Brokers have responded positively to Abbey’s anti-money laundering policy which has resulted in a revised free legal remortgage system that cuts the need for identification papers to be sent to both the lender and solicitors.
Joe Wiggins, media relations executive at Abbey, confirmed: “As part of our money laundering measurements, and following feedback from customers, instead of having to send through two copies of identification we allow the brokers to check the clients’ ID themselves and then enter the reference numbers (from the driving licences or passports) on the form. This seems to be saving a lot of time and cutting out all the extra paperwork.”
Alan Lakey, senior partner of Highclere Financial Services, commended the Abbey’s policy and said this route should be adopted by more lenders: “With most lenders I have to send off a set of identification forms. When these have been submitted I usually get a similar request a few weeks later from the solicitors for ID paperwork which seems pointless as it is exactly the same information.”
Rod Murdison, proprietor of Murdison & Browning, said: “I think at the moment clients are a little bit surprised and frustrated that they have to submit two forms of identification for a remortgage. The Abbey’s policy definitely makes good sense.”
