We don’t expect quality service, so we don’t get it. Instead we just internalise the rage, moan or use it as just another excuse to drink too much.
However, commercially-speaking, there are times when waiting puts businesses and consumers at risk.
A check with financial regulator the FSA confirmed just nine firms have been fully authorised to do Sarb business since 1 July this year when the sector became fully regulated. In fact, the pace of FSA authorisation appears to have slowed to a crawl, with just one more firm receiving full authorisation in the last five weeks, since the eight issued to 12 July.
Fifty firms sought interim regulation but many fell away, deciding not to seek full authorisation. Sources suggest at least 12 companies are still sitting in the wings, in the “FSA merry-go-round”, as one commentator called it, waiting, unable to trade and passing business on to regulated firms, with some reportedly financially struggling.
It’s important the FSA gets this right. Unauthorised Sarb firms continue to operate and the FSA caught one, Mark Anthony Financial Management, last week.
Mortgage Solutions exclusively broke the story back in July that rogue firms continue to operate in a market that despite regulation, attracts sharp practice with catastrophic results for vulnerable homeowners desperate to sell homes and escape mortgage repayment problems.
The shocking levels of mis-selling, wantonly misleading advertising and virtual entrapment of vulnerable homeowners have certainly fallen. But, the waiting and uncertainty leaves a mixed picture for this market struggling to gain credibility with just nine legitimate firms.
Sarb firms may not be top of the FSA’s priority list but more homeowners will struggle as the economic outlook worsens. Sarb is one route homeowners can take and more competition should ensure better deals and lower fees for those it can help. The waiting game needs to end.
……………………………………………………….
And now for something completely different….
At Mortgage Solutions we’re not afraid of ploughing new furrows – we probably should be – but click here for more evidence that life is full of tough lessons for everyone, especially the young
