1/ Our previous mortgage was through L&C. But when the Case Manager left the company our existing records appear to have been disregarded and we had to start all over again. 2/ Since approaching L&C to discuss our mortgage requirements in mid-February, we had dealings with seven different people – plus an (unimpressive) online tracking service. 3/ We were advised to take a mortgage through HSBC (our bank) and assured that we met all criteria. We were then told our application had failed. Then we were told this failure was a mistake by HSBC and our application was being fast-tracked. Then we were told it had failed a second time & advised that it wasn’t the best choice anyway. We were then advised to apply for a mortgage through Santander. Then we were told the HSBC application had not failed, but HSBC just needed proof of address. But when I phoned HSBC they told me it was a simple internal process & they couldn’t see why L&C hadn’t addressed it with a simple phone call. Our initial impressions of L&C professionalism had already faded badly – but by this point they vanished. 4/ In exasperation, we contacted a rival broker, and the experience was like light and day. We found their service to be much faster, very much more personalised and they got it right first time, with Approval in Principle on the same day. Most importantly, on those occasions when we phoned the brokerage, it was always possible to actually speak with the relevant person within 30 minutes – rather than always having to leave a voicemail that would prompt a response at some point in the following 3 days. The process was a simple one. We quickly received a formal offer. Our experience suggests L&C needs to make substantial improvements in its efficiency, communications & standards of customer service.