People become less satisfied with the mortgage application process the further they get along it, new research from YouGov suggests.
The “Mortgages: The Customer Experience” report shows that only around one-third (34%) of mortgage holders express satisfaction with the application stage, with two-thirds (66%) rating it poorly. Even fewer are satisfied with the financial stage (under one in five applicants; 18%) with 51% are less than satisfied (they do not rate most aspects of the financial stage as good or very good).
YouGov’s research suggests that it doesn’t necessarily get any better by the time their application has been approved. The data suggests that only 14% of mortgage holders are satisfied with their providers after they have become customers.
The report found that the aspects of the application stage rated the highest are filling out the application (45% rate it good/very good) and the time it took to get the final decision (43%). The areas of the process rated lowest are getting supporting documentation certified (17% rate it good/very good), providing information to the solicitor, and getting help from the provider (both 20%).
When it came to areas of the financial stage that mortgage holders are happiest with, setting up the monthly mortgage repayments came top (59% rate it good/very good), followed by the ease of transferring funds to the solicitor/into the applicant’s account (44%). The lowest ranking parts of the process are the welcome pack from the provider outlining the new mortgage (33%) and the responsiveness of the provider in dealing with any queries (32%).
For those with mortgages, the areas of service with the best ratings are the provider being friendly (37%) and their overall treatment as a customer (36%). However, it seems that many feel let down by the levels of service and attentiveness offered by their lenders. Only one in seven (15%) feels their provider is good/very good at listening to their problems and just one in eight (12%) say they are never disappointed by their lender.
Tom Rees, UK Research Manager at YouGov, says: “The bad news for providers is that most people dislike most parts of getting a mortgage. The good news is that customers are pretty clear about what can be done to make the experience a happier one. For example, providers would improve perceptions of the application stage by giving applicants more personal control over the whole mortgage process. At the financial stage speeding up the decision-making process would prove popular. And once people have mortgages, lenders could improve things by increasing the level and quality of contact with their customers.”
