Lisa Martin, development director at TMA Club suggested preparing as early as July to maximise on the potential business.
So this week, Mortgage Solutions is asking: Have you started preparing for the large number of mortgage maturities set to happen this year?
Jonathan Clark, mortgage and protection planner at Chadney Bulgin
We make diary notes five months before the expiry of a mortgage product for all our clients, we’ll send an email, write and phone them – we’re quite diligent when making contact.
We wait a couple of weeks after writing, then we’ll email and phone if we haven’t heard back. We don’t hear back from everyone, but we have a high success rate. Some of our advisers have a success rate of over 90 per cent.
Otherwise, it’s no issue because the client wants to renew the rate and we want to secure the business. For us, a good old fashioned diary system has worked best.
However, some lenders are getting a bit more aggressive at targeting those customers themselves. Lenders view them as their customers and of course, we view them as our customers.
So, with some lenders there’s a bit of a race to get to them first.
We don’t categorise our clients in terms of who needs contacting first, but we did do a project last year where we got in touch with all our equity release customers who were on rates of around six or seven per cent.
Even though there was a substantial penalty, we found it made financial sense to remortgage them onto a cheaper rate.
Brokers should also be focusing on remortgaging clients who aren’t already on their books but due to the sheer weight of business at the moment, I understand that it’s not easy.
John Phillips, managing director Just Mortgages and Spicerhaart
We have developed an industry leading approach to remortgages, and the recent increase in quantity has not changed our method.
Our approach ensures our brokers are provided with leads, and our customers are given the best advice possible.
The client servicing team proactively contacts all clients whose mortgage is due to come to an end within six months. Once they have made contact, they will then continue to follow up with the client at regular monthly intervals to ensure they are aware of the options.
This continues right up until the remortgaging date, at which point the client is passed on to the original broker they worked with. When this is not possible, they are referred to one of our experienced brokers.
From here, our broker can provide expert advice and ensure the client is aware of the products available to them.
This approach is the same for all our clients, regardless of age or demographic as we trust our brokers to be able to deliver first-class service for our clients, regardless of their background or their specific requirements.
To attract new business, we have been running a social media campaign for the past three years which is highlighting the importance of remortgaging.
This campaign focuses on ensuring customers are getting the best deal possible, and promotes how Just Mortgages’ team of brokers can help find that deal.
David Hollingworth, associate director, communications at London and Country Mortgages
Looking after existing customers should be a primary goal for any adviser.
The first interaction should only be the beginning, whether it takes place at the beginning of the customer’s home owning journey or further down the line.
Once that customer has secured a deal, they have a clear point in time when they will need to revisit their deal to be sure that they will still achieve the best ongoing value.
As a result, we have a commitment to contact that customer at the right time to discuss the options.
Dealing with maturities now carries a broader range of options, given lenders are much more on the front foot in looking after their borrowers with product transfer deals.
Advisers clearly offer customers the best of both worlds by providing an important safety check on retention compared with the rest of the market.
In addition, they can offer more holistic advice such as trimming back the mortgage term to cut the long-term cost of the loan.
However, with lenders more proactive with their customers, there is even less room for adviser complacency and the hope that customers will do the leg work and simply come back could be a false one.
Re-contacting a customer really should be the culmination of a more continuous programme to keep in touch, so that they are aware of the benefits of a review and are fully expecting to hear from the adviser that helped them get the current deal in the first place.
Sounds easy, but with such a big year of maturities and a busy market it will need to remain a key area of focus and communication to customers, existing and new.
