According to Smart Money People’s Mortgage Lender Benchmark for H1 2023, overall satisfaction with mortgage lenders improved by four per cent to 83.4 per cent. This was the highest average rating recorded by the benchmark.
Satisfaction with specialist lenders rose by seven per cent to 82 per cent.
The net promoter score (NPS), which measures loyalty, ranged between -46.6 and +68.4. The average loyalty score for all lenders was +34, which was an increase of 12.9 points on the last report.
Smart Money People said lender speed and communication were the most improved metrics, with satisfaction with lender speed coming to 77.7 per cent, which was a 6.7 per cent increase. Sentiment towards lender communication increased by 4.5 per cent to 81.1 per cent.
Halifax was named the best bank by brokers, while West Brom Building Society was named the best building society lender. The best lifetime provider was Canada Life and Pepper Money was recognised as the top specialist lender. HSBC was named the best buy-to-let lender.
Reliance on sourcing systems
Smart Money People said brokers suggested that lenders were not acting quickly enough to innovate products and meet their needs.
A third of brokers said they were not being listened to and systems were being updated.
Advisers were generally happy with how easy products were, with an overall satisfaction rating of 82.6 per cent.
Smart Money People said brokers seemed to no longer be complaining about the accuracy of information, which used to be a common criticism. It said this was because brokers were now using sourcing tools instead of contacting lenders directly.
The study was conducted between March and May, before much of the recent market turbulence, and gathered the opinions of 775 brokers on 113 lenders.
Jacqueline Dewey, CEO of Smart Money People, said: “Despite the almost constant volatility and pressures across all aspects of the mortgage process, I find the results in our tenth edition of the Mortgage Lender Benchmark encouraging. They show a commitment by lenders, whatever the market conditions, to deliver a great service and experience to brokers and their customers.
“Since our H1 2023 survey was conducted, we’ve seen yet another state of flux with questions raised about how lenders interact and communicate with brokers around rate changes. It will be interesting to see how that’s reflected in our H2 2023 study, with the results announced late Q4 2023.”
