Mark Leaper, managing director of Vesta Packaging admitted many lenders ignored the benefits packagers bring to the industry, and argued many lenders failed to understand their role. He said: “I think the problem is that many lenders have not got the long industry experience of packagers, they genuinely don’t understand the impact of their actions. Packagers have controlled distribution in the non-conforming sector for many years and lenders have not started to learn the lessons we learnt years ago. There is a certain amount of naivety.”
He added lenders who decided to offer a direct service might witness a fall in sales and revenue as its distribution channels ‘dry up'. He added: “We not only generate mortgage volumes, but we also prepare applications in a manner that eases the process.
“If more time is spent on applications by the lender, that lender will not be able to process as many and will be unable to handle the volumes it would like.”
Vic Jannels, managing director at All Types of Mortgages (AToM), agreed: “I think that lenders see packagers as a drain on their finances. Lenders don’t understand the value of distribution that packagers bring."
Linda Will, managing director at Accord Mortgages, said that enhancements to sourcing systems and lender operations made it easier in some cases to go direct but argued packagers had a major role to play: “Lenders in the non-conforming sector cannot afford to ignore packagers. Lenders will not dictate the packager market. With the array of products in the non-conforming market, many brokers find it easier to hand over cases to a packager.”
