73% of intermediaries surveyed at the recent Financial Services Expo agreed that they have been feeling more confident about recommending secured loans since April, when the FCA took over from the Office of Fair Trading. A further 93% of advisers felt that secured loans should now be considered under ‘best advice’, alongside remortgages.
The growing popularity of secured loans among advisers is clear, however, there is still plenty of progress to be made. The survey also showed that almost a third (32%) of brokers have still never used a secured loan as an alternative to a remortgage.
Darrell Walker, Head of Intermediary at The Lending Wizard, comments on the survey:
“In the past, secured loans were often seen as a fall-back product, and something outside the comfort zone of many brokers. The changes under the FCA have had the dual effects of certifying secured loans as a mainstream lending product and tasking brokers with the explicit requirement to carefully review all the options in order to be certain of offering the best advice. For example, a secured loan could well be a suitable alternative for people who are unwilling to disrupt a great deal already in place on their current mortgage.
"It’s still early days for the FCA’s impact on the consumer credit market, but this is a trend we expect to see increasing in the weeks and months ahead.”
