Around 35% said they preferred communicating via a messaging service or through emails, while the remainder said they preferred other ways to get in touch such as interacting face to face with a lender.
Ray Boulger, senior technical consultant at John Charcol said that the different forms of communication are dependant on the type of access that a broker has to a lender.
“When a broker is trying to get in touch with one of the bigger lenders in the market, sometimes it can be easier for them to write out their enquiry clearly into an email addressed to the underwriter.
“On the other hand, it is equally dependant on what type of enquiry it is. For example, if a broker is making an enquiry about a straightforward case then it might be worth getting in touch with the lender by going online.
“If it’s a more complicated case, then intermediaries may prefer communicating face to face.”
Ian Wilson, head of sales at Halifax Intermediaries said that it’s difficult to provide great service when a ‘one size fits all’ approach is adopted.
“Different brokers will prefer to communicate with us in different ways, and we should accommodate that. We’re in the process of piloting a live messaging system, but brokers can continue to converse with us over the phone or by email if that’s better for them.
“We want to make it easier for brokers to do business with us, and we can’t do that unless we listen to what they want.”
Mark Bullard, head of sales at NatWest Intermediary Solutions insists that intermediaries favour its LiveTALK service, which has achieved a 90% satisfaction rating from brokers.
He said: “We have championed the use of our instant messaging service LiveTALK for all pre-sale enquiries concerning mortgage applications and the result of this poll echoes the feedback we have received from brokers.”
He added that while LiveTALK is effective, NatWest still offers intermediaries face-to-face and on the phone contact.
“Brokers can even call our mortgage processing centre if they want to get a case update, so we ensure that there is more than one element of our overall broker contact proposition.”
