The very real financial disaster facing swathes of homeowners whose deals need to be refinanced has put a huge strain on brokers, who sit at the coalface of our market and have to manage the fear, disappointment and anxiety that clients are dealing with.

They're also the intermediary and consequently have to manage the lender as well. It's never a plain sailing process, but as the Bank of England raised rates and the pain started to bite in August, the dam has broken.

There has been a flood of cases requiring far more work than is usual. Add to that the fact that lenders are restricting lending volumes and that that triggers more criteria and product changes than normal - I'm amazed there aren't more bald brokers around.

Craving stability

Smart Money People's survey also, perhaps unsurprisingly, showed that brokers are struggling to keep up to date with rapidly changing criteria and rates, with 43 per cent relying on emails to keep updated with changes.

Jacqueline Dewey, the firm's chief executive, acknowledged that it's not all lenders' fault. The market has been all over the shop since October and funding costs have necessitated the rapidity of those changes.

Lenders themselves are struggling to cope.

Do brokers care? They might sympathise, but ultimately, a poor experience with a lender is going to hurt that lender's volumes.

The survey revealed that Net Promoter Score (NPS) is down 5.8 points on H1 2022 at +21., ranging from -54.5 to +59.3 for the lenders in the report.

Dewey noted that brokers are frustrated by the situation they find themselves and their clients in, with constant changes and products being withdrawn after applications have been submitted.

"Our analysis has found brokers are craving some stability within the market and that brokers need support from lenders - they need to be able to rely on and have confidence in lenders, and whilst processes adapt, communication remains key," she said.

The survey also showed that 43 per cent of brokers are relying on emails to stay up to date with criteria and product changes.

That's quite something in this day and age.

Multiply the number of changes and emails by lenders across the market, and you can see why brokers are so frustrated.

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IRESS Limited published this content on 27 January 2023 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 21 February 2023 11:59:04 UTC.