This is an updated version of a post I made back in 2019 which can be found here.
It is not uncommon to get calls from people who have bad credit and have been doing their own research. The problem when reading the internet is that everything can look bad as people are more inclined to write negative reviews online as it is done in the heat of the moment (not that it means the review is wrong), it just explains why you are more likely to find bad reviews that good ones.
Dont let that make you think I will be holding back – I wont be! I think it is important you know the good, the bad and the ugly so that you can make an informed decision.
The Bad Credit Mortgage lenders
Pepper Money review
This is a lender I have a love hate relationship with. They were terrible when originally launched, they improved and took 2 steps forward then took a step back but they seem to have found their place now. 9 times out of 10 they are fine, there are still a few things I am not a fan of with them but in the main I do like them. You can read my review of them here.
The Mortgage Lender (or TML) review
Very similar to Pepper Money, they operate in more or less the same part of the market. They have their good points and bad points, but in general I think they have come a long way and are at a place that makes them another good solid lender. You can read the full review here.
Precise review
Precise are still a lender I am not brave enough to try again. They came to market originally made a very loud noise and became the lender of choice for adverse. Unfortunately they seemed to decline a far higher percentage than any other lender. As Pepper and TML came to market and operate in a similar place we have not had any need to give Precise another try. I have not used Precise in around 4-5 years and so I am unable to give them a review but speaking to other brokers, they still seem to decline a few applications unexpectedly.
Bluestone money review
Another lender where I have a love hate relationship. They do things no other lender will do, they also at times seem to make it far more complicated that they need to which can make things slower than necessary. The full review can be found here.
Vida Homeloans
This is a lender I only have a hate hate relationship with at the minute. They came to market with a bang and we thought their criteria was too diverse. It felt like they wanted to lend to anyone and everyone. It did not make sense a new lender being prepared to do so much, but they did it and they were ok. They were not great by any means but they were alright and a lender we would use on occasions.
What they did when Covid hit however is pretty hard to forgive. Cancelling submitted applications is just not on in my book. Coming back to market later in the year they had a lot of making up to do to the broker community I felt.
But what did they do? No real apologies, they came back and appeared to want to just pick up where they left off. Some brokers went back to them and used them straight away, I took a step back and wanted to see what they did… Within no time at all they were pulling the shutters down again to new business and their service levels fell through the floor, they were in my opinion making a complete hash of it.
The only view I have on Vida is that they are not worthy of our custom and I have no intention of going near them for some time. Our advice is based on how lenders treat their customers, chances of acceptance, products and timeframes – they have a lot to do in my opinion to show they have their customers best interests at heart. So no real review other than a little history lesson of what they did in 2020.
Other specialist lenders
There are also other lenders who are not as big as these lenders who we use on a regular basis, some of them offer better products and rates, more flexible criteria or quicker turn around times etc.
We are not limited to the lenders above in the adverse arena, but these are typically the most well known. We also have a good success rate of placing cases with adverse on the high street, although that has dropped a little since Covid hit and mortgages lenders tightening up on criteria – but we always take a look on the high street in the first instance where we think it has a chance.