We live in a scary world. There is much to be frightened of – I’m thinking about terrorists, the impending bird flu pandemic and clowns.
All of these things make me want to stay in bed all day every day, but I somehow get over it and get on with life. What I’m saying is that it doesn’t affect my life or the decisions I make.
I wish I could say the same for the lily-livered bunch who were questioned by Lloyds TSB for some pointless research into what frightens off potential home-buyers from buying a home.
Reading the results makes me cry for what this country has become – are we really so disturbed by the sight of an open umbrella or a pair of new shoes on a table that it would put us off buying a place?
Dear oh dear. Where is the much-vaunted British back-bone? The stiff upper lip? Or are we still a nation which goes crying to mummy when we’re woken in the night by the strange banging noises coming from her and daddy’s bedroom?
But back to the ‘research’. If we are to believe it then a large number of us wouldn’t move on Friday 13th, wouldn’t buy a house which overlooked a cemetary (surely that’s convenient?) and are, wait for it, ‘haunted by the idea of sharing their new home with a ghost’.
I would have thought that if you’re a snivelling scaredy-cat frightened of your own shadow then the chances are you’ll be living on your own anyway.
Perhaps a ghost would provide some company?
So, what’s the purpose of all this? Well here’s the pay-off. Jon Pain, managing director of mortgages at Lloyds TSB, says: “We might not be able to influence whether you are making a lucky or unlucky purchase but we can certainly help take out the element of chance when choosing a mortgage.
“With an all round good mortgage deal, a great rate and individual advice to remove the fear factor from a major financial decision, the only blessing people won’t get from us is of the spiritual kind.”
So, the ‘research’ was just a front to say how great Lloyds TSB is? What a surprise. It’s achieved something with it though – this is going to haunt me for days.
Hero to zero
Each issue we ask an industry expert to pick out the good and the bad in the industry. The ugly know who they are. This week Tony Corrigan of Classic Network Solutions dishes out the brickbats and bouquets
Hero
Some may consider the choice of my hero to be at best ingratiating and at worst controversial. My heroes are the FSA. My business, like most, has had to endure the vagaries of the FSA over the last 18 months while putting together a viable business proposal which would both look after the consumer and the mortgage broker.
There have been times during this period when I could willingly have throttled both the FSA and my hard-working compliance director for not providing a straight answer to what I would consider to be a straight question.
However, I have to report that during our first real encounter with the FSA post-regulation an unexpected common sense approach seems to have been adopted by both parties.
Not only was the FSA explicit (for once, some of you might say) in the upfront request for information but our compliance team responded in such a timely and informative way that the result was a letter from the FSA thanking our compliance director for her help. What is the world coming to?
Zero
What I cannot tolerate are organisations that affect the lives of the consumer detrimentally and place sound businesses in jeopardy by failing due to a propensity to over-promise and under-deliver.
One can perhaps forgive those who act in good will and fail due to a lack of experience, but to forgive those who supposedly have a wealth of experience and should know better cannot be allowed.
I refer to the recent situation experienced by appointed representatives (ARs) of Bankhall ISL. It is purported that ISL was a nursery operation set up to facilitate the evolution from tied agent to fully fledged IFA.
This I believe. It is also purported that there was always an intention to shut this business down. This I also believe. What I cannot accept is the timing.
And yet it would appear that Bankhall has managed to retain a good number of its brokers by helping them to become directly authorised, shifting all responsibility and risk back to the brokers. How gullible can some people be?
