Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

Accord Mortgages

32 replies

autumnleaves15 · 30/04/2019 06:23

Does anyone have any recent experiences using Accord for a mortgage? (I heard they used to be a nightmare but are quite flexible now).

We're first time buyers, 25% deposit and looking to borrow £77k. My other half has discovered a £120 default from just over 4 years ago. He's happy to pay this but we can't afford to wait 6 weeks for the credit file to update or we'll lose the flat we're buying. We were advised to wait if applying with Nationwide but have been told we can just go for it with Accord.

My credit is really good. My only potential downfall is that I didn't update the address on all of my accounts at the same time and some of them were only done 6 months ago. They might wonder why it wasn't done sooner.

Affordability should be fine as we're going to be paying £350-£400 less each month switching from renting to the recommended mortgage. We'll continue to save but not as much as we have been trying to get our deposit together so that'll save us another £200 per month.

So yeah, anyone else applied with them recently and had their application approved in spite of some adverse circumstances?

OP posts:
CoxwellHuge · 30/04/2019 07:17

Just for info, if he has a default even if he pays it now, doesn't mean it will be removed from the credit file in 6 weeks. During my divorce I couldn't afford to pay my credit card bill, not even the minimum payment so entered an agreement with the company to pay £50 a month and they would freeze the interest until I received the divorce settlement. That counted as a default and even though I paid the debt in full when I received the settlement it is still on my file and will be for 6 years.

Original poster
autumnleaves15 · 30/04/2019 07:36

Our mortgage broker said it might help to pay it but it won't update for that amount of time. I'm sorry to hear that happened to you. Hopefully not too long until it comes off your file.

OP posts:
margotsdevil · 30/04/2019 12:28

Once it's a default it's there for 6 years whether you clear it or not! Not convinced that paying it will make a difference - I had similar (£150 total) which I cleared but it still showed for another 2 years even though it said paid against it.

Original poster
autumnleaves15 · 30/04/2019 13:11

Did you still get a mortgage in spite of it though?

The rest of his credit score is completely clean and it would be really disappointing for this relatively small oversight to affect us in such a big way.

OP posts:
TheChineseChicken · 30/04/2019 16:20

We are with them and have had no problems. Easy process and good customer service

TheChineseChicken · 30/04/2019 16:21

Sorry but cant comment on adverse circumstance

margotsdevil · 30/04/2019 20:09

I did but with a company called Aldermore. Not a great interest rate though!

LBOCS2 · 30/04/2019 20:28

We have two mortgages with them. They're a pain to deal with - almost laughably incompetent and glacially slow, plus they do everything via post - but they have good rates, and once it's sorted the information they give is accurate. We're happy enough that our latest mortgage is through them too!

InspectorClouseauMNdivision · 01/05/2019 11:55

I am with them. Just over 2 years and never had any issue. And I've just sorted new fix on their website within minutes. No faff, no ectra paperwork, nothing. Just couple of clicks. Can't really fault them and the interest is about the same as from others.

Original poster
autumnleaves15 · 01/05/2019 13:15

Lots of opinions which is great! Hoping ours goes through quickly as we're keen to get on with the process as soon as possible!

OP posts:
Sammy867 · 01/05/2019 13:21

We are with them and changing to Halifax. Our broker says Halifax are more lenient than accord and it’s the same rate but fee free

tipsytrainee46 · 01/05/2019 13:39

We used Accord mortgages for buying our current property. They were the only provider who would touch us because I was on a fixed term contract at the time. They were great through the whole process and had no issues with them at all. Can't complain :)

ShopoholicIn · 01/05/2019 14:24

We have been with Accord for last 4 years now no problems so far

NoBaggyPants · 01/05/2019 14:39

What APR have they offered and over what fixed term?

Original poster
autumnleaves15 · 01/05/2019 19:06

I wasn't aware Halifax were considered lenient so I'll bear that in mind incase we encounter any difficulties!

It's a 2 year fixed rate at 2.6% with £1000 cashback.

OP posts:
Sammy867 · 01/05/2019 19:41

That’s quite high. We are currently remortgaging for £130,000 at 75% LTV and have got a 2.09% with no fees for 5 years through a broker (free). I’m on probation with a new job on a 1 year fixed contract after being self employed the last 10 years and Halifax were fine with it. Don’t accord have £1000 fees so the cash back basically means it’s fee free?

InspectorClouseauMNdivision · 01/05/2019 20:15

2.32 on 80%ltv and 5 year fix. Wanted longer since god knows if Brexit hits🤷‍♀️

InspectorClouseauMNdivision · 01/05/2019 20:45

Oh. It's 85% ltv. They didn't do 80% for existing customers🙄 My only complaint

Original poster
autumnleaves15 · 01/05/2019 23:03

It's 75% LTV and fees are very very small. We'd have preferred a longer fix to be fair.

We're taking our broker's advice as we want the mortgage to go ahead without any issues because we don't want to miss out on our dream place.

Both in permanent jobs but the minor issues above in my original post might impact us. Fingers crossed!

Thanks for all the responses. It's interesting to hear all of the different scenarios.

OP posts:
Original poster
autumnleaves15 · 03/05/2019 13:28

I am very confused now! Update:

So our mortgage broker originally suggested Nationwide. When we found the default on my partner's account he said they're too picky so we should go with Accord who are more lenient (hence my thread).

Our broker is an online based, free one who claims his commission via the lender.Not for everyone but they are available 12 hours per day and it suits our needs.

So last night he messaged to say he was passing our details over to a Case Manager today by close of play and heard nothing else until noon today when we got an email confirming an application is in hand with Nationwide. We thought it was with Accord?! Now we're quite worried and no one has replied to us for over an hour.

Although, one positive is that we got an AIP sent from Nationwide and their are credit search based so we're hoping the default won't be too much of an issue!

OP posts:
thetigerthatcamefortea · 03/05/2019 15:07

My understanding is that Accord are very good IF you are squeaky clean. I didn’t think they had a tolerance for any thing. But I’m not an expert.
Aldermore are probably the best bet in terms of certainty followed by Precise (But with Precise it will certainly be a higher interest rate)
Halifax are generally one of the best high street lenders at the moment.

feduuup · 03/05/2019 15:14

I just wanted to say I would shop around a bit in terms of interest rate, 2.6% is not great for the deposit you have, we have 1.99% fixed for longer and with less equity than you have! (85%LTV). Try NatWest, they seem quite lenient, well they're happier to lend much more money than other banks I've seen so would take it they're less risk averse (although their rates aren't brilliant).

Original poster
autumnleaves15 · 03/05/2019 16:04

The Nationwide one our broker has applied for is. 2% rate on a 5 year fix with £500 cashback. Better deal than Accord. Hopefully they can see past the 4 year old default on a Sky account and we can get the mortgage approved!

OP posts:
feduuup · 03/05/2019 16:40

It's worth a try! Good luck! (It's Nationwide we got our deal with too, they seem to be very competitive atm).

Isohungy · 03/05/2019 17:20

This has made me a bit ansy! We are going through accord due to being SE and only having 2 years accounts... they've sent someones out to value but keep requesting more and more stuff!