Vir tual Office Help Guide for Intermediaries FOR INTERMEDIARY USE ONLY - NOT FOR PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Getting Started This guide contains instructions and helpful hints on using Virtual Office to produce Illustrations, AIPs and applications. Login IDs and Passwords To log in to Virtual Office simply visit www.bankofireland4intermediaries.co.uk and click on login. Our automated registration process means that getting started is quick and easy. All you need is your Financial Services Register number, a user name and a case sensitive password. Your username and password are unique to you and should be kept private. Please note the username field is not case sensitive, the password field is case sensitive. If you forget your password click on the forgotten your password link and you will be emailed a reminder. If you get locked out please call our sales support team on 028 9027 8458* available from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday or email NIsalessupport@boi.com Important Information Where an application is Regulated you need to ensure you fulfil your responsibilities before submission of the AIP or application. If the case is submitted before issuing the Illustration you must obtain the applicant(s) consent for a credit search to be undertaken and advise them that this will leave a footprint on their credit file which may influence the outcome of future credit applications. Moving Around Virtual Office If your screen is left idle for 60 minutes or more, you will automatically be logged out of Virtual Office. Please save your screens regularly so that information is not lost. You can save time by using the copy function when details for applicant two are the same as for applicant one (e.g. address details). To use this, just key in the details for applicant one and click copy. My Profile This allows you to amend your personal details and change your password if necessary. My Case Files My Case Files lists all Illustrations, AIPs and applications that you have submitted or saved. In each column there will be a green tick or red exclamation mark to show the status. The green tick indicates that a case has been submitted. Clicking on this will take you to the decision page. The red exclamation mark indicates that a case is in progress; it has been saved but not submitted. Clicking on this will take you to the saved screen, allowing you to fully complete and submit. You can also select cases by clicking on the underlined ID number. When an online application has been accepted the status on My Case Files page will be updated to show one of the following: App Accepted Pending Payment - the application has been accepted but you will need to pay the valuation fee online within three days otherwise the case will be closed. App Submitted - the application has been accepted and allocated to an underwriter to process. The last 20 cases will be shown automatically in your My Case Files page. To view cases further back you can reset the date criteria. You can search for specific cases using a range of search parameters. You can click on reset to clear all fields. Tip - in My Case Files page you can progress either an Illustration or AIP to a full application at any point and it will be populated with the data already entered. Please note it is not possible to progress a declined AIP to an application. Clicking the question mark symbol will reveal advisory notes relevant to that section. A red! symbol will appear if any mandatory information is missing. There is a print option that allows you to print a copy to your local printer. Please note that this cannot be submitted as the application form, it is purely for your records. Please do not use commas, full stops or symbols in numeric fields and please round figures up to the nearest pound.
Useful Information All Loan Types Most users will receive an automatic decision within one minute. Where an immediate decision is not possible the case will be referred to an underwriter who will complete an assessment within three working days. You will be able to view the underwriter s response. Applicant Income Details Where there are more than two applicants, please enter the two highest earners as applicants one and two. When completing an AIP or application we will ask for the following details: Employed Applicants - Annual Basic Salary, Non-Guaranteed Overtime/Bonus/Commission and other Regular Income. Self Employed Applicants UK Taxable Income. Please click on the question mark symbol in section four of the AIP or application for a breakdown of what we require. Buy to Let Cases When applying for more than one Buy to Let case for a borrower, you can copy from an existing Buy to Let case in the My Case Files page. This facility will create a new AIP or application using the details input in the most recent case submitted for that client. Simply change any different information e.g. property type, product, loan amount and then submit. Please ensure that you select the correct mortgage type from the drop down box. This will ensure the right Buy to Let products are available for you to select and the correct Estimated Rental Value (ERV) is applied. In an AIP or full application you will be asked to enter details of any existing mortgages. If your client is remortgaging their existing residential property mortgage onto a Buy to Let basis please enter 0 as the existing mortgage amount. You will need to provide the following information at the end of the form: - Loan amount (including any capital being raised) - Estimated rental to be received Please note any automatic acceptance assumes that the rental received will meet our minimum ERV. This will be recalculated when the valuation is received. Case Amendments At any time prior to submitting a case for a decision you can make amendments. Once a case has been submitted, the save/submit options will remain available to you up until the case has been allocated to an underwriter. Customer Verification In accordance with Money Laundering Regulations and to help protect against fraud, we are required by law to verify the names and addresses of all customers. When we receive your client s application we will attempt to electronically verify their identity through a credit reference agency. If we are unable to obtain this information we will request identification documents. Should this be required, a list of acceptable customer identification verification documents accepted by us will be provided to you. Decisions Explained Accept - if your case is accepted you will be asked to pay the valuation fee online within three working days, otherwise the case will be closed. Click on the Underwriter Comment link to view requirements for the case. Please note that anything written in the AIP or applications additional information section will not be taken into account with an auto accept. However, this additional text will be reviewed by an underwriter and subsequently the decision may change. We reserve the right to request further information and review our decision if major differences exist when the application is submitted. Decline if a case is an auto decline you have the right under the Data Protection Act to request that an underwriter reviews a credit scored decision. Please note that if the case has been declined because of the credit score and your client would like to appeal, information on how to do this can be found in Our Decision Explained booklet which is available from us on request. Refer - this means that the case needs referral to an underwriter to decide whether we are able to proceed with it. An underwriter will normally review your case within three working days. You will be able to review the underwriter s decision in Underwriter Comments which is a hyperlink on the Response page.
