The survey reported that 62 per cent of the 204 brokers interviewed said the Financial Services Authority (FSA) should change regulations to allow brokers to make outbound calls to people who have registered an interest, rather than continuing with the ban. This was countered by 29 per cent of brokers who felt the regulations should not be changed, while just 9 per cent remained unsure that any amendment to the rules was needed.
Commenting on the research, Mehrdad Yousefi, head of intermediary mortgages at A&L, was unsurprised by the outcome. “Cold-calling is a good source of lead generation for brokers. I think there is a case to be made for altering cold-calling regulations, but equally there is a need to safeguard client confidentiality and ensure they don’t receive multiple calls from the same firm or individuals within a certain timescale.”
Andy Frankish, managing director of Mortgage Talk, said: “The regulations are very restrictive, but they are there for a reason. The big problem comes down to interpreting them and you’ve got to take a sensible approach.”
But Frankish felt more needed to be done to make it clear to a customer that they need to request contact from brokers. “What makes it difficult is how the client says they want to be contacted. I don’t think asking a client to tick a box is enough. It should be made clear that the client has to react to get a positive response. Clarity is needed. If it is a clear request, then there is no question that a broker should be able to call. The request has been made and a call is expected, so you are letting the client down if you don’t contact them.”
