L&G spokesman, Peter Timberlake, said the lender was removed as part of a routine review of panel members, but added that Abbey had not been providing the mortgage club with exclusive deals or incentives.
Andrew Sage, a broker from The Mortgage Partnership (MK) Ltd, expressed concern that club members who continued to use Abbey would be penalised because the volume of business they put through the club would diminish.
Sage said: “The likelihood of us dropping from our current Platinum to Silver status is real. This would then have a knock-on effect of reducing a number of proc fees from certain lenders.”
Responding to Sage’s concerns John Cupis, sales and marketing director of Legal and General’s mortgage club, said: “We will make allowances for the loss of Abbey from the panel. No broker will be disadvantaged - this applies to both IFAs and business partners.”
Abbey has issued a statement expressing disappointment at L&G’s decision. A spokesman for the lender, said: “Our priority now is to protect and build on the valuable relationships we have built up with both IFAs and the appointed representatives of L&G.”
It went on to say Abbey would contact the 1,670 appointed representatives and 2,178 IFA mortgage club members registered with them to set out procedures whereby they could continue to work with Abbey.
