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Our
client |
Type
of Finance |
Our
comments |
Our
customers needs and
our solution |
| Case Study 1 |
Mrs and Mrs R of Ceredigion |
Farm loan |
This case sums it up for short-term farm finance. Our customers had initially approached a competitor that offers ‘opportunity’ finance. In fact our competitor suggests that it is the market leader. As is the norm for them, they very quickly rushed out to see our customers and made promises of finance to them. We served the customers at a speed that suited them and showed them ethically, an option that made huge savings for them. We did not make them promises about refinancing of the bridging loan; in fact we told them truthfully that refinance was not an option for them, because the level of debt they were raising was not sustainable by them over the longer-term. As a consequence, we did not set out to take extra monitoring fees or fees associated with refinance that was never going to happen. Rather what we achieved, very clearly, was a situation where the customers could turn most of their discount into their own profit. Our recent testimonial says it all. The difference that makes the difference is this – if short-term or bridging finance is called opportunity finance it’s best to ensure that the opportunity is one for you to exploit and not your broker. That’s what we are here for. |
Our customers had worked a farm for generations and the owners, The University of Aberystwyth wanted to sell. As the customers had a secure tenancy, they were able to negotiate a price at a large discount. Having done this, their land agent attempted to secure finance for them via our competitor based in Somerset. Very quickly they visited our customers and made them promises of finance. The customers were unsure and their agent approached us. We were able to secure their finance saving them in excess of £70,000 in interest rates and charges over a twelve month period and over £40,000 over six months. The customers are now in a position to realise a very large profit from the deal which is now more than it would have been because of the savings we made.
You might not get us out to see you the next day because, as this example shows, it is not necessary. What is necessary when it comes to arranging farm finance or a farm mortgage is honesty and integrity. We believe that this is far better than a next day lightning visit. We know it is better for our customers.
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| Case Study 2 |
Mr and Mrs W of North Wales |
A farm loan |
A very good example of loan where the property has an agricultural tie and where there were financial difficulties. There were challenges that required expertise.
The moral in the story is this - if you want a job doing properly, do it yourself but if you don't know how to go about it, make sure you go to people who know what they are doing. Make sure also that you choose people with the right credentials and the right integrity - our qualifications in accountancy and our experience in banking and in our business are testimony to that.
As is often said, you pays your money and takes your chance - why make the chance bigger than it needs to be? |
Our customer is based in North Wales and has a property subject to an agricultural tie that meant he was already up against it to raise finance on it. He came to us for a farm loan. His current farm mortgage was with a lender offering a very good rate of interest and he did not want to touch this. Moreover, he had two loans with two clearing banks, one HSBC and the other National Westminster Bank plc, both of which had been in recoveries or collections for some time. Accordingly, he was under great pressure. What made this case different was the very real trouble we had getting replies and information out of both of the recoveries departments concerned and had it not been for our tenacity and determination, the case would not have gone ahead. In reality we knew which bells to ring and which buttons to press and the end result was a concession of interest to our customer on one of the accounts concerned.
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| Case Study 3 |
Mr H of Buckinghamshire |
Short
term finance for a farm
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This is a very good example of what can be done where speed is the determining factor and where the customer dictates the pace. It is key to a bridging loan that there is a way to repay the loan on or before the end of the loan term and you should beware of any situation where you are being pushed into a bridging loan where other kinds of finance are more appropriate. The honesty and integrity of the broker you choose is of paramount importance. |
Mr H, a previous
customer, called us on a Thursday needing to raise money very quickly for investment.
We visited Mr H on the next day, completed the documentation and delivered it to
the lender the same day. Mr H received cleared funds in his bank account on the Monday,
allowing him to complete his investment without fuss. The transaction took 3 working
days from telephone call to the client receiving his funds. We can't promise that
every transaction will be that quick but we pride ourselves on being able to react
to customers needs in the way our customers want us to proceed.
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| Case Study 4 |
Mr D - South East |
Farm
Finance - long term loan - mortgage for a farm with an agricultural restriction
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This is a good example of a case where our customer had a mortgage with a more expensive lender where it would have been possible to place him with the lender we used in the first instance. Not only does this demonstrate the sort of problems we regularly deal with, but it also opens questions about whether the broker concerned worked in the best interests of their customer. It also demonstrates how we professionally and sympathetically handle problems, with the interests of the customer at the top of our list. It is easy then to compare the way we worked with the way the previous broker worked, illustrating the need to choose your broker carefully.
