Members will now be able to provide clients with access to financial services including sourcing protection for loans, by capturing basic customer contact details, agreeing to a data protection statement and referring the client on via NACFBs CommercialKeeper system.
NACFB Financial Services takes over from there assessing the company’s needs and sourcing the relevant protection. In the case of loan protection, referring brokers will also earn 45% commission upon policy inception.
Lloyd & Whyte Financial Services, based in Taunton, Somerset, is an IFA firm specialising in niche, professional markets.
By acting as an “introducer” to Lloyd & Whyte, rather than as an appointed representative of Legal & General through the previous system offered by NACFB, brokers have been told they could avoid the majority of the paperwork, regulation and general compliance issues.
The NACFB said feedback from the previous system offered by L&G indicated that the way regulation and compliance requirements were set up was too laborious.
The switch to an introducer role means brokers will not be able to advise their clients on specific products, policies or providers as it would constitute advice which needs to be regulated by law.
Instead brokers will just need to confirm their customer wishes to discuss protecting their loan further, pass the details on through the CommercialKeeper system, and Lloyd & Whyte will contact the client to assess their requirements.
Brokers will earn their commission on any business that goes ahead and customers will receive independent advice from Lloyd & Whyte.
Daniel James, director of business development at Lloyd & Whyte Financial Services, said: “Loan protection services have been a part of NACFB membership benefits since January 2010.
“However, feedback from members indicated that the processes involved with introducing business and the associated regulatory requirements were too time-consuming.
“Therefore, when we first met with the NACFB to discuss our partnership, the simplicity of the offering was essential."
James added that their experience within the professional affinity scheme market had taught them that tailoring their offering to the memberships needs was of the utmost importance.
“The challenge in this case was how to ensure all regulatory requirements were met, and the customer sufficiently protected, whilst still making life as easy as possible for NACFB members,” he said.
“The answer was quite simply to do more of the work ourselves, so once the customer is referred via the CommercialKeeper system, we take care of the rest.
“Whilst the focus is loan protection for the time being, our expertise as independent financial advisers and Corporate Chartered Financial Planners mean this partnership has a lot of scope for future development.
“The key to success however, will always be working closely with the NACFB, listening carefully to members and delivering a service tailored to their needs.”
Adam Tyler, chief executive of the NACFB, added: “This is great for all members as it adds another opportunity for them enhance their professional services.”
