With an endorsement by no less an industry heavyweight than AMI’s, British Mortgage Award winner, Robert Sinclair, it is clear that poor packing wasted everyone’s time and ultimately uses up vital resources and money.
But have we not been here before? There was a time that packagers provided just the service that lenders like Abbey seem to be asking for.
We collated all the necessary paperwork for the lender, instructed the valuation from the lender’s panel and presented the application in a manner where the lender can immediately issue an offer.
We know that lenders had banked heavily since the credit crunch on online facilities taking the place of employing experienced human assets.
However, as those same lenders have belatedly become aware, intermediary business rarely ticks all the neat boxes they want their cases to fit.
Abbey’s admission that it is worth paying more to have cases reach them that have been properly prepared, so they can go straight to offer, is telling.
The obituaries for packaging might have been dusted off regularly over the past few years, but could this move of Abbey’s be a tacit recognition that there is not only a place for packaging, but a real need?
However, although paying more for well prepared business coming direct is fine in principle, how will lenders actually police the process without creating more problems for themselves with introducers unhappy that their business does not attract the premium payment?
Surely, lenders would be better making use of specialist distributors or packagers, if you prefer. Not only do they get a facility with which the majority of brokers is familiar but also a great marketing resource as well as a way of saving money on expensive in house human infrastructure.
So if this is a call for help, there is a huge amount of experience out here among the packager distributors to provide the expertise that is clearly needed.
Tony Salentino is director at Complete Financial Services
