With the advent of regulation, responsible lending and consumer protection, a huge amount of effort has gone into creating a safe environment for borrowers in the UK market.
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Financial Services Authority (FSA) regulation was centred on consumer protection and the avenues for complaint are broad and well signposted. However, given that well over half of all mortgage business comes through the intermediary channel, lenders need to make sure they are affording brokers the same care and attention as their clients.
Central to this philosophy is the creation of a clear and formal complaints process, which ensures that complaints are dealt with quickly and effectively.
Key to business
The goal is obviously to avoid complaints completely, but the complexity of the operation lenders run and volumes processed means there will inevitably be one or two issues to deal with along the way. Successfully making sure these issues do not blow up into problems that then have a negative impact on the overall business is key to success.
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As such any broker complaint is treated in exactly the same way as a borrower complaint and the aim is to resolve issues within 24 hours wherever possible. Usually, complaints will come via the call centre, where they are logged and passed on to the relevant department.
A manager in the appropriate department will then pick the complaint up and in most instances be able to resolve the matter there and then. If, however, the issue is unusually complex or involved, some lenders aim to resolve it within five working days. The matter will be investigated and if it can be brought to a conclusion within this time then a written response will be sent to the client.
If, however, it is not possible to deal with the matter within those five days, the substance of the complaint will be acknowledged and the individual in question will be told the investigation is ongoing and that a full response will be drawn up within four weeks.
Cornerstones
The two cornerstones of the whole complaints process are communication and timing. In dealing with the complaint on a personal level, brokers know their issues are being taken seriously and by having a set timeframe, they know what is going on at every step of the process.
Too often lenders receive complaints and sit on them. The longer these complaints stay hidden from the light of day, the more they begin to fester. In many situations brokers’ initial anger is compounded by the way in which their complaint is handled. By taking control of the complaint from the very instant it is recorded, lenders have an opportunity to demonstrate clearly that their business is important and that they will do everything in their power to resolve any outstanding issues. In such a climate it is much easier to resolve the differences that have proved problematic.
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The truth of the matter is that there is little excuse for lenders to generate large numbers of complaints and so they should be able to deal with those that they do receive promptly and professionally.
Certainly lenders receiving double-digit broker complaints on a monthly basis should be seriously reviewing their operation and examining why so many problems are coming out of the woodwork. Our experience is that, in the main, the complaints that do appear tend to be around cases that have been declined or problems that have occurred in processing.
Where a case has been declined, the matter can normally be resolved by talking the broker through the specific reasons behind the decision. Once our position has been clearly detailed, most brokers are happy and have a full response, which they can then take to their client.
Occasionally there may be a snag in a processing system, which can lead to a minor blip in service standards and this is something that will sometimes generate calls from brokers.
In such instances, the key is again communication and once they are in possession of why the problem has occurred, what has been done to fix it and the status of the case in question, most intermediaries are happy to return to their clients with the answers they need.
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To improve the service we offer and the standards we set, BM Solutions has also set up a feedback initiative to register the comments received by agents working in our call centre, which would otherwise not turn into formal communications with the company. Where brokers comment on being pleased, surprised or even infuriated with our service, the agent taking the call will make a note of what was said and e-mail it through to a central department.
This is done anonymously and means we are able to get a better idea of what our brokers think of the job we are doing on a day-to-day basis. The process been in place since January 2007 and has generated a significant amount of information, which means not only can we listen, we can learn.
While there have been one or two negative comments, the majority have been positive and this is satisfying. Many brokers would not take the time to congratulate a lender on doing a good job – it is no more than they should expect – but it is good to get feedback in this way and feed it through to those on the shop floor. It also means we get an immediate feel for brokers’ opinions, which is invaluable in helping plot improvements for the future.
Brokers have never been more important than in today’s market and it is imperative lenders do not take them for granted.