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Mr D had a number of goals. Firstly, he wanted to get away from the lender he was paying a high rate of interest to and to whom he had missed some payments. Secondly, his bank was pressing him to reduce debt. To add to this, he wanted to buy some land, which was available at a good price. The solution was a long-term loan replacing all the debt at a far better rate of interest, which raised the additional cash for the land, put extra money in the bank and reduced outgoings. The property offered as security was subject to an agricultural restriction.
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| Case Study 5 |
Mr C from Kent |
Farm
Finance - long term loan - a farm mortgage |
This is one of those really nice cases where in achieving the goals of our customers we were able to help fulfil the dreams of a man who had always wanted to own the farm he now lives in. |
Mr C and his family were life long fruit farmers though had never had the opportunity to own and run their own farm having always worked for other folk. They were suddenly offered the chance to buy a farm Mr C's father had grown up on and one he had always dreamed of owning though had given up hope of ever doing so. Other brokers hadn't been able to help and our customers needed to act quickly. They were offered the rates from the usual lenders most brokers would select for this type of job, which we were able to beat easily. During the buying process a number of issues came up that needed the right sort of expertise to resolve and we were able to ensure that the property was in our customers' hands by the deadline. We were delighted to be able to help our customers' dreams become reality.
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| Case Study 6 |
Mrs N - Devon |
Rural
Finance - long term loan for a farm or farm loan |
An example of our after sales care and how we went the extra mile to recover money for our customer from a third party beyond the contract we had with her. Given the short time we had to organise this loan we believe that some of our competitors would have suggested our customer enter into a bridging loan, when this type of finance was not appropriate. It always pays to get an honest opinion of your options. |
Our customer had converted her farm yard and house into letting units and had two large loans one of which was in arrears and where receivers had been appointed with a very short lead time before the property was due to be sold at auction. Not only did we successfully refinance all borrowings, at competitive rates, but also we became suspicious about the receiver's charges. After completion we challenged the receiver's costs and obtained a refund of charges exceeding £6,000 at no extra cost to our customer. Our customer has since been back to us for a further advance always an indication that a customer is happy with the lender and our service.
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| Case Study 7 |
Mr M - Staffordshire |
Farm
Finance - long term loan -
re-mortgage for rural property and further advances for diversification or farm business.
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The darkest hour is the one before the dawn. In this case our customer was all at sea and in total despair and yet now he has a good business and goes from strength to strength. The case also illustrates the sort of utter bureaucratic stupidity that farmers have had to endure in the recent past and with which we fully empathise. |
Our customer was at the mercy of the Intervention Board, which was claiming money for the over production of milk to some tune (and half the World's starving). Not only this, our customer was going though an acrimonious divorce and his wife had registered a caution over the property. We raised enough money to repay all debts and in the process negotiated a reduction in the debt due to the Intervention Board and kept in touch with the ex wife to stop her from taking further proceedings. Our customer has come back on three further occasions for further advances until the Intervention Board happily refunded all they had taken from him earlier in 2006. He goes from strength to strength in his diversified farm business.
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| Case Study 8 |
Mr & Mrs W - East Midlands |
A mortgage
for a property with an Agricultural Restriction - smallholding mortgage
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It's an odd thing but when a person goes bankrupt they can suddenly become very popular with those offering quack insolvency services. And so it was with these customers who almost parted with money to someone who turned up on the doorstep allegedly plying this trade. The challenge we find, with these situations, is that customers usually go bankrupt when they have no need to at all and because they do not know how the system works. This case underlines that it is best to get some good and honest opinions when the demands start arriving but also that being bankrupt does not mean there is not a way out as long as you choose the right people to help.
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The petitioning creditor in this case was HM Revenue & Customs (good old Gordon) and a bankruptcy order had been made against both parties. There was enough equity in the property, which was subject to an agricultural restriction, to repay all debt in the bankruptcy and we worked with our customers' solicitors to obtain an annulment of their bankruptcy by raising the capital needed for the court to make the order. There are few lenders who understand what is needed in this sort of situation and we enjoy a relationship with ours, which makes this sort of transaction routine and straightforward.
