Recognised by brokers as a crucial factor in choosing a particular lender, speed of process from application to offer takes an average of 13.7 days according to the survey commissioned by BM Solutions. The mortgage lender is leading the charge in meeting brokers' needs by halving the time to an average of 6 working days with its Premier desk service. Further, BM Solutions' standard service leaves other providers trailing in their midst with 50% of applications going to offer in a week and an overall average of only 9 days.
The survey revealed that BM Solutions was in the minority when it came to delivering a premium speed of service for brokers, with only 4% of lenders processing applications through to offer in between 4 and 7 days. Meanwhile, 28% of the industry is taking 15 days or more.
Martin Reynolds, head of sales at BM Solutions, said: "These latest figures show that we are way ahead of our competitors when it comes to processing applications effectively and in a timely manner.
By striving to bring this average time down, we are demonstrating our dedication to exploring ways to deliver consistent service excellence for brokers," concluded Reynolds.
BM Solutions has been pioneering the development of online mortgage services since the launch of BM Solutions Online in 2001. Earlier this year (March 2005), it unveiled a new range of site enhancements via BM World which offers desktop alerts and a news portal among its services designed to ease the burden for brokers.
Table 1: Average time taken to progress a case on-line from application to offer
Average Time August 2005 (%)
Up to three days 0.5
4 to 7 days 3.8
8 - 11 days 27.7
12 - 14 days 39.1
15 days or more 28.3
Overall average 13.7 days
