Linda Will, managing director of Accord, said the introduction of POSO has resulted in a drop in the number of AIPs received by Accord and believed the inception of POSO has resulted in brokers flocking to try out the technology.
She said: “When we made our announcement on soft footprints, the number of AIPs went through the roof but in the last two weeks, they’ve fallen away and this is probably due to the POSO effect. Instant offers are the way forward and we are looking at them but I think at the minute, brokers are trying them out and seeing whether they like them or not.”
However, other lenders said they had not seen a similar trend.
Paul Hunt, head of marketing at Platform, said: “The levels of online decisions we’ve been getting have shown a slight increase in the last two weeks, so we haven’t experienced this trend.”
This sentiment was shared by Paul Marland, AGM intermediary sales at West Bromwich for Intermediaries, who believed there was always going to be business out there for each lender.
“Every lender has its own individual proposition and while POSO gives some lenders this to offer as part of their service, we have our own unique selling points which make us a fit for certain cases.”
However, Tony Capon, head of intermediary sales at Salt, warned brokers the use of POSOs must be right for the client, especially if they were paying extra for the privilege.
“At the end of the day, the broker has an obligation to source the best product so they are failing the client if they choose a lender who offers POSOs when it’s not best, especially if the client is paying more. Getting the offer quickly is important but the speed of the whole process is more significant and, fundamentally, if the lender will stick to its decision-in-principle.”
