Report shows overall satisfaction levels for most mortgage applicants is low

June 2014

Report shows overall satisfaction levels for most mortgage applicants is low: According to a report by YouGov just 34% of mortgage holders are satisfied with the application stage of the mortgage buying process, with the other two thirds rating it poorly.

Findings suggest that satisfaction levels decrease as the application process progresses too, with less than one in five (18%) consumers saying they were happy with the financial stage and over half (51%) admitting they were dissatisfied.

Just 14% of the 2,199-strong sample said they were happy with their mortgage provider once they became customers, showing that feelings don’t improve once the application has been approved either.

Filling out the application earned the highest level of satisfaction (45%) in the application stage, with the time it took to get a financial decision rating second best (43%). Getting supporting documentation certified ranked lowest with just 17% of respondents rating it good or very good, with providing information to the solicitor and getting help from the provider scoring equally low (20%).

With a 59% satisfaction rating, setting up monthly mortgage repayments ranked top when it came to areas of the financial stage, followed by ease of transferring funds to the solicitor or applicant’s account (44%). Welcome packs from the provider outlining the new mortgage (33%) and responsiveness of the provider when dealing with queries (32%) were dubbed the two most dissatisfying areas.

When it came to people who already have mortgages and the service treatment they received, the areas with the best rating were friendly provider (37%) and overall treatment as a customer (36%). However, just one in seven (15%) mortgage owners agreed their provider was good/very good at listening to their problems and only one in eight (12%) admitted to never being disappointed by their lender.

Tom Rees, UK Research Manager at YouGov, said the findings show that most people “dislike” most parts of getting a mortgage, but that the good news is that customers are fairly clear on what can be done to improve the process.