Simon Chalk, mortgage planner at Mortgage Portfolio Services and a member of AMI, believes it needs to do more to help brokers get information on their client once the business has been passed to the lender.
He said: “I’m a big supporter of AMI but I would like to see it tackle client ownership. I can’t see information about the client even though I set the business up and I have an agreement with the client to have access to everything they get. As an intermediary, the client asks me for advice so I should be able to see any information the lender has so I can provide the correct information.”
The need for client details is most prevalent when it comes to arranging advances or when a deal is ending, and Chalk argued that brokers must have this information to make the right choice for the client.
Chris Cummings, director-general at AMI, agreed that the issue of broker recognition was an important one and said the trade body was fighting to help intermediaries in this area.
He commented: “I’m not surprised that brokers find it hard because once business has passed to the lender, their memories tend to become awfully short. It’s something we feel needs changing as there is a mutual interest in the client and the broker is often the first port of call when the client needs advice.
“There needs to be an industry solution to the problem as we are all working for the best interests of the client but, if no consensus can be reached, we will publish information in the future to help brokers handle their lender relationships.”
