Rob Griffiths, associate director for the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI), said:
“From the research we’ve carried out, the majority of brokers have bought into the TCF initiative and are currently integrating the results of TCF reviews into their businesses. We hope broker businesses have taken on board the information we have put out.
“As a concept, TCF is hard to argue against. The focus on TCF ensures that it should be at the forefront of brokers’ minds and that can only be a good thing. It’s a good thing if advisers can identify improvements that can be made and are doing so.
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However, I’m not sure the deadline is entirely necessary. It’s difficult to have any clear results of firms that don’t hit it. The whole point is that firms are engaging with TCF. Those that have ignored it or not started implementing it are going to be in trouble and should expect redress.”
Thomas Reeh, chief executive of blackandwhite.co.uk, said:
“As a market, we are not ready for the TCF deadline. Relationships with lenders, customers and brokers is not TCF-centric, as finding out anything about the customer once you’ve introduced them to a lender is like pulling teeth. The only lender providing information post-settlement is Accord, while Mortgages plc is doing a survey on it. Some lenders recognise we are well short on the TCF front. After a two-year deal ends, brokers should be able to go back to client and remortgage them. From a TCF perspective, it’s unfair if we can’t.
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“Knowing what’s involved in implementing TCF, I don’t think most brokers are ready for the deadline. It’s an extensive project that affects everything. Most brokers probably haven’t figured out how much impact it will have on their processes. Principles cast the net much further than rules and are much harder to challenge.”
Jeff Knight, director of marketing for GMAC-RFC, said:
“The industry could do more on TCF and it knows that. One example is that brokers have told us lenders in general could be doing more to help educate them on TCF and if there’s a strong demand, we may look at that in the future. The FSA is working with lenders and other organisations to get TCF embedded and it’s more of a co-operative process.
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"We’ve been looking at our products, service and making sure we communicate properly with clients. Brokers need to ensure they understand the principles behind it. TCF should really be common sense from a business point of view and something that everyone should be doing anyway.”
An FSA spokesperson, said:
“We have taken a major qualitative survey of 700 smaller firms and visited larger firms individually to gauge how well TCF has been implemented. We will analyse that information and come back with results in May as to whether businesses have done enough. Broadly, we are looking for evidence that firms are taking TCF seriously and that it is an integral part of the business culture. There has to be senior management commitment and appropriate training of staff, so they understand their responsibilities. From the analysis, we will decide what steps may need to be taken on an individual basis.”
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