Britannia hit by proc fee claim

Mark Kelly, managing director of World Mortgages and Consultancy Ltd, said that upon taking his client’s case to Britannia he was asked to submit his AXA number.

As a directly authorised (DA) broker, Kelly had an AXA number for the insurance side and gave this to Britannia.

However, upon completion of the mortgage, Kelly was told Britannia would only accept cases from appointed representatives of AXA’s mortgage network, Thinc, and that it would not pay him for his work as the number submitted was only for insurance.

Yet, Kelly said that at no time was it specified that it was the AXA mortgage number being requested.

Kelly explained: “I introduced business to Britannia in good faith as a DA. But I was told that the number provided was for insurance and not mortgages and it wouldn’t pay me. This was the second mortgage case that we had submitted to Britannia.

"Previously, it said that I wasn’t going to get paid when I went direct, so I charged the client a fee. When I knew that I was being paid, I didn’t charge a fee, so Britannia now has a very good paying client, the client has a very good mortgage and we are a charity.”

A spokesperson for Britannia said: “Britannia has a relationship with Thinc as part of our wider relationship with AXA. The systems we use for introduced cases explain in detail Britannia’s relationship with Thinc.

"We therefore rely on the broker to give us the correct reference number in order to process the application appropriately.”

Nevertheless, Kelly confirmed he was considering further action against Britannia for non-payment.