Packaging cases right first time was mostly seen as a benefit to lenders, but there was now a realisation this could help brokers and borrowers benefit significantly, a panel discussed on Mortgage Solutions Television in association with Accord Mortgages.
Jeremy Duncombe, director of intermediary distribution at Accord, highlighted the current situation.
He emphasised that spending an extra 20 mins packaging a case up, speaking to your business development manager (BDM), or waiting for the next item in the post to get everything up front can save hours or even days.
“And with service levels being as they are across the industry, saving that three or four hours later on is a better investment in time by spending 20 minutes up front,” Duncombe said.
He added that a lot of calls and traffic coming into the lender could probably be self-served which would save advisers time and create more capacity to underwrite cases.
“And if we really put it in simple terms, the less time we spend answering calls that can be self-serviced, we can stay out longer for example in 90 per cent LTV lending,” Duncombe concluded.
Forge relationships with BDMs
JLM Mortgage Services head of mortgage finance Sebastian Murphy agreed brokers should be “forging good relations with their BDMs and almost getting cases pre-agreed verbally before they submit”.
“This would without a doubt speed up the process but also stop them putting cases to lenders which have now changed criteria and won’t do that type of lending anymore,” he added.
Meanwhile, SimplyBiz head of strategic development Richard Merrett noted: “Where lenders can help is being as clear as they possibly can, not just in separate packaging guides but pointing out to a broker what is going to be needed in every single case.”
This could include radio buttons or warnings on submission to ensure advisers had included the most important documents.
