By Rachel Williams
Intermediaries using The Mortgage Operation’s mortgage sourcing software, TMOS, will now be able to calculate the true cost of a mortgage and make realistic comparisons between mortgage products.
The facility is just one of a range of improvements that will be made to the software.
Research among advisers revealed that the most useful improvement to TMOS would be a true cost comparison facility.
When borrowers select a mortgage they tend to opt for the product with the lowest rate, but if the mortgage is not held for the full length of the term it may not work out as the best value for money.
To establish the true cost of a mortgage, the intermediary simply needs to enter a specific term for each product and the system will now be able to calculate the impact of various charges, fees and incentives on the overall rate. These include factors such assistance with legal fees, free valuations, free insurance as wells as redemption fees and extended tie-ins.
Brian Hart, field manager for TMOS, said: “Borrowers are often mis-led by low headline rates. But this system will help by taking all these additional factors into consideration to give the true cost of a mortgage over a defined period of time.”
Other changes to TMOS include the launch of a preferential lender panel. This will allow intermediaries to personalise the range of lenders used when sourcing mortgages and will be a useful feature for tied agents and Scottish intermediaries.
Hart said: “Intermediaries may work for an insurance company and therefore be a tied to a specific panel of lenders – they do not need software that quotes on lenders they cannot use. Now they can adapt TMOS to only quote lenders they can use. Likewise Scottish intermediaries will only want to deal with lenders that lend in Scotland.”
The relaunched TMOS will also include more sorting fields when setting the criteria for product searches. “The system can now be more precise to help advisers get to the required mortgage,” said Hart. Borrowers can now state whether they want a CAT-standard mortgage, a redemption-free mortgage, or a loan without extended tie-ins, for example.
Sales aids will also be included such as a flexible mortgage calculator. Hart said: “It can be difficult to demonstrate costs on a flexible mortgage. This will allow advisers to program in any additional payments to illustrate the effect on the mortgage.”
TMO has also boosted the mortgage compliance element of TMOS. “We now have the facility to help brokers deal compliantly, by providing the necessary paperwork including quotation illustrations, reason-why letters and an audit trail. There will now be a minimal administration requirement,” said Hart.
