Simon Chalk, mortgage planner at Mortgage Portfolio Services, said because the equity release market was now maturing and the number of providers and products were increasing, there was a need for a sourcing system to help gain the right deal for the client.
He said: “People are deterred from getting involved as it is a highly specialist area and especially after the attention the regulator has given it. However, I’ve done my qualification and got my systems in place to work in the market but with 20-odd providers and more features in the products, it’s time we had a sourcing system to keep us up-to-date.”
Chalk argued while some systems offered limited searches, one that encompassed the whole of the market was needed.
Roger Hones, head of development for Mortgage 2000, said: “We provide a very limited sourcing of equity release products on Encore. This is because the products are very complex.”
He added greater sourcing of lifetime products was ‘on the wish list’, although it was ‘not a high priority.’
Ernie Reeves, managing director of Phoenix, argued the system did source equity release products. “It is only criteria that you are sourcing, and as long as you follow the rules then it can be put onto a sourcing system. There just has to be an understanding of the rules for the sourcing to be valid. There are certain criteria that have to be followed.”
Bill Safran, CEO of Trigold, said: “We’ve examined equity release and if there is the market demand we would look to create a sourcing system for it.”
