Alan Lakey, senior partner at Highclere Financial Services, was left baffled as to what deal was on offer after he was informed the Woolwich had withdrawn its self-cert range, a statement later retracted by the lender.
“I was told by two people at the Woolwich that it was no longer offering a self-cert product range. However, when I rang a third time I was told by someone else that it did – and that the two people who had originally given me wrong information about self-cert were new to the team.
“Surely it shouldn’t be telling me what products are and are not available if it doesn’t fully know itself. The only thing left to do was to find an alternative to the Woolwich’s non-existent self-cert.”
Lakey went on to add: “It looks like it’s the same scenario at Halifax as its self-cert range has been renamed the ‘fast-track option’. It’s all a little bit complicated as all the names keep changing.”
Ellie Waters, public relations manager at the Woolwich, confirmed its self-cert range no longer existed. She said: “Woolwich no longer offers self-cert mortgages. We do however offer a fast-track service on loans under 75 per cent LTV up to £500,000.”
Waters added: “Fast-track effectively reduces the amount of documentation we require from a customer; we don’t require documents to prove income, however we do confirm affordability, and credit scoring takes place, as per our standard lending policy.”
