- Nearly 60 per cent of brokers use or consider using a packager
- Research from GMAC-RFC shows significant reliance on packagers in the UK mortgage market
- Research expected to encourage more brokers to increase their business with packagers
Nearly 60 per cent of brokers currently either use or consider using a packager for this type of business.
The research shows a dramatic turnaround in the volume of business that is being driven by packagers. Research completed a year ago showed that business placed through a packager had increased for just 8 per cent of brokers. One year on this figure has increased to 25 per cent.
Brokers cited knowledge of products/lenders as being a key reason when asked about the main benefits of using a packager. Having an underwriter on site as well as support with more difficult cases were also significant reasons for using a packager. With this in mind GMAC-RFC predicts more companies will want to become key players in the packager market, possibly sparking a war amongst brokers as they clamber to negotiate the best deals.
These findings support GMAC-RFC’s recent move to launch a separate product range exclusive to its Partner (packager) panel. The Partner range has given a clear distinction between business coming in direct and through packagers and there are currently around 75 Partners on the panel.
Roger Brown, director of Partner Division comments: “It is fantastic to see that the clear message to emerge from our research is that packagers are increasingly driving the non conforming business. This is something that we have been aware of for some time, but we believe that on seeing our research, a number of companies will be keen to jump on the bandwagon so not to miss out.”