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| Case Study 9 |
Mr & Mrs W North Yorkshire |
Rural
Finance - mortgage for purchase of a smallholding |
If you want the proper job then you have to find the proper person. This case illustrates the risks in selecting the wrong people to do a job. There should have been something from the valuation report, in this case, that rang alarm bells requiring further investigation. This was missed by our competitors, but not only this, when we found out about an agricultural restriction we actually lost the deal because it could go no further. Our customers did come back to us when they wanted to proceed with another property. Honesty is the best policy. It also indicates that everything happens for a reason - in losing the first property our customers found a better one.
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Our customers had been to one of our competitors who describe themselves as specialists in commercial finance. The rate offered was in excess of that we could achieve and so the customers cancelled their application with them. During the process we established that the property, our customers planned to purchase, was subject to an agricultural restriction a fact that had been missed by our competitors and which would have exposed our customers to a large loss due to its impact on the valuation. Whilst we could have financed this property, the vendor was not prepared to reduce the price and accordingly our customers could not proceed at that time. However, they have since found another property and we have successfully financed it for them by way of a mortgage for a smallholding.
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| Case Study 10 |
Mr & Mrs P - Hampshire |
A bridging
loan and a re-mortgage for an equestrian property and an equestrian re-mortgage
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This is a case where a bridging loan was appropriate and represents another conclusion resulting in a dream come true for our customers. There were one or two nerve racking moments, in this case, that needed to be handled with both care and sensitivity and the case underlines the need to think carefully before getting into a bridging loan or short term finance secured on property. Only use a broker that understands what is needed in this type of situation. This customer was kind enough to write a testimonial that brought tears to the eyes - the link to this is here |
Our customers had become tired of the expense of living in a large and expensive property, which was an equestrian property in Hampshire. They had seen a property, near to their daughter, in Scotland and made an offer on it and needed a short-term loan or bridging loan to buy it. In fact our customers did not know what sort of finance they needed to achieve their goal, which is where we came in. We arranged two loans, totalling over £1m, secured on these properties whilst the Hampshire property was marketed. Our customers trusted us enough to introduce their buyer to us and we organised a quality long-term loan for them and then
re-mortgaged the small and expected deficit on the Scottish property resulting in a huge lifestyle change for our customers. If you think you can or you think you can't - you're right.
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| Case Study 11 |
Mr & Mrs B - Staffordshire |
Mortgage
for a smallholding - long term loan - a fixed rate mortgage |
Everything happens for a reason and this case, another lifestyle purchase, underlines it most. It should be noted that Mr B came to us by recommendation. |
Our customers wanted some land for their horses and for their young children and when a farm came up for sale close by they had the opportunity to bid for one of the lots at auction. To finance this, we arranged a loan to be secured on their current property in the knowledge that if the land was not bought at auction the loan would not go ahead. In the end, the farm was sold as a whole and we received the call from Mr B who was devastated he had not got the land. Not long after, a property he had long been after but which he had previously missed, came up for sale again and he has now bought it through us. Life has a funny habit of doing this sort of thing and it always gives us a real buzz when this sort of thing happens.
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| Case Study 12 |
Mr H - Shropshire |
Farm
Finance - long term loan - a fixed rate re-mortgage.. |
Farmers hate paperwork, which is why we produce all necessary documents to ease the burdens in arranging farm finance. This case underlines how customers come back to us from all stages of life and again and again - we must be doing something right. In this case, we helped Mr H take on his bank who had treated him shoddily with regards to their treatment of his overdraft. This was not part of our deal with Mr H - we just did it. |
Our customers were originally Mr H and his mum and dad for whom we had successfully arranged a farm re-mortgage some years before. Mr H kept in touch with us and we often heard from him just to catch up with how he was getting on. Sadly, Mr H's mum and dad had passed on and it was with some concern that we learned that Mr H had not attended to the things needed to deal with the estate and that creditors were now frustrated. In some two years probate had not been obtained. A great deal of sensitivity was required in this case, because Mr H had been very close to his late mother and with our guidance Mr H dealt with the formalities through his solicitor allowing us to put the necessary finance in place to deal with all the creditors and debts. During this process, Mr H told us that he was in dispute with his bank who he believed had treated him shoddily with regards to an overdraft. He also owed around £4,500 on a personal loan. We helped Mr H in reaching a settlement with his bankers resulting in Mr H paying only £2,500 in respect of the personal loan, saving £2,000..
