My girlfriend and I applied for a mortgage through Nationwide, where she is an account holder, in mid-July. However, months later, we have still not received a mortgage offer. We are now under pressure as the vendor wants to exchange contracts this week with the aim of completing towards the end of the month.

There have been multiple problems at Nationwide's end because the mortgage application doesn't include my girlfriend's middle name, which was automatically filled in by the system.

She has since sent in proof of her middle name three times. The first two were certified and stamped in branch, then faxed through from the branch. Only when chased did Nationwide explain that the fax copies weren't of sufficient quality to use, despite being sent from its own branch.

What can we do? We can't get a mortgage with anyone else in the timeframe and nothing seems to be resolving the problems with Nationwide – despite our paying £499 for the arrangement and booking fee. BJ, Poole, Dorset

Nationwide didn't exactly cover itself with glory when it came to this application – it was later held up because the valuation it carried out had expired (as a result of these delays) and it was insisting another had to be done, despite it being a rising market.

Happily, after we raised the matter with head office the problems were ironed out. It has now got proof of your girlfriend's middle name and decided that it no longer requires a second valuation. It said a "system error" meant the mortgage offer hadn't been generated. To say sorry for the "inconvenience caused", Nationwide is offering you £400.

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