He comments:
“The FCA’s Mortgage Market Review comes into force at the end of the month and amongst its reforms are calls for a ‘common-sense’ set of measures to help ensure borrowers can meet the repayments of the mortgage they want, both now and in the future. This, the FCA believes, will help it meet a key objective to ‘secure an appropriate degree of protection for consumers’."
Whilst the measures are not defined, Burgess suggests they should include payment protection insurance. He continues:
“Very few lenders now offer this cover which has caused a huge protection gap. By reintroducing revamped cover into the market, it will cut the proportion of delinquent loans on lenders’ books, reduce the likelihood of an FCA investigation into lending criteria (plus any fines), and more importantly, provide clients with a valuable financial safety net, clearly evidencing how the lender adds value and treats customers fairly.”
“In its 2013/2014 Business Plan the FCA says a key risk is that ‘firms do not design products or services that respond to real consumer needs or that are in consumers’ long-term interests’.”
