BM Solutions announced in February that it intended to ‘name and shame’ lenders who pay high procuration fees as they were not operating in the spirit of regulation, singling out Mortgages plc in particular.
But BM has now increased its own proc fees by 0.25 per cent to 1 per cent.
Peter Beaumont, sales and marketing director at Mortgages plc, said: “After all the recent scorn that BM Solutions has poured on competitors who pay higher proc fees than itself, this announcement is pure hypocrisy.
“If this were politics there would be calls for [Alan] Cleary’s [head of sales at BM] resignation. The least the company can do is issue a public apology for the shameful PR tactics it has adopted during the past few weeks.”
“This climb-down represents a major u-turn in BM Solutions strategy and has put the company in an untenable position, following its vociferous comments about proc fees potentially exerting an undue influence on brokers.
“BM Solutions must now admit that it has either been under-rewarding brokers in the past or is trying to win more business by enticing brokers with promises of more money.”
Beaumont added: “I am appalled that a lender of BM Solutions standing ever felt the need to resort to the type of gutter tactics it has adopted in recent weeks. I do hope that Michael Bolton’s recent promotion doesn’t mean he is losing his touch.”
Matt Grayson, head of public relations at BM Solutions, retorted: “Our proc fees are still well within what is deemed as fair and proportionate. As for Alan Cleary, it is unhelpful for Mortgages plc to start calling for individual resignations against people who have always called for customer fairness and transparency.”
