Exclusive: Unbranded offset comparison tool could spur sales

During a Mortgage Solutions video debate, hosted by Barclays, Gemma Harle, managing director of Tenet Lime, said a variety of obstacles stopped brokers selling offsets, but added: "Typing a client's details into a Barclays calculator when you haven't decided where to place the deal yet doesn't reassure the client."

"We need a generic calculator to help as an educational tool," she said.

Harle said the network was educating its advisers on the outer limits of their permissions, because mortgage advisers are unsure how closely they can compare products and look at client finances without overstepping the mark.

Length of sale can also be off-putting because offsets take longer to explain alongside the differently nuanced product criteria from lender to lender, she said.

David Finlay, Barclays intermediary business director said he could be talking himself out of offset business, but added: "If a generic offset comparison table is something lenders are willing to think about, working with the sourcing systems to create a non-branded product, I think we should take a look at it."

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