Working as a seafarer often means earning in a foreign currency and living outside the UK – two things that most UK mortgage lenders don’t particularly like.

But if you work with a specialist mortgage broker, you may find you’re eligible for very competitive mortgage rates and terms – just like any other UK-based borrower.

You just need to get your application right, and go with the right lender.

The Client

This client had been trying to arrange finance through another broker, but had been given the run-around and were losing faith in whether it was even possible.

They were trying to re-mortgage their UK property to secure their family finances, and complete some much-needed home improvements.

But as a seafarer, they earned in US dollars – ruling out many high-street lenders right off the bat.

To complicate things further, they also made regular use of their overdraft, and had a late mortgage payment on their credit record – not good for automated mortgage approval systems.

How We Helped

We take the time to review the merits of every client’s situation before suggesting a solution, to ensure we’re recommending the absolute best scenario possible.

In this case, we discussed the case in detail with a high street lender that we have a strong relationship with, and they agreed they would be able to consider the application.

We submitted the app, but as expected, the loan was initially declined by the lender’s automated credit system.

So, we submitted it for manual review, and got on the phone to the underwriter. After back-and-forth discussions, some extra paperwork and a few additional steps, they agreed that the bank should support the case, and we were able to arrange the finance we had applied for.

Since this was a high-street bank, this provided the client with a very competitive rate without the need to use specialist or adverse lending solutions which, while certainly a valid option, would have incurred extra costs.

However, we weren’t done yet. After the mortgage was offered, rates started to improve in the market throughout the following months and during the client’s house-buying process.

We always ensure we keep our clients’ applications updated to ensure they don’t miss out on any rate savings before completion – and that’s exactly what we did here.

From the point of application to the point of completion, these savings totalled over £3,000.