I hold the deposit for my new home in a pot as part of my Monzo account. I regularly transfer funds between my account and the pot. The problem I have is with my mortgage broker who has rejected my Monzo statements as proof of deposit with the following:
“Please provide at least 3 months statements for deposit account. Please provide statements for ‘savings pot’ account to show transfers between accounts”
I have repeatedly told them that the pot is ‘virtual’ but they still insist that they have a statement from the ‘pot account’ as well as the regular Monzo account statement I’ve already sent them. This is despite the fact that I’ve explained to them the concept of pots and even sent them a link explaining how pots work.
I think it’s a serious point. I think selecting a pot should show the transactions to/from that point from the pot’s point of view, and there should be an option to download a statement for it. Only being able to see the transactions from the “main” account point of view was unexpected.
I guess it would be a contentious topic, there is no practical use for a pot statement while the only transactions you can do on a pot are transfers between the main account.
I don’t think there is much point spending dev resources to cater to a single stubborn mortgage broker when there are so many of them out there to choose from.
Sorry, @anon23935806 but you are missing the point. I assume you haven’t applied for a mortgage in the UK yet? Anti money laundering regulations require the lender (as well as your solicitor) to assure themselves that the money you use for your deposit has been acquired legally. Additionally the lender will want to assure themselves that no 3rd party will have an interest in the property you are buying. The most common practice is to request statements for the past x months for your savings account.
Ordinarily, they won’t show much, apart from money going in and out of the account (hopefully more in than out), often at simple monthly intervals. So, if you are providing the last 3 months, then often that statement is only expected to show start balance, 3 transactions, and end balance.
However, it has an important reason: The statement will list the name of the one paying the money in. If that name isn’t your name (e.g. for cash deposits, or gifts from your parents), then you will be asked questions and to provide further information as to where the money is coming from (particularly for cash deposits). If its coming from 3rd parties (e.g. your parents) you will be asked to provide a letter in which they declare that (simplifying) the money was a gift, and that they won’t have an interest in your property.
This is standard practise in the UK and almost all mortgage lenders and solicitors will expect you to provide 3-6 months worth of statements for the account that you are paying your deposit from, and if you don’t have that then I think plenty of lenders and solicitors will get rather nervous…
It also needs different things for different audiences. Some for example want the account number appearing on every page, others don’t. So I think the trick it to make it as officious looking as possible.
The concept of pots is a great idea but it is undermined in situations such as this. The reason for the scrutiny is not down to the broker or the lender but AML legislation in the UK.
