The pressure comes in light of concern over duplication and lack of accuracy on the portals’ output.
Brokers use the systems to find the best deal for their client, but as the KFI produced is not guaranteed, they often have to revisit the chosen lenders website, often re-entering the information, in order to get a guaranteed KFI.
An industry source attacked the portals for taking money from lenders to appear on their sites but not guaranteeing the output. The source said: “Lenders guarantee the documents from their sites, which means they are accountable if anything goes wrong. However, from any other source, the broker is accountable. It is more work for us as we have to input data twice to avoid the risk of a comeback. We need to know the information is accurate and sourcing systems can’t guarantee that.”
Mark Lofthouse, chief executive at Mortgage Brain, denied the claims and said: “Our level of accuracy can never be questioned. We can make mistakes, but the lender sends the information to us and we input it. Why should we guarantee that information?”
BM Solutions has two full-time staff checking that its product details on all the systems are accurate. Clare Mortimer, senior press officer for the firm, said: “We always guarantee what comes off our system, as do other providers. But we cannot account for the output of other sites. Everyone needs to work together to look at ways in which we can resolve the problems that keep arising.”