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| Case Study 13 |
Andrew - Essex |
Development
loan and replacement of bank overdraft |
A bit of a surprise this one because it's an example of when we didn't do business at all and hopefully says something about who and what we are. We are not here for the quick hit and exist to forge long lasting relationships with customers. |
Andrew called us to say he had several properties valued at over £3m and needed £1m to clear an overdraft. Andrew's old bank manager had retired and the new broom, at his review, was looking for extra charges and Andrew was not best pleased. It transpired that Andrew was looking to sell property, in the near future, to repay the bank, when he had obtained outline-planning consent on some of his land. From a bridging point of view, this deal was easy but it was not in Andrew's best interest to come out of his existing arrangements. We explained this to him and gave him a few tips on how he could approach his bank to discuss terms with them further. We reckon Andrew went away pleased merely to have spoken to someone who could listen sensibly and with some ideas with the proviso he could come back to us if he wanted any more help.
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| Case Study 14 |
Mr T - West Yorkshire |
Commercial
Mortgage, farm loan |
Another customer who could not believe we could sort things out for him following an argument, with his brother, over the will of his late mother. It's a good sign that a customer is happy when he comes back for further help as in this case. The message is find the right help, someone who cares enough to ensure that customers will feel comfortable about coming back as ours often do. |
Another broker who could not get this deal done introduced our customer to us. Mr T had put his life and soul into making this small farm what it was. He was running a successful caravan storage business and park from the farm and had let the land to another local farmer with no formal agreement. When his mother died he fell out with his brother who had lived at the farm but had not contributed to its development. He needed to raise a mortgage to buy his brother out following an agreement to vary his late mother's will. Along the way we had to deal with one or two planning queries from the lender's solicitors and these were resolved and the loan completed. After some years of stress, Mr T is now in control of his own life again and has only recently made an enquiry to increase his borrowing for further investment that he has in mind.
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| Case Study 15 |
Mr D - Haverfordwest |
Farm Finance - long term loan - remortgage for rural property, development finance. |
This example demonstrates the need to have any development or building work supervised by a professional even where the builder is a mate or a relative. It also demonstrates the type of added value services we offer for our customers and highlights that we go the extra mile for them even in the toughest of times. It is noteworthy that our customer, when in trouble, did not seek advice from his lawyer or anyone else but came back to us. |
Our customer's property was in need of renovation and he had obtained estimates for this work from his girlfriend's nephew. Because he trusted his 'nephew' he did not think it relevant to have the work he was doing supervised and whilst we recommended he should he declined to do so. We raised the first advance for him but within six months he was back saying he had run out of money. The job total was nearly double the original estimate, the job was not finished and the 'nephew' was threatening legal action for payment and had vacated the site. It remained difficult to convince our customer that he should now involve a Quantity Surveyor though we eventually convinced him, on the basis that the QS could not only supervise the ongoing work but could also assess the work that had been done to ensure the 'nephew's' charges were justified. We organised a QS for our customer who established that the 'nephew' was seeking to overcharge by over £11,000. Throughout we corresponded with the 'nephew's lawyers and easily reached terms of settlement. The QS came up with the amount of money required to complete the job and then supervised the work to the end of the project. We raised the additional money to make the necessary payments and the job was finished to everyone's satisfaction.
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| Case Study 16 |
Mr & Mrs W - Whitby |
Farm Finance - long term loan remortgage for rural property. |
A case that emphasises the need to deal with creditors early and not to bury the head in the sand when the nasties drop through the letter box or when they are served on you. |
Our customers had been made bankrupt when they never needed to be. Their overall debts where around £30,000 and they had property valued at over £400,000. How simple it would have been had they made contact with us some time ago before matters spiralled out of control. Unfortunately, they ignored just about everything sent to them or served on them and the court had no alternative but to make a bankruptcy order. The costs of bankruptcy can be staggering and after two years the overall amount required to annul the bankruptcy was around £80,000. Sadly, our customers did nothing until their Trustee had lost patience and threatened to sell their property from under them at which time we were called. Getting the loan in place was the easy part, the more difficult aspect was maintaining contact with our customers who adopted the ostrich approach with us as well. With great patience and tenacity and after a lot of time spent we steered the case to completion, clearing the bankruptcy decks and raising further money so that our customers had ample working capital to go about their business.
