A fragmented sales process, involving administrators to carry out the customer interview, fact find, decision-in-principle and application submission - which may take place in separate appointments - is one approach being considered by many lenders from April next year.
But speaking at today’s Mortgage Business Expo Woodcock, principle mortgage consultant at IRESS, said: “Mo Farrah might find his 2000 metre race easier than getting a mortgage next year.
“Apart from perceived issues about whether the whole process is compliant it does sound like a lengthier and poor customer experience.”
Woodcock said he has already seen examples of a sales journey from initial contact through to full mortgage application take up to three and half hours while more manual processes with insurance cross sales can take up to six hours.
The need to capture more soft data to complete a reasons why letter, such as why a term has been chosen and whether the adviser believes that is the most appropriate term, adds extra time to the sales process.
And if the advice is rejected the process may have to restart.
But there are concerns that an administrator completing a fact find and decision-in-principle will stray inadvertently into giving the borrower advice, leading many lenders to believe the best approach is one appointment with one qualified mortgage adviser.
Woodcock said: “Most lenders would agree that a single customer journey experience proposition, that is all sales including those that could be execution only or an assisted sale, would be best conducted by a qualified seller.”
