Hugh Nichols, partner at Bradbury Berkeley Mortgage Services, said lenders charging the premium rates would be using the profit to fund call centre staff. He said:“Despite the Financial Services Authority (FSA) edict about ‘Treating Customers Fairly’ and the coverage in the press about 0845 numbers, lenders still expect intermediaries to pay high charges to speak to them, and only a handful of lenders don’t charge.”
Companies using 0845 or 0870 numbers can do a deal with a phone provider whereby it pre-determines the cost of a call and the profit made. In many cases, some receive four pence out of five pence charged for the call.
Nichols argued that when intermediaries called these numbers, they did not know how long they would be kept on the line.
He added: “I think it should be free to call lenders. Why should we be charged for the privilege of doing business with them?”
Lenders guilty of having such numbers include: Woolwich, First National, London and Scottish, Northern Rock, Abbey, and Intelligent Finance. Only a few lenders, such as Kensington, Victoria and edeus do not charge for calls.
Alan Cleary, managing director at edeus, commented: “Some lenders must be making a profit from their 0845 or 0870 numbers. I wouldn’t put business through those lenders when I know 0800 numbers can cost nothing if you do a deal with a phone company.”
Jennifer Blackwood, senior press officer at Intelligent Finance, said: “We don’t believe the call charges would have a major impact on the broker’s business costs.”
