It has been full of ups, downs and struggles to complete the level of work they have been charged with, at a time when their resources (particularly human) have been stretched.
Even with clients and cases which might appear to be ‘vanilla’, mortgage advisers will be acutely aware of the potential for issues in working through the conveyancing process in today’s environment, to a point where the average purchase now takes (I’m led to believe) approximately 24 weeks from marketing of the property to completion.
When you add in more complex arrangements, as you would find with a limited company buy-to-let purchase, shared ownership or with an equity release case, then there is the potential for completion times to take even longer.
This is especially true if your client is not using a specialist solicitor well-versed in this sector.
The need for a specialist
This is why we continue to implore advisers to stress the need for specialist solicitors in equity release, and it’s why we run a specialist solicitor panel through Air, because we’ve seen far too many cases which have come up against severe issues when using a firm that isn’t fully immersed in equity release.
Now, I’m sure there will be advisers quick to point out that a specialist does not guarantee a quicker timeframe for completion. However, I guarantee that – in the grand scheme of things and over the course of your career – you will see far more time benefits with your clients utilising the skills, experience and resource of a specialist, than if you ‘allow’ them to choose their own firm.
Because, invariably, they will opt for a family firm who hardly ever works on an equity release case, or they’ll go with a friend or family members’ recommendation who will have little to no experience with our market, and lest we forget, will charge considerably more for the ‘service’.
Currently, clients can secure the services of a specialist equity release solicitor for around a third of what non-specialists will charge, particularly if they are not fully conversant with the process, and depending on where they are based in the country.
London is an area where firms seem to consistently charge obscenely excessive fees.
And, as mentioned, this is for firms that only deal with a handful of equity release cases a year, even less, and whose lack of understanding can seriously impede a case rather than facilitating it.
Easing worries
A further point that was raised in a recent Breakfast with Stuart meeting by Peter Barton of Barton Law – who are specialists in our sector and are on our panel – is the peace of mind their involvement can also give to the adviser.
We have many experienced advisers working in the later life market, but we also have a growing number of new ones too. Working with a specialist solicitor can provide a huge amount of confidence here.
They deliver real added value, and an extra line of protection in many cases, which can be particularly appealing in areas such as identifying potentially vulnerable customers or working through a more complex property arrangement.
They are also advantageous in dealing with the client face-to-face and ensuring they fully understand what they are signing up for, and the responsibilities that come with equity release.
Often, and most later life advisers have seen this at one point or another, you come across solicitors trying to row-back on the advice to the client, suggesting it’s wrong for them, either because they have an aversion to equity release or they simply don’t understand it.
That can be incredibly harmful and can end up causing serious issues – the solicitor is not the adviser and shouldn’t think they have the right to present themselves as such.
Overall, therefore, advisers are in a strong position here to ensure their client not only has the best advice but also the best solicitor for their needs and this sector.
We are fortunate to work with several excellent specialists in this field, and it can save everyone involved a huge amount of stress, frustration, time and indeed, money if they use a specialist solicitor for, what is undoubtedly, still a specialist sector.
