent to which everything proceeded first time / 70.75 per cent
How quickly and efficiently application was handled / 70.99 per cent
Extent to which application progress updates were accurate / 71.11 per cent
Extent to which you were not asked repeatedly for information / 71.18 per cent
Lender availability when you needed information / 72.55 per cent
Service availability at the expected time / 73.11 per cent
How easily understandable the mortgage documentation was / 73.13 per cent
Extent to which any technical language was clearly explained / 73.46 per cent
Extent to which information you required was readily available / 73.93 per cent
Accuracy of information you received / 75.02 per cent
Extent to which there were no nasty surprises with you not understanding the documentation / 75.08 per cent
Speed with which funds were made available to you / 76.48 per cent
Speed with which funds were made available to you at the expected time / 77.58 per cent
Extent to which the funds cleared on time / 80.25 per cent
