Brokers share their views on delays speaking with lenders
Brokers are becoming increasingly frustrated that they have had to wait for around 30 minutes, sometimes more than an hour, to speak to lenders, according to broker forum cherry.
With market conditions changing at very short notice, brokers have said these delays are being felt by their customers.
Bane of brokers’ lives
Scott Taylor-Barr (pictured), financial adviser at Barnsdale Financial Management, said delays to speak to lenders are the bane of all brokers’ lives, “especially given the choice of some lenders’ ‘hold’ music.”
However, Taylor-Barr said he would not want to give lenders too much grief, as he believes their answer to this issue would likely be more frequent rate pulls with even less notice than there is now, to keep service levels acceptable.
“If I could ask for anything to help the situation it would be decent, uninterrupted hold music; if you are going to make me wait then play me something decent and stop interrupting it to tell me my call ‘is important to us’,” he added.
Stephen Perkins, managing director at Yellow Brick Mortgages, said long wait times to speak to lenders are not a new problem.
“However, what is more frustrating is that often when you do finally get to speak to someone, they cannot do anything to help, or just copy and paste information from their criteria,” he noted.
Rhys Schofield, brand director at Peak Mortgages and Protection, agreed with Perkins that this is a longstanding issue.
He added that it seems some lenders do not have the staff or systems to keep up with demand, and have just changed their message blaming COVID for long waits.
Meanwhile, Darryl Dhoffer, from The Mortgage Expert, said first and foremost, “as a broker, know the lenders’ criteria.”
Dhoffer said brokers must be prepared, and also ensure they have all relevant information and documents to hand when they do speak with a lender.
“I hear so many times of many brokers wasting valuable time on hold with lenders on information they should know already,” he said.
Adviser support
David Hollingworth, associate director of communications at L&C Mortgages, said advisers have been instrumental in helping borrowers keep abreast of the market, often looking to lock in a rate up to six months ahead of their current deal coming to a close.
“With rates being pulled daily at the peak of the volatility, it was no mean feat to try and keep up,” he added.
On top of this, with affordability being squeezed, Hollingworth said advice is critical in finding the right criteria match. Although the market is stabilising and healthier inflation data is seeing some rates edge back down, Hollingworth said there will still be lots of borrowers worried about what payments they face when their current deal ends.
“Advisers will be well positioned to give borrowers the broad overview of what they can do to mitigate those cost increases,” he said.
That includes, Hollingworth said, being able to look at the best option from the open market and explaining the pros and cons of other measures, such as interest-only or extending the term, which he believes could help avoid some making a hasty and costly decision.
Where affordability is a blocker, he said advisers are also in the perfect position to help with a product transfer, as an affordability test is not required.
“That will give borrowers the comfort of knowing that they have explored all the options before reaching an informed decision,” Hollingworth added.
As such, he believes advisers and lenders must work hand in hand in order to offer their clients the best possible consumer outcomes, which starts by answering the phone.
How are the delays to speak with lenders impacting your business? Let us know in the comment section below.
