The letter seen by Mortgage Solutions announced a two-month consultation period into the closure of Which? Mortgage Advisers and Which? Insurance Advisers, its two financial services brands following an internal review.
Staff were fully briefed yesterday afternoon and the company will make a decision on the planned closures by around mid-July.
Which? Group is a social enterprise and sits within the charity sector, however its parent organisation, the Consumer’s Association does not fund raise or accept charitable donations and is supported by the commercial activities of Which? Limited, which includes its mortgage advice arm.
The group suggested it is business as usual until the consultation period ends.
A Which? spokesperson added: “No final decisions will be taken until this process has taken place. While the consultation is underway, business will continue as usual, and we will continue to deliver the quality of service that our customers would expect.”
Conflict of interest
This month, the government was accused of creating a conflict of interest by exclusively promoting Which? Mortgage Advisers service in two of its guides to homebuying and selling, an effective lead generator for the commercial service.
Trade body the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) slammed the government’s endorsement of the Which? Mortgage Advisers service in two government guides to home buying and selling.
The mortgage advice trade body said it raised the issue because some of its member firms may be unaware that by promoting these advice guides, firms may be limiting their own commercial options.
Despite calls to broaden its choice of recommendations, the Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government accepted some but not all of AMI’s suggested document changes and refused to comment.
