Avoid this lender at all costs if you have a Limited Company

“Avoid this lender at all costs if you have a Limited...”

Written on: 24/10/2011 by truthaboutmoney (1 review written)

On paper the Halifax looked good for a 2 year fixed rate at 2.79% with the loan to value under 75%.
After applying direct to them that is when the trouble started. My partner and I each have our own firms - Limited Companies.
Halifax are only interested in what the HMRC form SA302 says for Ltd Co earnings (salary and dividends).
Their staff and underwriters do not understand business nor business accounts. They do not know differentiate between gross and net and deduct tax off the lot!!! Daft!
Any variance from straightforward explanations for earnings are dismissed as lies or simply not understood (my directors loan repayments of £2500 per month tax paid for 3 years ignored 100% for example!).

To arrive at earnings, Halifax wanted to take an average of 3 years SA302s - but then said they would use the most recent (worst) ones for 1 year only! We then hurried our CA to get new and very good SA302s fopr year just past and Halifax went back to the 3 year averaging to do us down again! We paid off £1600 0% interest debt as they told us to - then they offered us a pitance of just 2 x earnings as a mortgage.
Avoid avoid avoid HBOs/Halifax - at all costs. Your CA and even the Queen can write in with the truth - but all will be 100% ignored.The irony is as a taxpayer I own over 40% of this shower. We run highly successful Chartered businesses too and have high credit scores. We do not (like them) run a failed business! I wish the Government had not rescued HBOS when they went bust in 2009. The Government will not rescue your business nor mine if we make a right mess of it!