Speaking at the Mortgage Vision virtual event, head of intermediary relationships Jonathan Stinton (pictured) said the society wanted to be upfront with brokers about their service standards and changes to lending policy because of Covid-19.
He said where applicants are self-employed, the cases will be individually assessed by underwriters. To be considered, the borrower must have continued to be actively trading.
Brokers should expect a “slightly longer delay” because more information would be needed to support the application such as three months’ business bank statements.
Stinton said another policy change would be to restrict capital raising remortgages to 65 per cent loan to value.
Customer retention support
The mutual has also launched a guide for brokers to help them retain business when the mortgage is ready for renewal.
After conducting research within the society, the Coventry found that 27 per cent of borrowers were bypassing their broker and coming back to them directly to renew their mortgage deal.
Stinton said: “As an intermediary led lender, we want to make sure as many customers go back through that advice channel.
“So we have decided to create the mortgage broker’s guide to customer retention.”
The guide is available on Coventry Building Society’s website to download. The guide is designed to help brokers build strong and personal relationships with their clients including ideas of how to engage with clients from year one to year five and leveraging social media to drive up the broker’s business profile.
Stinton also used the session to unveil details about the lender’s return into interest-only lending.