Fees Product Fees - if fees are applicable to a product the relevant fields will be pre-populated. Valuation Fee - select the type of valuation your client wants. The fee payable will automatically populate for Standard Mortgage Valuation Report and HomeBuyer Report. Where the valuation fee is payable, you will be asked to pay online by debit or credit card within three working days of acceptance, otherwise the case will be closed. Returned Rules U100 D Rules X Rules U Rules I Rules Notice of Correction Decline Exception to criteria - referred to an underwriter Application requires assessment by an underwriter Information rules to assist with underwriter requirements Intermediary Fee - this is the fee that you are charging the client for arranging this mortgage. You will need to select whether the fee is refundable or payable at application or completion. Procuration Fee - we will pay the procuration fee to Legal & General or First Complete. Please check with Legal & General or First Complete what fee you will receive. Interest Only Cases If any part of a residential mortgage is interest only we will require evidence of the chosen repayment strategy. Please see our lending criteria on our website www.bankofireland4intermediaries.co.uk for full details. Loan Type Select the loan type required i.e. fixed rates, trackers etc. Only products of that type will be shown in the drop down list of products to select. Outgoings Please key in all outgoings and indicate if they are to be repaid on completion. If you have already submitted an AIP the total of the committed outgoings declared in the full application should match the total committed outgoings declared in the AIP. Porting Cases If you have a Bank of Ireland customer who would like to port their existing mortgage product to a new property, please call our sales enquiry line on 028 9027 8458*. Although all relevant rules will be displayed, if any decline rules are returned the case will not be referred as it has been automatically declined. The only exceptions to this are if the applicants have registered a Notice of Correction (Rule U100) or the Unmatched Address rule is returned (U209). An underwriter will assess these cases. The Information Rules will assist in underwriter requirements and will advise if the applicants are on the Electoral Roll, if so for how long, and will cover both current and previous addresses. I rules will also advise if the applicant s existing mortgage is shown on the credit bureau and whether it has been held for more than 12 months. These rules will indicate whether you need to obtain proof of residency and/or proof of mortgage payments. Save Function This function allows you to save any partially completed Illustrations, AIPs or applications that you are working on. The system will allocate a reference number so that you can come back to it later. Solicitor s Details If the product your applicant is applying for includes standard legal fees, please enter fees paid in the Firm Name box. Submitting When you have finished, click on the submit button. If you have forgotten anything, a list of missing information will be displayed. Simply enter the required information and click submit again. When you generate an Illustration it will open in PDF format, in a pop up window. You will then be able to view, print or save the Illustration as required. Please note you will require Adobe Acrobat to be installed on your computer to view PDF documents, this can be downloaded free from Adobe s website. Underwriter Requirements To view underwriter requirements click on the Underwriter Comment link.
Any Problems? If you are having problems with the system please contact our sales support team from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday on 028 9027 8458*. If we are unable to resolve your query immediately, we will take your details, investigate the problem and get back to you. For more information call our sales support team on 028 9027 8458* available from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. FOR INTERMEDIARY USE ONLY - NOT FOR PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION * Please note all calls will be recorded for training and monitoring purposes. Bank of Ireland UK is a trading name of Bank of Ireland (UK) plc which is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. All queries relating to our UK mortgage products and services should be addressed to our UK administration centre at:- Bank of Ireland (UK Mortgages), PO Box 27, One Temple Quay, Bristol, BS99 7AX. Telephone: (0117) 979 2222. Fax: (0117) 929 3787. B0218 0814 MA066