Lenders vs brokers: the intermediary market's biggest gripe

If there is one thing that irks brokers it is lenders who are unnecessarily difficult. Brokers will often complain about lenders who refuse perfectly good applications or take longer than is necessary on certain matters causing delays to all involved. It’s certainly one of the intermediary market’s biggest gripes.

Related topics:  Mortgages
Phil Whitehouse
19th October 2016
Phil Whitehouse MCI Mortgage Club
"How can an intermediary expect a lender to make quick and sensible decisions on mortgage cases if much of the information is missing or incomplete?"

Having been in the broker market for many years I am sympathetic to the plight of brokers. However, it’s also clear to see that the problem is not one sided. Indeed, ask any lender what their biggest annoyance is and it’ll be receiving incomplete, inaccurate or sometimes downright shoddy applications.

You see, in many instances brokers just don’t help themselves. They want to get a case accepted quickly but often in rushing to get it to the lender they neglect to include vital information. I recall one instance when I was a branch manager of a building society I was presented with a case in which even the address of the property was ‘TBA’.

How can an intermediary expect a lender to make quick and sensible decisions on mortgage cases if much of the information is missing or incomplete?

The way in which lenders assess affordability has changed. We are all aware that this is a much more thorough assessment than it once was. Furthermore of course lenders are using highly sophisticated technology in credit scoring and other areas. As such it is essential that intermediaries fill in all questions accurately so as to get the best possible decision for their customers. Leaving information out is never going to help a case to go through.

An important case in point is to always include any existing account numbers that the customer may have with the lender. Often a customer can get ‘positive points’ for having a good track record but any benefits this might afford them will be missed out on if you don’t make it clear they are an existing customer. Don't assume that a staff member at the lender will search to put in the existing account number if you don’t fill it in. It’s much more likely to ignore the fact that the customer is an existing account holder.  

Take the time to make your customer’s application as thorough and accurate as possible in order to produce better customer outcomes. And a more straightforward process for all involved.

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