Frequently asked questions

You need to be aware that when a product is sourced on Mortgage Brain and Trigold, adding the arrangement fee will affect the LTV

Platform mortgage offers are valid for 6 months from the date of application. This should usually allow sufficient time to complete, however, if there is an unexpected delay and the offer needs to be re-issued this can be considered as follows:

• A revised offer can be issued for a further 3 months.
• The customer needs to sign a new declaration form confirming their circumstances haven’t changed.
• An up to date payslip will be required.
• If the mortgage was at the maximum term for age or lending into retirement at the point of application, you are required to call Platform to discuss revised term requirements.
• You can upload documents via Click and provide any further information via Tell Us in the usual way.
• A new credit search will be completed by Platform and any changes to the customer’s credit file may affect the ability to extend.
• Platform will confirm that the property valuation hasn’t changed.
• Platform can re offer on existing products even if they are withdrawn, if you want to change product you can complete and upload a Post Application Advice Submission form from the website.

• We CANNOT consider a BTL where any family member or the borrower has ever lived in the property, unless they already have an existing BTL in the background. Also, if they are looking to do a LTB with us, we can consider this so long as they have a BTL in the background Flats.
• If an applicant owns 3 flats in a block, we can do one of these on a residential basis however we cannot do this on BTL applications.
• If there are 4 or more flats we are able to offer on a BTL or residential basis as long as the applicant’s exposure with all lenders and unencumbered properties is not more than 25% of the building at completion.

As long as the applicant has active credit registered in their name or is on the voter’s roll at their current address, the case can be considered providing it passes the DIP. For the DIP to accept the system requires 3 years address history in the UK and won't accept foreign addresses. If the applicant hasn’t been back in the UK for 3 years you would need to input on the DIP that they had been in the UK for 3 years, but a note MUST be added with the foreign address details on the full application. This will then satisfy the underwriter assessment subject to other criteria being met.

Where repayment of a Mortgage is dependent upon income continuing beyond normal retirement age (deemed to be 68 in line with future Government State Pension age) then such cases will be referred for manual underwriting where an assessment of affordability will be made. Where Customers have an anticipated retirement age, State Pension age or compulsory retirement of less than 68, and repayment of the Mortgage is dependent upon Income extending beyond this, these will also be subject to a referral for manual underwriting to establish affordability into retirement. Income used to support the affordability assessment can be based on any of or a combination of (a) Existing Income streams where we are satisfied that the Customer can continue to work (b) Existing Pension Income where this is being received and (c) Proposed Pension Income. Where affordability cannot be established through this assessment, then maximum Mortgage term will be limited to normal retirement age.

The exceptions are listed below:

Serving Members of the Armed Forces
Civilian Support staff are excluded
Uniformed Police Officers
Serving Members of the Fire Brigade
Active Paramedics and Ambulance Staff
Occupations where there is a PCV/HGV licence requirement

For any of the above listed occupations and they are going to go past the retirement age of 68 we would need to see proof of pension income

Key points:

• Minimum trading period is 2 years
• Proof - Last 2 years tax assessments (SA302s and Tax Year Overviews stating 100% complete) OR Certificate from a suitably qualified accountant with 2 years figures
• The proof of income figures provided must include the last financial year-end and this must be no more than 18 months old
• The affordability calculation will use the lower of Last year’s income or an average of the last 2 years if increasing
• Where profits/income is declining, the application may be declined if a suitable explanation for the decline is not provided
• Latest full month Bank statement to show income/expenditure

We take the applicant’s salary they’ll be receiving once they return to work. Notes to be adding to ‘Tell us’ confirming when they left for maternity and what hours and wage they’ll be returning on.

If returning on the same salary/hours as when they left, please include the last pay slip they received before maternity leave. If they are returning on reduced hours/pay please include employers details as we may request a reference. If the person is on maternity, a dependent should be keyed. If they’re having twins 2 dependents, etc. Childcare costs would also need to be factored as a commitment, in the affordability calculation.

Due to the relevant provisions you have already signed up to in the Intermediary Terms of Business (clauses 5.8, 6.7 and 6.9), as well as the signed Declaration you are required to provide along with your ‘Fact Find request (Step 1), we do not need any form of wet signature from you or your client as part of this online application submission. However, there will be a declaration section at the end of the full application form before you e-sign and submit the application.

Yes you can. This includes both Residential and Buy to Let customers. You will need to be registered with Platform and have an active account with us, which we will check in order to progress your request. Help to Buy customers who wish to take out additional borrowing will need to call us directly to discuss this.

Yes – you will already need to be registered with Platform and have an active account with us, which we will need to check in order to be able to progress your request. If you are not registered, or registered but inactive with us, we cannot progress your request. You must use your registered Broker email address throughout the Broker variation process.

If your client’s Direct Debit details are changing, you will need to ask your client to complete a signed Direct Debit Mandate, which you can submit along with your full application and any other supporting documents. If the Direct Debit details are not changing, you do not need to submit a signed Direct Debit mandate to us. You will need to have this signed Direct Debit mandate ready to upload before you start the full application. Again, we cannot begin to process your application until we have all of the required supporting documents to go with the application – please do not email any supporting documents to us separately.

When you get to the Application Form, you will need to submit all of the required supporting documents as well as the completed application form. This can all be done within the form. We cannot begin to process your application until we have all of the required supporting documents to go with the application. Acceptable file types for supporting documents are JPG and JPEG, PNG, PDF, DOC and DOCX (Microsoft Word), TXT, PPT. We are unable to accept Excel documents.

Once the Mortgage Illustration request has been submitted, you will receive a message that the request has been submitted successfully.

Once the request and Declaration have been submitted and we have successfully completed our checks, we will then email the information back to your email address as an attachment, and we will email the password to open the document separately. For information security purposes, the document will be encrypted and password protected.

Please note, in order to open the attachment you will need to have 7-Zip or the latest version of Win-Zip installed on your machine. This is free to download to your computer, however, if you are using a company device, we recommend your check with your company’s IT department first.

The Mortgage Illustration Request Form will not be available publicly on our website. When we email the above information back to you, we will also include a secure link to our new online Mortgage Illustration Request Form.

1. Submit a 'Fact Find' request of your client's current mortgage information. We will aim to return this within 5 business days after the day of receipt.
   
   
2. Request a Mortgage Illustration. We will aim to return this within 3 business days after the day of receipt.
   
   
3. Submit a full application. We will aim to send an Offer to you and your client within 30 calendar days of receipt of the full application

We will aim to send this back to you within 3 business days after the day of receipt.

You can find the ‘Broker Variation Declaration Form’ in the Literature section of the Platform website for intermediaries, using the link below. The Declaration confirms that you have the full consent of your client to act on their behalf, including the way in which we will share information with you, as well as any other obligations you may have. This is in addition to our Terms of Business which you will have already signed up to when joining Platform’s Panel.