Instant valuations and decisions plus case tracking are also part of the improvements made to the system.
Ron Stout, assistant director of PR at Northern Rock, said the lender was happy with the response so far: “Since we started rolling out the offline-online facility in July we have had a lot of positive feedback from brokers. We have made a conscious effort to improve our online capabilities and this system has been well-received for its service and usability.”
Sarah Gwilt, mortgage adviser at Dickson Lishman Prince, agreed that the improved system provided a more efficient service. “Northern Rock’s system was unreliable and slow,” she said. “The new offline facility is a very good idea.
“The program seems very user-friendly and it has re-population of information so that you don’t have to fill in areas that you have already completed elsewhere on the form.”
Gordon Steyn, mortgage oper-ations director at Thinc, said Nor-thern Rock’s new system might encourage people to use the lender’s service: “This is definitely a step in the right direction, although further improvements could be made.”
However Ian Giles, marketing director at Purely Mortgages, was unsure whether the system would encourage brokers to choose Northern Rock. “I don’t have cause to use Northern Rock because its products are not competitive enough. There are also a lot of heavy fees associated with them and its service standards need to change,” he said.
“The new offline-online system may well help to improve Northern Rock’s service but it also needs to think about making its products more attractive and competitive,” Giles added.
