According to the latest Mortgage Solutions poll, which asked brokers about their preferred methods of communication with lenders, around 29% said webchat was their favoured option.
Only 14% said they preferred face-to-face communication and 7% cited email.
Roland McCormack, head of intermediaries at Barclays UK, said the results “show there’s no single ‘right’ way to communicate”.
He continued: “Different brokers will prefer different channels, and these will again vary depending on the type of task they’re doing. For example, a question on a product update might be best completed quickly via webchat or email, whereas a case issue may demand a deeper conversation on the phone.
“Regardless of channel, intermediaries want a personal touch backed by expert knowledge, speed and convenience. That’s why we’re relatively agnostic about communication methods, offering phone, text, email, live chat and face-to-face options so that we can meet our broker partners where they are. The most important thing will always be who’s on the other end of the line.”
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Chris Hill, head of sales at Accord Mortgages, added that it was “not surprising that a significant proportion of brokers prefer the convenience of a phone call” and this tied into its experience of how brokers preferred to interact with the firm.
“However, what we have found through our own research, is that the younger demographic of brokers are generally more open to – and are actively using – webchat as a preferred way to get a quick answer.
“For example, 50.7% of brokers with a tenure of five years or less agreed that webchats and chatbots allow them to get quicker answers from lenders than more traditional channels, versus 35% of those who have been in the industry for more than 20 years,” he noted.
Hill said that at Accord Mortgages, the advantage of the webchat facility was that it was managed by the same experienced and knowledgeable colleagues who take the inbound calls.
For most webchats, the broker will receive a transcript of the conversation, which is “helpful for compliance or audit trail, should they need it”, he added.
“That said, I do believe that it’s essential that brokers are given the choice as to how they communicate with lenders. For straightforward queries, webchat may be the best option, but for a more complex enquiry, picking up the phone to speak to a business development adviser (BDA) or business development manager (BDM) may be more likely to provide them with the support they need,” Hill noted.
Anth Mooney, CEO, Vida Homeloans, which launched its AI assistant Mobi last year, said: “Brokers don’t want more channels – they want faster access to answers and expertise. This poll reinforces what we see every day. Phone remains essential for complex cases where real-time conversation matters, while webchat is growing because it removes friction and delivers immediate support. The direction of travel for our market is clear: the strongest lenders will be the ones who combine human expertise with smart digital support.
“That’s why we’ve built our model around direct underwriter access through the V-Hub, supported by tools like our AI‑powered assistant Mobi, giving brokers confidence that they can reach the right expertise, quickly, however they choose to engage.”
Advisers ‘need access not interruption’
Sebastian Murphy, group director at JLM Mortgage Services, said he was “genuinely surprised by these results”.
He explained: “If you’d asked me to predict them, I would have had webchat and email sitting comfortably at the top, with phone calls much further down the list. In my own day-to-day dealings, and that of our advisers, the clear preference is for written communication that we can manage in our own time, not something that interrupts us, for example, mid-meeting.
“There is nothing more frustrating than receiving a random call at 8:15 in the morning, or worse, while you’re sat in front of a client, asking for an extra document or raising a routine query that could quite easily have been dealt with by email.”
Murphy said this was “inefficient for the adviser and, frankly, inefficient for the lender as well”.
“What’s even more pointless is when a lender calls, has a conversation, and then follows up with an email covering exactly the same ground. At that point, you do have to ask what was the point of the call in the first place? What advisers actually need is access, not interruption.
“We need someone at the end of the phone when we choose to pick it up because we have a problem that needs solving. Unsolicited calls at random times don’t add value; responsive, reliable support does,” he added.
Phone calls crucial for relationship building but webchat can be ‘helpful’ tool
Nick Mendes, mortgage technical manager and head of marketing at John Charcol, said the findings were not surprising, adding that it “makes sense” that phone calls came out on top.
He continued: “At the end of the day, there is still nothing quite like picking up the phone, talking a case through properly and sense-checking it in real time. You can explain the nuances, hear the tone on the other side, and BDMs are often invaluable in sharing experience and anticipating the questions an underwriter is likely to raise.
“Speaking with a BDM on both straightforward and more complex scenarios also strengthens the relationship over time. That matters. It is not just about solving a problem in the moment, it is about building a mutual relationship, so you have a trusted person at the end of the line. A good BDM is worth their weight in gold. And most will welcome the occasional constructive call that is not simply firefighting.”
Mendes said that five years ago, he would have expected face-to-face communication to be higher, but the shift reflects changing work patterns, adding that “time is tighter, patch sizes are broader and digital channels are more embedded in day-to-day processes”.
“Webchat’s rise is very much a sign of the times. Early versions often felt clunky and transactional, sometimes just redirecting you to a criteria page without adding context. That has improved. Many lenders now have more responsive systems, and in some cases, a human at the other end who can deal with quick, factual queries efficiently.
“We are also seeing more AI-driven chat tools drawing directly from lender criteria and website content. For simple checks, that can be genuinely helpful and time-saving. It is not a replacement for a detailed case discussion, but it has a clear role in the workflow.
“Looking ahead, phone is likely to remain strong for anything requiring judgement or context. Webchat and digital tools will continue to grow for quicker, criteria-led queries. Brokers will use whatever channel protects momentum on a case and helps get to the right answer first time,” he noted.
Chris Sykes, property finance specialist at MSP Financial Solutions said that the issue is live chat is it’s “good for simple criteria questions, but as soon as a case has multiple layers of complexity you are better having a call”.
He said: “By webchat brokers do not mean AI search boths. We are seeing a real trend of lenders introducing AI search bots to try to answer your questions prior to needing to put you through to a member of staff, all these search bots do is search criteria already on the website so they are completely not helpful and annoy us brokers more than anything, there is even one where if it can’t find the answer to your question it asks you to re-phrase it before it will put you through to a live chat team which is infuriating.”
Sykes said that it was “good for small critiera quirks or processing queries”.
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