Frequently Asked Questions

We’re an independent mortgage brokerage serving Chesterfield and the surrounding Derbyshire area. Tony Hunt, our adviser, is CeMAP qualified with close to two decades in the industry and access to around 60 lenders, so clients aren’t limited to whatever a single bank happens to be offering that week. Our focus is proper, personal advice for people buying, remortgaging, or investing in property across the local area.

A broker’s job is to match your circumstances to the right lender and the right deal, not just the cheapest headline rate. That means looking at your income, deposit, credit history, and what you’re trying to achieve, then narrowing down a market of hundreds of products to the handful that actually suit you. We handle the paperwork, liaise with the lender on your behalf, and keep the application moving so you’re not chasing anyone for updates.

Going direct to your own bank means you only ever see their products. A broker like Tony can compare deals from dozens of lenders side by side, including some that don’t deal with the public directly at all. This tends to matter most if your situation isn’t completely straightforward — self-employed income, a smaller deposit, a past credit blip, or you’ve been turned down elsewhere. In those cases, a broker can often find a lender who’s a genuinely better fit rather than a flat no.

Yes. Certain professions get assessed quite differently from one lender to the next, particularly where income includes dividends, locum work, or practice ownership. We’ve put together dedicated guides covering mortgages for vets and mortgages for accountants, looking at how each lender treats that income and what tends to work best at different career stages. If your profession isn’t covered there, get in touch anyway — Tony can usually tell you quickly whether it’s a straightforward case or one that needs a specialist lender.

Every broker structures fees differently, so it’s worth asking directly, but we start with a free, no-obligation initial conversation. That first chat is about understanding what you need and whether we’re the right fit — no charge and no pressure. Any fee we do charge is agreed upfront and tied to us actually finding and progressing a mortgage for you, so you always know what you’re paying for before you commit to anything.

An illustration (sometimes still called a quote) sets out what a particular mortgage would actually cost you: the deposit needed, the interest rate, your likely monthly payments, and any early repayment charges. To put one together we’ll need some basic details — your income, employment situation, the property you’re looking at, and how much you want to borrow. Get in touch and we can usually turn an illustration around quickly once we’ve got the full picture.

Yes. Buying a property is usually the biggest financial commitment most people make, and it’s worth thinking about what happens if things go wrong. Life cover, for example, can clear the outstanding mortgage balance if you were to pass away, so your family isn’t left with the debt on top of everything else. We’re happy to talk through what protection makes sense for your situation as part of the wider advice, not as an afterthought.

Give us a call or drop us a message and we’ll book in a free initial conversation with Tony. There’s no obligation — it’s simply a chance to talk through your situation and find out how we can help before anything is set in motion.