Not upheld: Mortgage advice complaints complaint against Stonebridge Mortgage Solutions Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Mr B and Mrs D complained to Stonebridge Mortgage Solutions about poor advice and service in their first-time buyer mortgage application, claiming errors in data collection caused two lender rejections and a fraud marker from the second lender. While Stonebridge acknowledged errors including a misspelled name and inaccurate employment details, the ombudsman found insufficient evidence that these errors caused the rejections. Confidential information from the lenders indicated the rejections were not due to Stonebridge's presentation of the applications. The ombudsman found Stonebridge's decision to submit a second application was reasonable and well-intentioned. The complaint was not upheld, with only the broker fee refund (already offered) being required.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied the balance of probabilities test and concluded that while data errors existed, there was insufficient evidence that these errors were the most likely reason for the lender rejections or fraud marker recording. Confidential information from the lenders indicated the rejections were not due to Stonebridge's presentation of the applications. The ombudsman found Stonebridge's decision to submit the second application to T was reasonable and well-intentioned, particularly given that H provided no reason for rejection and Stonebridge had checked with T beforehand.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website