The moral in the story - attend to official demands or court claims quickly and if unsure, take advice right away.
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| Case Study 17 |
Mr & Mrs B of Rugby |
A farm mortgage or farm remortgage |
A very good example of a property with both a new build house, a less than cooperative bank and where the property has an agricultural tie |
Mr and Mrs B had built a new property on their own land. Due to their mature years, their bank had offered them only a five-year loan at a higher rate of interest and we were told that the bank would not offer a loan on a repayment basis – even if they had the payments were very high because the term of the loan was very short. Mr and Mrs B’s Financial Adviser who had tried other sources without success had introduced the case to us and it was a local building society that suggested that the Adviser call us. Not only did we arrange a loan on a much longer term, but also with a lower rate of interest and to cap it off, whilst the bank had four titles charged to it, we were able to arrange that the new lender only had security over two, thus leaving a good deal of land free of any mortgage or charge at all. A good deal for our lending source and a great deal for our customer.
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| Case Study 18 |
Mr & Mrs D of Ammanford |
A farm mortgage or farm remortgage |
Our customer wanted a low rate loan, to self-certify his income and no early settlement interest to pay. |
Utopia only exists in heaven, so they say. Mr and Mrs D owned two houses on their land, one of which was in dire need of refurbishment, for sale purposes, after which the loan would be repaid. Bridging finance was the first thought but then it became clear that the refurbishment would take well into 2008 and then the property would have to be marketed. Our solution was a one-year fixed rate, interest only loan, with no early settlement penalty thereafter and at a rate that we were told was less than what our customers were paying to their bank. This gives our customers greater flexibility because if they decide to keep the property and say let it out, they can do so with this type of arrangement. If they do this, a quick call to the lender’s servicing department would enable them to change the loan from interest only to repayment and so they are able to benefit from the best of all Worlds.
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| Case Study 19 |
Mr and Mrs B of Rugby |
A farm mortgage or farm remortgage |
A very good example of a property with both a new build house, a less than cooperative bank and where the property has an agricultural tie |
Mr and Mrs B had built a new property on their own land. Due to their mature years, their bank had offered them only a five-year loan at a higher rate of interest and we were told that the bank would not offer a loan on a repayment basis – even if they had the payments were very high because the term of the loan was very short. The case had been introduced to us by Mr and Mrs B’s Financial Adviser who had tried other sources without success and it was a local building society that suggested that the Adviser call us. Not only did we arrange a loan on a much longer term, but also with a lower rate of interest and to cap it off, whilst the bank had four titles charged to it, we were able to arrange that the new lender only had security over two, thus leaving a good deal of land free of any mortgage or charge at all. A good deal for our lending source and a great deal for our customer.
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| Case Study 20 |
Mr & Mrs G – Aberdeen |
Development loan followed by long-term mortgage for a new-build property with an agricultural restriction. |
Another customer coming back to us after four years needing expert help. |
Our customers had had something of a rough time and needed someone who could give them a helping hand. They had sold off their first house and some land but the sale had initially fallen through and caused some problems with the existing loan. Then, because most of their personal belongings were in storage they lost all their personal belongings in a fire at the warehouse. What was needed was someone who could take the stress, heat and hassle away from doing what they needed to do. Firstly, we arranged a short-term loan to meet a builder stage payment. Then we were asked to replace this with a suitable term loan. Not only this the applicants needed to be in by a particular date because a close relative, who was going to live with them, needed to be settled before an operation. After a great deal of time coordinating builders, the NHBC inspector, solicitors and the lender the loan completed on the day of handover.
