Brokers have insisted the CML should be the organisation taking a lead on KFIs, believing that a standardised KFI would reap many benefits for its members.
One source said: “If a trade body should be doing anything it should be making life easier for its members. Having a standardised KFI would make it less likely that lenders make mistakes and it would be much simpler for the consumer to compare products.
“The CML must have strategically decided not to take a stand on this.”
And Andy Barr, senior product relations officer at Chelsea Building Society, said: “A standardised KFI would make it easier for clients and it would be good for lenders too. It would enable our products to stand out more.”
But Sue Anderson, head of external affairs at the CML, said: “It would be very unhelpful to revisit KFIs at the moment. It is up to the FSA to decide what the KFIs should be like. We should wait until the matter has bedded down.”
Asked whether the CML would intervene in the future if KFIs were still a concern, Anderson repeated that it was the FSA’s remit.
But Bill Dudgeon, managing director of The Mortgage Business (TMB), said: “It’s in everyone’s interest to have KFIs standardised. I’m surprised the CML said it wouldn’t support this campaign. This type of thing is exactly its remit.”
Tim Sturley, head of business development at Mortgage Express, said: “We have just spent millions of pounds developing our KFIs so in this sense we wouldn’t support this campaign. But on the other hand, lenders do need to make an effort to keep their KFIs to a manageable size.”
