Research from Which? Mortgage Advisers shows that people aren’t doing their homework when choosing a mortgage with a quarter (23%) who have taken one out or remortgaged in the past five years saying they didn’t shop around enough. Worse still, of the four in ten (40%) people who have taken out a home loan with their main bank account provider, a third (35%) say they didn't shop around enough.
It is vital that people get information and advice to help them choose the right mortgage and those who got their mortgage through a broker were more likely to think they’d shopped around enough (70% compared to 57%) than those who went directly to the lender. One in five (19%) who didn’t receive independent advice said they regretted not seeking it.
Consumers also need to be aware that the quality of advice can vary from different sources. A third (32%) of people who spoke to bank staff when looking for their mortgage said they received poor advice.
Mike Lawton, Managing Director of Which? Mortgage Advisers, said:
“It’s worrying that some people are making one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives without fully comparing all the options or getting the quality information and advice they need."
