AMI chief executive Robert Sinclair said while it is within the existing Financial Services Authority rules it is not within “the spirit and principles set out by the FSA in its current MMR proposals”.
The Post Office’s mortgage specialists will offer face to face non-advised sales and will be available in main branches in Birmingham, Solihull, Walsall, Luton and Norwich, before being rolled out on a larger scale in the coming months.
Specialists will do a small fact find, present Post Office products and the customer will then be able to make “an informed decision about which mortgage best suits them”.
The Post Office said: “Our mortgage specialist will be on hand to answer questions and offer help – not advice on the final choice.”
But the FSA’s Mortgage Market Review proposals, which are still under consultation, currently suggest a move to a majority advised market.
If they go ahead unchanged sales staff within banks, building societies and other providers will have to be qualified up to CeMap level 3 and offer restricted advice.
Sinclair added: “The Post Office has set out that these decisions are important, complex and that people need help.
“The firms who manufacture these products must take responsibility and provide advice or get brokers involved. Hiding behind the curtain of non-advised does not improve our market or help the consumer.”
Mark Harris, chief executive of broker SPF Private Clients, said: “I do think it is going to be confusing for the customer regarding advice or no advice.”
And Dean Mason, principal at Herts-based Masons Financial Planning, said he was concerned the Post Office move would be misleading to the public.
He said: “These are not qualified independent specialists. This is no different than going into a branch of a high street bank or building society and speaking to their in-house adviser, in fact it is less useful as many of those now have industry professional qualifications.
“My only worry with this is that these specialists may not have the training or the inclination to refer on when independent advice is required, thus leaving the customer either ignorant to the wider market or left in no man's land.”
Andrew Montlake, communications director at Coreco, suggested it was “strange” that someone titled mortgage specialist was unable to provide regulated advice.
And he added: “Many borrowers already believe they have received advice from lenders directly when they have in fact just received information so this will only add to the confusion.
“With the MMR just around the corner this does seem to be an irresponsible move.”
A spokeswoman for the Post Office said some of its specialists are qualified up to CeMap standards and may have given advice in previous bank employment.
But she said the provider “did not feel it necessary with a small targeted range” to ensure all specialists were CeMap qualified.
But she added: “If during our initial roll out customers would prefer to be advised or the FSA change the rules around face to face interviews, then we may review this in future.”
