The lender will now use the information gathered on a mortgage application to Halifax, Bank of Scotland or The Mortgage Business (TMB) to offer a pre-populated GI form, which Halifax claimed could generate a home insurance or accident, sickness and unemployment quote in a minute.
Jon Craven, head of mortgage intermediaries at Halifax General Insurance, believed the move would help increase awareness among brokers of the need to offer GI cover.
“We began discussions nearly a year ago about how we could bring the two sides of the business closer together and as this process evolved, it became clear that the importance of GI for mortgage brokers was going up the agenda, especially with the Financial Services Authority. Both our own research and the Mortgage Achilles Survey showed that a lot of brokers weren’t giving GI a high priority so we wanted to make it as quick and simple as possible to ensure their clients had cover and help brokers tapped into another income stream.”
Craven believed the Summer floods, for example, where 60 per cent of affected properties in Hull were uninsured, showed the importance of having cover.
He also pointed out that with the market currently in uncertain times, brokers could guarantee a constant income stream by organising GI policies.
Dev Malle, sales director at Personal Touch, said: “Anything which makes the sales process easier makes sense. There is always the danger that the client will stop paying the premium but if the adviser wants to offer a full service, they must consider GI. However, they must decide whether they want to be single-tied or operate with a panel. If they have a panel, they must look across it for the best deal.”
