The challenge, as in every industry, is that the few can spoil it for the many. It is therefore essential that we can identify who ‘the few’ are whose practices can bring our industry into disrepute.
There are always a few bad apples in every walk of life and the mortgage and protection industry is no different. There are also a few more people who may not break the rules exactly, but who like to sail very close to the wind.
Confidence around competency
It is, of course, the Financial Conduct Authority’s responsibility to review all those who are directly authorised, but for firms recruiting brokers, you want to make sure that those you bring in are the most upstanding people – as well as the most competent.
This is especially the case when you are taking on the regulatory responsibility for them.
It is therefore essential, when bringing a broker in on either an employed or self-employed basis, to know if lenders or protection product providers have stopped dealing with them for any reason. It is crazy that at the moment there is no way to find this out.
It is nonsensical that, despite taking up the typical employment references on someone, there is no way to establish if the person you are bringing into your firm has been struck off, as it were, by any lender or provider. This is of course, until they are working for you, at which point you may or may not discover that they are avoiding a particular lender, or provider, who won’t deal with them.
Potential breaches
You also, therefore, cannot establish why it is that such a provider won’t deal with them.
Usually, it is because of a pretty serious breach, or perhaps a series of non-compliant cases. It could be that the broker feels that this has happened unjustly, but the lender gave them no right of appeal, but a new employer still needs to know this is the case so that they can make a judgement call or else it is their own reputation that is at risk.
This is a massive flaw in the way that our industry works.
We all want the mortgage and protection industry to be the very best it can be, so it is essential that firms can take up references on the brokers they bring into their companies and be able to see if any lender or provider has had a cause for concern.
This will help to stamp out bad practice, help ensure that firms and individuals remain compliant, and, more importantly, help to protect the consumer and ensure that they are always dealing with the very best people and giving them the very best advice.
