Chiefly that in the latter you cannot deselect a lender whose criteria are outside those needed for the client and neither can you select a property type.
Instead I find myself relying heavily on packagers as I build up my knowledge of the mortgage market, as I would assume most new brokers such as me, do. I run the risk of either wasting time I can ill-afford trying to place a case, or as some brokers I know do, telling the customer something they want isn’t possible so they can move on to easier cases.
I’m more than happy to be learning as I go, but as I write, I’m struck by this thought – how can the FSA possibly say I am treating customers fairly if, like the majority of brokers, I am not in a position to have access to ‘whole of market knowledge’? It feels almost like pot-luck broking on some of my adverse cases and I am beginning to come across cases of numerous brokers who have a specific product they can supply, but that is not known about widely. Surely there is a niche that can be filled here, or one of the larger sourcing systems can take note of the feelings in the industry and improve their sourcing system rather than the ‘add-ons’.
Keith Woodward
Approva Mortgages
