Speed of service can sometimes be more important than rate, and accepting online applications is a given for lenders.
An incorrectly filled in mortgage application causes major delays and inconvenience for those involved and it seems that technology is providing the solution.
Many intermediaries and lenders believe that mortgage applications completed online can solve the problem regarding missing or incorrect information. Some are now operating 100 per cent online applications claiming that the system has significantly reduced the problems associated with paperwork.
GHL Group launched its online decision-in-principle (DIP) service last year, which gives brokers the facility to submit mortgage enquiries online. These are dealt with by a highly experienced team able to select from a panel of 16 packaged and branded lenders. And with a rapid increase in the number of DIPs received over the past few months, they recently added the facility to their packaging website.
The service removes the task of sourcing and placing clients’ requirements with the most suitable lender and once notified of a DIP response, the packager is able to view the information provided via its own personalised section of the website.
John Smith, sales and marketing director at GHL Group, believes that this facility holds a significant advantage. He says: “By utilising the DIP facility, there is a significant reduction in the time involved between initial communication with their introducer and returning to them with a selection of lenders and schemes that best fit the required criteria.”
From an intermediary perspective, for the vast majority it appears that online applications are definitely preferable to paperwork because not only do they reduce the length of time it takes to get a decision, boosting their reputations, but it also enables them to track cases online more easily.
Where online applications and DIPs are genuine processes, the delivery times have improved very significantly, in some cases with offers arriving the next day.
Smith comments: “With one ‘click’ the data contained within the DIP response is pre-populated into the GHL Group application form and the remainder of the information required can then be entered into the form online.
“Once the case is packaged and submitted for offer, the packager can then keep up-to-date with the progress of their case via the website’s real-time, online case tracking service.”
Because online applications are not restricted to mainstream products, the online process is fast becoming the desired route for the industry. Savills Private Finance, for example, claims more than 60 per cent of its business is now done online.
There is little doubt that the online DIP system enhances reputations by saving the client three or four days by doing things online.
Those lenders who have embraced the technology will undoubtedly expand at a greater rate than those who are still relying on paper applications.
Smith says: “Our DIP facility has proved highly popular and this is undoubtedly down to a simple DIP form covering 16 lenders as well as the time it saves those who use it.”
