Customer service letting lenders down
Over 2.2 million borrowers in the UK say that they are unhappy with the customer service of their mortgage company, according to checkmyfile.This sees an increase of over 20 per cent in dissatisfied customers since last year, when 58 per cent of borrowers said the customer service provided by their mortgage company was actually either "very good" or excellent".A survey this year showed that poor customer service was the leading reason that people gave for "never recommending a lender to a friend" with 54 per cent of people saying this.The cost and fees of a lender or the complexity of setting up the mortgage fell well behind customer service in terms of customer dissatisfaction. Barry Stamp, joint managing director of checkmyfile, commented: "With interest rates having been very low for a number of years - and with mortgage arrears and repossessions still at very low levels - it is highly probable that customer satisfaction levels with mortgage lenders are over-inflated."Most mortgage customers will have had very little contact with their lender other than to receive their account statements. But as interest rates and the cost of living start to bite and as we see the gradual upward trend in repossessions gaining momentum, more mortgage customers will come into contact with their lender. Our survey results show that some will find their mortgage lender far less understanding than may be expected."
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