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| Case Study 21 |
Mr and Mrs H – East Sussex |
Mortgage for agricultural tie within a section 106 agreement |
We did not do business because it was not right for the customer – to see what our customer thought of this please see his testimonial. |
Our customer was buying a cottage from his brother in law who needed to raise the money to settle his divorce. Mr and Mrs H had reached a point where their lender (a household name) could not get their heads round the wording of a covenant within what is now the equivalent of an agreement under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. Mr H approached us for help. When the brother in law had bought the land the seller, in this case the local council, had imposed a covenant limiting the use of the land to agriculture and the dwellings ancillary to that purpose. In our opinion, this made the dwellings valueless on their own and our opinion was supported by a surveyor who agreed with us. This meant that it was not possible for our customer to get a mortgage and we advised our customer against buying the property even at a reduced price (so that he could buy it for cash) because the potential for loss was high.
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| Case Study 22 |
Mr & Mrs V – Devon |
Long term mortgage for a farm for expansion |
Our customer wanted and got a low rate mortgage to expand their farm business. Despite the so called credit crunch our customer was still able to self-certify their income even where their existing lender, a clearing bank, did not want to help. |
To set out their stall for bringing their son into the business, our customers wanted to expand their farm by installing a new dairy unit and increasing their beef herd. Initially, they approached their own bankers who they had been with for many years. Their own bank did not want to help at all, which came as something of a surprise to our customers. Accordingly, we arranged a long term mortgage of £750,000 with a fixed rate for four years at a rate that was actually below the bank's. In the end our customers replaced their bank loans with a cheaper rate and got their extra money at a lower rate than they were anticipating. Everything happens for a reason the bank was difficult which gave our customers some grief, but they ended up with a better deal only because the bank was difficult.
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| Case Study 23 |
Mrs P W - Cornwall |
Farm mortgage order for repossession farm finance agricultural restriction agricultural tie short-term farm loan farm remortgage farm finance farm bridging loan |
We are very pleased to have been able to help Pat - this type of business give us a real buzz because we can make a big difference by helping to relieve some of the stress, to offer support and expertise that ensures the right finance is put in place and that our customers are fully informed of what it is we are doing for them, without false promises. Not only that, we are there for our customers after the loan has completed to offer further support should it be needed.
Despite her financial difficulties, we were able to negotiate some breathing space with Pat's current lender's solicitors to allow time to put the farm finance in place. This also allowed time for her to receive full legal advice on what she was doing before commitment which we think is essential. Not all finance companies are as keen to ensure that customers know what they are doing before they go ahead with a short-term farm loan.
Throughout the entire process we were there for our customer, liaising with lawyers, getting things moving and generally offering our support to ensure that she not only got her farm bridging loan but also that she suffered from as little stress as possible.
We wish Pat every success with her plans.
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Our customer, who was situated in Cornwall, found herself in some difficulties with her current bankers and needed a farm mortgage - she was under extreme pressure because there was an order for repossession against her.
The property had an agricultural restriction or agricultural tie which meant that, apart from the farm remortgage where the customer was in difficulties, there was the added challenge of finding a lender that would accommodate the occupancy restriction as well.
We were proposing to arrange a short-term farm loan of two years, as the customer was already in contact with local land agents with a view to the removal of the agricultural tie which, once done, would increase the value of her property. She just needed the time to see this through to allow her to either sell the property or refinance with a farm remortgage once her finances were back in shape.
When the loan completed, our customer sent a message:
Dear Mark,
Thank you so much for all your help. It is such a relief to have more breathing space but my work here is not done yet. I will indeed keep you updated as things progress.
Thank you again.
Kindest regards, Pat
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| Case Study 24 |
Miss F - North Manchester |
Farm loan, farm mortgage, agricultural mortgage |
A classic example of a customer who had tried, in despair, to obtain farm finance and was unable to do so until we arranged a farm loan for her.
Miss F was beginning to think that she would never achieve her dream of owning the property, for which she needed a farm mortgage, until she contacted us.
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The farm, which our customer used for her business, was owned by her grandfather who was elderly and unwell and needed some cash. He had always planned to give the property to our customer but, as he needed some money now, our customer wanted to buy his interest, although at a reduced price. To achieve this, she needed a farm mortgage. She had applied in various other places for a farm loan, but had been turned down because of her previous bankruptcy.
We arranged a long term farm loan for our customer.
After the farm loan had completed Miss F sent us this message:
'Thank you to you both. Without all your help it would never have happened. You do not know how much this means to me.'
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