‘Build your own disclosure document’ is a free online tool which provides brokers with a template to ensure their Initial Disclosure Documents (IDD) meet the regulator’s criteria.
The launch of the IDD tool is aimed at supplementing other FSA initiatives which help brokers produce compliant IDDs, such as web pages, factsheets, roadshows and workshops.
The tool is available for standard IDDs, lifetime mortgage IDDs and Combined Initial Disclosure Documents (CIDDs).
Sam Bennett, spokesperson for the FSA, said: “This launch helps back up the other tools, such as the factsheets and roadshows, to make it easier for firms to do business with us. It should really help as it’s just a few questions and this will help to generate a template tailored to their businesses needs.”
While the FSA review into IDDs in June stated that improvements had been made in the quality of the document, it found many small intermediary firms were still not dealing with IDDs correctly.
Rob Griffiths, associate director of the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI), commented: “It is a useful tool and I would suggest even if firms were comfortable with the IDD they have in place, they use the tool to compare the FSA-derived IDD with their own.
“However, it’s not just about what’s in the IDD but also delivering the IDD to the customer. The FSA has done a number of reviews and found some advisers were either giving it out at the wrong time or not at all. It’s vital intermediaries get the document across to their clients so they know exactly what service they are getting.”
