Over the summer brokers frequently expressed frustration over how lenders were communicating with advisers, particularly the short amount of notice provided ahead of product changes.
And while many advisers told Mortgage Solutions that the situation has improved, there was scepticism around whether this represented a lasting change or was simply the result of lenders being able to announce rate cuts rather than hikes.
Communication standards have turned the tide
Darryl Dhoffer, mortgage expert at The Mortgage Expert, said that the “tide has turned” with greatly improved communication from high street lenders.
He continued: “We are even getting calls from lenders chasing cases that we have at the agreement in principle stage, seeing when the case will be placed and any help they can assist with – this is not normal.”
Stephen Hargreaves, mortgage and protection adviser at The Mortgage Co, said that lenders deserved credit for the improvements in communication, particularly given how bad things had gotten.
“We have seen a huge decrease in all lenders answering the phones, underwriting mortgage applications, and reviewing their criteria to make things easier,” he continued.
“Hopefully the age of the arrogant lender is over, most lenders are well behind on new business and need broker support again.”
Stephen Perkins, managing director at Yellow Brick Mortgages, argued that lenders are always happy to give plenty of notice when they are reducing rates.
“What is clear is that lender service levels and communication are currently as good as they have been in a long time, mostly due to the lower levels of transactions they are dealing with, meaning an end to the backlogs,” he continued.
Setting the standard
Coventry Building Society was once again pinpointed as a leading light when it comes to lender communication.
Martin Stewart, director of London Money, suggested that the mutual set the “industry benchmark”, while Charles Breen, founder of Montgomery Financial, said that Coventry “leads the way and others are forced to follow suit”.
The message has changed
It’s not that communication has improved, but rather that lenders are sharing good news rather than bad, argued Scott Taylor-Barr, financial adviser at Barnsdale Financial Management.
He suggested that if and when rates rise again in future “all the issues and problems that were highlighted earlier in the year will still be present and brokers will, once again, be expected to drop everything and work until midnight every night, to ensure clients aren’t disadvantaged because lenders have decided to increase rates with little notice”.
A similar argument was made by Neezam Romjon, co-founder of Rebus Financial Services, who said that lenders still tend to only notify brokers of rate changes the day before, but that they are at least cutting rates now rather than increasing them.
He continued: “We are often holding off submitting applications for a day or so if we know that the rate we are applying for is about to drop, which our clients are delighted with.”
Mike Staton, director of Staton Mortgages, said that lender communication had improved “massively”, but this was because they wanted business from brokers.
“Don’t be lured into a false sense of security, as soon as they have had their fill, they’ll be harder to find than a pothole-free road in England,” he concluded.
Perkins agreed that brokers know that once things pick up, service levels will drop again and if rates increase most lenders will not be able to give any notice.
Brokers need to look at themselves
Stewart said that he was on the side of lenders on this debate, given that in the grand scheme of things brokers are less important than clients and lenders.
He added: “Unfortunately, a lot of brokers struggle to understand macro-economics and how it all fits together. The sooner they include that in the CEMAP exam instead of ‘What is an endowment?’ the better.”
James Bull, mortgage broker at JB Mortgages, said that generally there was little problem with lender communication, arguing that a good broker should be doing their sourcing on the day the application is submitted in order to get the most up-to-date rates.
“If this is being done then I see little reason as to what difference lenders changing their product range should make to advisers,” he continued.
Brokers need to let go more
It’s important to grasp that we are “in a very different market today” than that of last year, suggested Stewart, with the drama of that period having “practically disappeared”.
He argued that issues with lender communication and workloads are best handled through proper delegation, but argued many brokers “can’t let go” and so are “doomed” to continue suffering.
“I would suggest brokers have many more fires to contend with than just lender emails.”
