“First time buyers : Will never be using CLS Money again. When we first approached, and we did so on the back of some very positive reviews, we went through the whole process of applying for a mortgage. We sent over bank statements and wage slips and were asked all the questions one would be asked when applying for a mortgage, or at least we thought we did. It turns out they missed out some vitally important questions and simply assumed the information they didn't ask when they sent our details across to the bank. This if course led to a mortgage in principle and payments made to CSL but then when it came down to the final checks, after going through the whole looking for a house and finally settling on one rigmarole, the mortgage offer was declined due to Santander receiving false information from CSL. Overall a bitterly disappointing experience and one that has put off the whole mortgage process for some time.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“I don't know why we were the odd one out, since everyone else seems to have a glowing review to write. My husband and I weren't the most straightforward case due to my self-employment and a bit more complex income situation. However, I don't think we were completely impossible either. We got three different amounts from CLS, which were all in the mid-300,000's. I thought this was quite surprising as I had used a few different calculators, and I did ask CLS if this was truly correct. We were assured that it was. I then accepted it, as that's the whole point of having a broker – they're supposed to know what they're doing and possibly get better deals than a normal person. We then asked for an AIP, which CLS applied for. I don't know which lender they tried, since our particular broker never went into detail of the possible choices or even interest rates, which is peculiar in itself. The AIP then bounced. The broker then jumped to question whether we have dodgy credit history (we don't). Before we could reply, she called the lender, who advised this was due to affordability. So after all the reassurances they appeared to have plucked the amount out of thin air. I then asked how this even happened after we had questioned the amounts before and we had an X amount from a different broker that was lower than CLS had promised. She then seemed to get rather irritated and said that this X amount from the different broker was impossible since there are no lenders offering it in our situation. Our only option was her considerably lower amount that we couldn't work with or porting our existing mortgage (???). We were then completely through with the process with CLS (taking into account as well that getting any replies to our emails was like pulling teeth). We went to the other broker and now have this non-existent and impossible X amount as confirmed mortgage offer. I don't know what happened. I could make up ridiculous numbers myself, I don't need a broker to do that.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“CCJ recorded for non payment of hidden fees. Still on file after 30 months of being paid.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“There is absolutely no communication they go on with high hopes and make you feel like they will have it in the bag for you only to ignore you and drag things out I would avoid like the plaque and go with someone who is going to help you after all you pay them to they work for you, I am debated and nowhere near closer to my forever home because they wasted so much of my time. AVOID”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Customer service was okay however we occasionally had emails with a starting sentence of "as said before" which I felt was a rude. Cls were not able to get us a mortgage in 4 months however, we manged to get a mortgage and move in, in 6 weeks for a higher amount (75k more!). We had a mortgage in principle therefore had to pay... to then be told that the mortgage broker didn't like the house for some reason and decided to value the house at £0 as it potentially had wall tie failure. After conducting a survey (£300) and prove it didn't have wall tie failure we were told they then changed their terms and wanted more time in employment. After speaking to another mortgage adviser they said if they had given you wall tie failure as the only reason that they wouldn't give the mortgage they shouldn't then go back on it and come up with another reason. CLS would also not ask the mortgage company if we had the survey done would they give us the mortgage so then had to chance it. £400 down and no mortgage with cls even with a specialist mortgage broker!! We are now with a high street mortgage broker at a low rate and moved in in February. Really disappointed with this service and wasted a lot of time and money. Constantly chasing for updates and getting almost 'fed up' replies. We were treated a lot better with another mortgage broker who kept us in the loop without us having to chase and I didn't have to pay any fees until we had the mortgage agreed.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“We chose CLS because they had received great reviews but I can say that the service that we have received so far is below standard. There is a lack of communication, we appeared to be chasing for information we are still awaiting a response from an email our dedicated mortgage advisor, we specifically asked that only a soft search to be performed however a hard search was performed leaving a footprint which I’m not happy with. I would prefer honestly, if you can’t help then just say so, don’t ignore us. This company has now made it harder for us to get a mortgage. Would not recommend!”

1 Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

Brenda A Walker

Verified Reviewer

“I have given one star because in the end I did get a mortgage. However out of the 4 team members I worked with only one kept me informed and did anything in a timely manner. I have never felt so stress as I did the first month had I dealt with CLS Money. I was told something and then it would turn out to be totally different, in fact I was told I had a mortgage but I was never told that that had change and I needed find another one. I was promised things that didn't happen until I had phoned and / or emailed several times. I wasn't ever given advice despite sending an email to the adviser saying that I had never arranged a mortgage before. I will not ever recommend CLS Money and everyone that knows me knows what a terrible time I had at the hands of CLS money and I do feel I should be given something in the way of compensation!”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“The process moved slowly and this meant that we fell into a month at standard variable rate. This added significantly to the cost of the process. I am aware that this may be the solicitor, but as CLS chose our solicitor, I view this as a reflection on them also. Furthermore, when we we first had our meeting and discussed total cost, we were not informed of an additional cost to transfer our second charge. When I asked why we were not informed of this at the beginning, I was told that there was no way the CLS representative would have known about it. In my opinion, this is a poor defence. Finally, I found the filing system to be lacking. I was asked multiple times (by both CLS and the solicitor) for proof of address when I had provided it weeks before. The reason we chose to remortgage through a broker was to avoid this stress.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

Help to Buy Reviews