As the importance of holistic advice becomes paramount to an intermediaries offering, Guardian is urging intermediaries to fully assess their clients overall financial picture and utilise the free arrears helpline facility if their situation demands it.
The helpline is manned by key personnel with vast experience in the lending arena, the legal profession and the debt management sector. It provides a wide range of free financial assistance and also offers callers an option to instruct Guardian to manage their situation ie to deal directly with the lenders, courts, creditors on the persons behalf.
However, this service will only be utilised in accordance with this being the best solution for individual client’s requirements. Guardian guarantees that it will not push clients towards a management service and the helpline remains committed to providing free and confidential specialist advice.
Intermediaries will receive a referral commission from any referral that enters into the full debt management programme.
The launch of the arrears helpline comes on the back of recent predictions made by the Council of Mortgage Lenders that over half a million UK households will fall behind with their mortgage repayments in 2009. Recent findings from Standard & Poor also showed that arrears of prime mortgage borrowers have risen to their worst level for eight years. It reported that the percentage of borrowers in this category who are one month or more behind in payments has risen by 50 per cent.
With financial concerns mounting Guardian is urging people to use 2009 as a new start and seek expert advice to tackle any financial worries. Guardian Debt Management offers intermediaries an additional suite of products to assist client’s requirements. Its products enable intermediaries to retain full control of their client whilst being provided with professional assistance in all areas of credit management.
David McCann, Managing Director at Guardian Debt Management, said: “Intermediaries are seeing an increasing number of clients experiencing credit difficulties and they need to be in a position to help by offering suitable solutions or, at the very least, having a strong affiliation with a specialist in this sector of the market.
“Situations can change very quickly and it can take only the smallest change in circumstance to tip the balance and send finances spiralling out of control. With mass job cuts predicted for 2009 the future looks bleak for those with any existing or potential financial concerns. We are urging people to act sooner rather than later and being in a position to advise clients accordingly could provide a real opportunity to open up new income streams and the resultant referrals these bring with them.”
