Copland confirmed to Mortgage Introducer that he had not had any conversations with Paaleads following the uproar over an inaccurate press release issued by Paaleads’ parent Moneysupremarket.com last week, which claimed that nine out of 10 mortgages was available direct to consumer.
Brokers were up in arms and Personal Touch Financial Services axed Paaleads from its panel as a direct result of the taboo.
But Copland said Pink would not sever the relationship it has with the lead generation company unless its appointed representatives specifically called for it.
He told the number one mortgage magazine: “I can understand where PTFS was coming from when Dev Malle [sales and marketing director at PTFS] took the decision to cut ties with Paaleads, but I don’t run our ARs’ businesses, they do.
“As with any lender or other commercial partner, some ARs will be upset with them at one point in time while others are happy with them.
“The same goes for Paaleads - some of our members may well be upset about the moneysupermarket claims, but I think it’s up to our ARs to decide whether they deal with Paaleads or not. It’s not for me to take them off our panel.”
Copland said that he believed the Moneysupermarket press release last week was “ill-judged” but that it was up to brokers to choose whether they deal with Paaleads.
He added: “We certainly invite our ARs to feedback to us on whether they want Paaleads to stay on the panel.”
