Abbey originally claimed that it had reduced its product range following consultation with its intermediary partners, however since it has now negotiated its way through regulation it has released a steady stream of new products.
The rates for the new products start at 4.24 per cent and include a three-month variable rate tracker.
Abbey spokesperson Helen Tochel insisted the new products were a result of the lender reacting to the needs of the market: “This is not a case of us relaunching after regulation, we are simply ensuring our products remain competitive within the marketplace,” she said.
Thomas Reeh, chief executive of Midlands-based brokerage The Black and White Group said: “We sell a lot of flexi products but over the last year we have tended to favour Standard Life Bank products because of the better service levels.
“Currently Abbey are taking between 12 and 14 weeks for standard remortgage cases.”
Reeh went on to say that his firm had removed Abbey from its premier panel because of its service levels. “Last year we gave them around £70 million in business and this year we will give them a fraction of that.”
Alison Camp, business development manager for Surrey-based packager and network Optoma, questioned how popular flexi products were with brokers who she dealt with.
“A lot of the time people use the underpayment options a lot more than the overpayment options,” she explained.
She added: “My impression is that Abbey volumes have dropped because of problems brokers were having when they were re-registering on the website. Perhaps this launch is aimed at re-capturing some lost market share.”
Abbey originally withdrew its flexible mortgage range on October 22.
