Many would say that if you are still in business it has been a good year.
But what about lenders? Which have moved forward in mortgage intermediaries’ estimation and which have slipped back?
BDRC Continental interviews a balanced random sample of 300 mortgage intermediaries each quarter, so our results allow us to give an informed overview of intermediary sentiment.
We’ve had to cheat a bit as the Q4 results are not yet in, so we’ve compared Q3 2012 with Q3 2011, but we’ve still got a full 12 month picture nonetheless.
So, cue drum roll… the intermediary lender of the year is… Nationwide. No contest.
A year ago, Nationwide was the number two mainstream lender. Now it’s the clear number one. Over the past 12 months, there has been a 22 point lift in intermediaries’ willingness to recommend Nationwide (+22).
And when we look at the ‘image’ of Nationwide (the descriptors that intermediaries feel apply to it as a lender) we see big uplifts in ratings for their ‘competitive mainstream pricing’ (+19), ‘efficient up-front service’ (+20) and ‘supports intermediaries’ (+16).
Just a warning though: business flow is stretching the service, so we were also seeing more negative word of mouth about Nationwide towards the end of the year.
Runner up to Nationwide is NatWest, where willingness to recommend is up by 18 points and there are lifts in image scores on pricing (+14), ‘efficient online application system’ (+13) and ‘supports intermediaries’ (+12).
To be fair, most other mainstream brands also have advanced – apart from Abbey. Abbey is the one clear mainstream brand to slip back over the year – but then, it had so much support it could afford to. It will be interesting to see how new product launches in December affect the brand in the long-term too.
In specialist markets, The Mortgage Works continues to lead from BM Solutions, but it is BM that has made more progress over the year with improved recall of its marketing and advances in its image scores. Kensington is the only specialist brand to have lost substantial support over the year.
One to watch? We would pick out Accord. Previously a low profile lender, Accord really turned on the marketing gas towards the end of the year. Although this has not yet added support for the brand, the prospects look good.
Tony Wornell is director at BDRC Continental
