Bank surveyors have terrible online reviews. What to do!

[ImAvingOops]

Hi all,
So, have had the mortgage offer and the provider is sending their surveyor to do the homebuyer report. Have paid extra to upgrade form basic survey to the level 2 one.
But we received the details of the surveyor today and their online reviews are scary reading - people saying they undervalued the property, didn't identify potential issues, rushed. So many people saying not to touch with a barge pole!
My question is why would a lender continue to use a company with so many complaints? Do we have a right to ask the lender to use a different surveyor? Esp in light of having paid to upgrade the report. If they cock up and we find a problem down the line because of it, what is our comeback?

God, house buying is stressful!
TIA if you can advise

Quite often it’s only dissatisfied people who write reviews. Lots more might be quite happy.

Is there a cooling off period for the upgrade you have paid for? Can you pull out? You might find you can. Maybe instruct someone else?

The Banks and mortgage lenders have contracts with surveyors. The cost of stopping a contract and starting again elsewhere is huge. They won’t do it. I would always get my own survey. The bank surveyors are working for the lending bank, not you. They look after their interests. The surveyors usually have a ball park figure regarding value and you might have an issue if you have agreed to pay above the going rate for the house. If it’s unique, they probably won’t have a clue so there’s flexibility.

The initial “survey” is a valuation. They are not looking for a bit of damp or a few tiles missing. It’s value. Is the mortgage company getting value for its money?

What does your level 2 require them to do? You must have a specification. Make sure they stick to it if you don’t get in another surveyor. You could also ask if the surveyors are sending someone qualified - RICS. A valuer doesn’t have to be because it’s not a detailed survey.

Thank you for this. Due to speak to surveyor early next week and run through what they will be doing, so will get a spec then. There are certain things I want them to check that I couldn't during the viewing.
The lender has already sprung on us that they insist on having our solicitor belong to their panel and that solicitor isn't cheaper but lender did offer a subsidised upgrade to the survey from basic to homebuyer. I'm not really too concerned about it being undervalued since the deposit means we aren't borrowing the full amount and judging by similar properties, this one seems fairly priced. More worried that they won't check everything and will rush it!
I will definitely ask that they are sending a qualified surveyor. Thanks again.

@ImAvingOops
Im not sure they can force to use their solicitor. You really need to check that. Are you absolutely sure? Is this just for the mortgage legalities or the whole purchase? It makes no sense to me and you must have your own solicitor to look after your interests. The lender’s solicitor won’t do that. It’s you as the owner who needs to be sure the property is everything you expect it to be legally and any issues explained to you.

The surveyor works for the bank that is lending the buyer the money. The bank want the property to be worth the money it is lending. The surveyor values the property, not under values

@TizerorFizz , this seemed weird to me too but I did check and it's a condition of the lender that the solicitor belongs to their panel. I did query whether this would cause any conflict of interest but advice was that lenders snd purchasers interest are aligned. My own solicitor wasn't surprised when I rang up to withdraw from them. I'd never heard of it before though.

@ProperVexed , I didn't see why a surveyor would under value but lots of the reviews said they did. Mostly I just want to be sure that they'll look at the property properly. The cost of upgrading to the bank surveyor for the homebuyer survey was about £200, which is obviously much cheaper than an independent surveyor.
Im not anticipating any real issues - property is 20ish years old, but I do want them to check loft space because I couldn't look during the viewing.

Just to say, solicitor is independent in that they don't work directly for the bank but are on a panel that the bank insists we choose from as a condition of getting the mortgage.

The panel is not unusual and there should be lots of choice. The solicitor should work for you exclusively.

Regarding valuations, it’s probably the case that people who have complained have possibly overpaid. Some people do. They might feel aggrieved, but that might not be representative of all customers.

It just seems they have so many complaints. I hope it is just disgruntled vendors whose buyers have offered too much!
I guess I will have to run through what I want them to specifically check and just see what comes up in the report. Thanks all, much appreciated

Most solicitor firms are on the main lender panels, so it doesn't matter what solicitor you choose. Just ask that solicitor whether they are on the panel for the lender you have chosen. It just means that the solicitor will be acting for both you and the lender during the transaction, which is completely normal. If the solicitor you choose is not on the lender's panel, the lender will choose their own solicitor to represent them, so there will be two solicitors acting in the transaction, so a lot of work is duplicated and you will be paying for the privilege.

Hsve gone with the solicitor who is on the panel. Lender isn't a high street bank so there wasn't a huge choice, but they do offer a nice perk of insurance so that if you get gazumped or something you get back up to £1k of your costs, which is handy.

A bit late for you, but I would never employ a lender's surveyor. Or the EA's surveyor either. I'd choose my own, and read reviews first. And I'd always use my own solicitor.

Yep, going through process at the moment- separate surveyors. Bank sent theirs for valuation, we appointed our own independently to check what we wanted checking.