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Matthew Flemming-Duffy, mortgage adviser for Bournemouth-based IFA Abacus Financial, said although he dealt with Beacon Homeloans through a packager he was pleasantly surprised with the products and help the lender was able to offer his client.

Mr Flemming-Duffy said: "Considering I had a client who had minimal adverse credit, we went through a list of high street lenders who would not touch the case but Beacon Homeloans offered it on a great rate of 6.65 per cent. It was brilliant.

"The application process was very streamlined and straightforward and only took, considering it was an adverse credit case, just short of three weeks to get to offer, which is really good.

"The client also had a credit card that she wanted to consolidate and was really upset about the fact nobody was helping her, including her bank.

"It was great to get the offer from Beacon. It was one of those cases where you feel rewarded doing your job, when you can help people out of that sort of situation.

"The product was great, considering it was getting declined elsewhere or bizarrely being risked very high, considering the low adverse credit but with Beacon in three weeks it went through and then it got offered."

Lender says...

Clive Willson, sales director of Beacon Homeloans, said: "We are pleased we provided a service that exceeded expectations. As is well known we distribute our loans through selected packagers and while it is always good to read comments such as these, I would like to thank them for supplementing our proposition by their efforts.

"In a difficult market, we have forged strong and important relationships with our packagers. We have always aimed to produce offers within seven days of receiving a fully packaged case. Each case is treated upon its own merits with a view to ensuring that the end customer is dealt with fairly and responsibly.

"It is clear from this example that the adviser and packager have worked very well together to get the client the deal they were after and we pleased to have been part of that process."

FACT

Beacon Homeloans Limited is the specialist lending arm of The Beacon Group and was launched in August 2005.

Davenham Property Finance

Simon Chalk, mortgage and equity release planner for Sheffield-based Mortgage Portfolio Services, said he used Davenham Property Finance regularly for his clients who required bridging finance and found their service to be second to none.

Mr Chalk said: "We use Davenham for our portfolio landlords and it provides up to 100 per cent bridging finance. We have been using it in specific cases. Offers can happen the same day subject to valuation, or at least within five days and for 100 per cent of the purchase price.

"The service is very good. What is unique about Davenham, is it assigns to you a business development manager who will come out to the site with you to inspect the property before purchase, after purchase, during the works and right through until completion.

"The application is very simple, they only want the client's name and telephone number and it gets on with the rest.

"They do not mess about at Davenham and that is the benefit. It is not like an ordinary mortgage lender. There is no credit scoring or routine credit check. It will sort the paperwork directly with the client, the client arranges their own valuer of choice and that is it, away you go. It pays good commission as well."

Lender says...

Darren Martin, sales director of Davenham Property Finance, said: "It is always great to receive such positive feedback.

"It is heartening to read everything we strive to achieve in order to set us apart from the competition has been recognised by our customer, namely in-house expertise, speed of decision-making, flexibility and service and not to mention our generous commission payments.

"If everything in the media is to be believed you may be forgiven for thinking that no one is lending anymore. It is quite the contrary at Davenham. We currently have more than £80m to lend and, if the deal is right, we are more than happy to offer 100 per cent loans.

"In these difficult times we see ourselves as more than just a funder. If the developer gets us involved at the start of the process, we can help them get a better deal when negotiating a purchase price."

FACT

Davenham Property Finance is part of the Davenham Group plc, a flexible asset-based lender for the SME sector.