Speaking to this publication, Steve Griffiths, chief commercial officer at TML said instead of “catch-all criteria” the system would only ask for relevant information. This will occur before the application is submitted as brokers will be asked for relevant documentation when the decision in principle (DIP) is produced.
When they submit a case, it will go to a clear case summary page and then they will have the opportunity to upload documents.
Griffiths said: “The underwriter will underwrite the case when the broker has uploaded the documents to them. This will significantly streamline the process. This means that we are able to assess the case and supporting documents simultaneously, rather than having to revisit the case when documents are uploaded at a later date.
“We’ve reduced the number of documents we’d asked for as well, and we’ll continue to invest in that technology which means that there will be more automated decisioning. The lists of what will be needed from the broker will become shorter, there’s not going to be any grocery shopping list on there. It’s very basic information that we ask for to support the application.”
He pointed to self-employed income where you will now get different affordability outcomes based on the proof provided. The system will only ask for required documents depending on whether you ask for income to be based on profit before tax or salary and dividends.
“It’s drilling down into only asking for what we need,” Griffiths added.
The system will also ask for accounts at the point of input so brokers can go to the customer and get the right documents immediately. He noted that this would be “bespoke” for the customer.
Griffiths continued that brokers will have the ability to instruct valuations themselves through a button on case summary page if it is urgent and once they have uploaded documents, and noted that automated valuations were coming down the track.
People and tech working in harmony
Another key change is increased communication with email reminders saying thanks for the case and warning of possible missing documents, as well as instant updates at important milestones such as ‘Valuation Received’ or ‘Offer Issued’.
“We’ve really listened to what it is brokers want, we’re trying to get to the point where we get the tech doing what the tech does best, but we still have the people doing what the people do best because we’re very much still a people business,” he said.
Griffiths said that it was “not going to suddenly be a ‘computer says no’ scenario” and advisers would still have an assigned underwriter who is the “mandate holder and looks after their case from start to finish”.
“If there is something that the broker needs to talk to somebody about they’re still able to do so. That’s not going away,” he said.
Griffiths said that the technology changes would “take away some of the admin burden and automate a lot of the straightforward lending decisions”.
“What that means is it makes the process quicker, and you get more certainty earlier in the process. What we’re trying to do is once the broker gets to a DIP they know whether TML will do lend and what we’re going to need from the customer in order to progress,” he noted.
“Eliminate, automate, simplify, that’s what we’ve had at the heart of what we’re looking to develop for our broker portal. We’ve asked do we really need it? Can we not ask for it anymore?”
Griffiths said that another aspect of the technological improvement is that it would allow the firm to “build and release products very quickly”.
“We’ve got a list of things that we’re going to be looking at in terms of the market, and this technology will allow us to do that,” he added.
