Are networks revoking brokers’ protection permissions in a bid to avoid a future scandal?
AMI has raised concern following evidence suggesting that networks are revoking brokers’ protection permissions in a bid to avoid a future ‘non-selling’ scandal.
The latest economic report from the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries hedged its bets by saying “it would be too early to identify a trend” but did admit that the body had seen “anecdotal evidence” that some networks are removing advisers’ permissions for product areas they fail to advise on.
The report said: “In most cases this relates to the non-selling of protection policies by mortgage advisers.
“While protection is not a mandatory sale when a customer takes a mortgage it is prudent for advisers either to recommend protection to a customer or to refer the customer to an alternative source of protection provision or advice.”
AMI said it was of the view that increasingly networks were opting to create specialist panels to enable efficient referrals of protection and other specialist advice such as equity release to advisers who have strong expertise in those areas.
Indeed, earlier this year Sesame Bankhall launched an equity release referral service for its members while SimplyBiz Mortages launched a secured loans panel.
The AMI report added: “This would be a positive outcome for both intermediaries and customers as it has the potential to allow the former to focus on mortgage advice excellence and the latter to go through the mortgage process without missing out on vital advice about how to protect their financial wellbeing.”
