Brokers sidelined as 90% of best buys direct

As a mortgage broker I do not quite agree with Mr Mountfords last comment, where he states that 'seeing a mortgage broker should only been seen as part of the shopping around process, rather than the final word in mortgage products'. In other words, waste some poor schmo's time in getting him/her round @ 7pm on a Friday night, to give you independent, honest advice & guidance, potentially saving you thousands of pounds & keeping you away from future problems. Giving you peace of mind that any advice is covered under the FSA's compensation scheme for bad advice & once he/she has given their advice, stop returning their calls & go direct..... NICE... The trouble is, these schmo's won't be around much longer, being self employed means no sale - no money. Therefore, rather than the industry sticking up & championing independent, professional advice, lets ignore the issues & I'm sure we'll all benefit from direct only mortgages from 3 or 4 lenders in total. I'm sure the lack of competition & financial protection will result is fantasic products & low rates.... Well done Mr Mountford, well done the FSA

Mr Mountford is certainly doing his thing for PR of webcomparison sites. With many surveys and research showing that web comparison sites offer outdated information, no access to the true whole market (as providers pay them to advertise) and the lack of professional advice that is needed, no wonder Money Supermarket continues to emphasise this point. CONSUMERS: Brokers have access to direct only deals - and we do recommend them where clients want the 'cheapest' for clean, non complex cases. Yes, most of the first time buyer deals are direct only, and certainly the likes of many lenders are offering many good direct only products, however many new lenders only deal via intermediaries and brokers are favoured by many consumers for speed, advice and being able to liaise with underwriters. Most brokers, like ourselves, offer a fee based 'whole of market' advice process and details of direct only deals which consumers can then go direct and we assist with the process and going through the small print. The trend certainly is from many banks to exclude brokers as a distriubution channel, but this won't work for all lenders as the lenders will have to compete on price/rates and many lenders simply cannot afford to do that. Just look at the awful rates from state owned lenders like Halifax, Lloyds TSB and RBS (RBS have ramped up dual pricing aggresively) - They are ALL losing market share. HSBC are unique, they have always been the leader for good value direct only deals (and long processing times). In fact, my chum who works at HSBC has said HSBC are simply refusing alot of applications for the smallest points, so if you want to beat them - offer cheaper rates, appear on the best buy tables and brokers, like us will continue recommending them - and consumers will flock to you -that way, ALL CONSUMERS BENEFIT and can make a CHOICE as to DIY vs BROKERS.

Virtually 95% of the mortgage advice we offer to clients at the present time involves a direct application to the lender, either online, visiting a branch or by telephone. We are used by the public to find the very best mortgage in the marketplace to suit their individual precise requirements from the whole of the market. We charge a fee for that advice. Clients then have a choice of taking that advice and completing the mortgage application themselves or having us to advise during the complete transaction. Guess what all who take our advice do? They ask us to help and advise during the entire mortgage application and after. Why? Putting it bluntly they trust us. We look after our clients through the entire transaction fairly. We are there to answer problems, to sort out any difficulties and to assist in all areas of the process. Yes they pay us to do that. We have even attended the meeting at the lender to assist our clients. At the end of the day we have offered the very best advice to our clients. For lenders to say that 90% of mortgage applications are direct with lenders is not quite telling the whole story. It is strange that new clients often approach us after they have contacted lenders direct, especially HSBC, and have been turned down as they do not suit their "exacting" requirements. In many cases we have still found these clients direct deals and on some occasions back with the lenders who originally said no.

Whilst I don't mind the comments, we all know on-line comparison sites are rubbish. Not all the lenders, etc, etc. Much like the car insurance section of compare which doesn't have Aviva & Direct Line on them, the best two in my experience. Whilst the public are being taken for fools by these companies, to earn overrides, proper advice is ridiculed. FSA? useless! TCF? nowhere!

I agree that 90% deals are more attractive by going direct but most First Time buyers do not understand the mortgage process after being interviewed by the lenders advisors and the overall cost when the lenders have given the protection advice from their limited own range of products is more often far more expensive than an alround independent advisor's route. Exclusive deals to brokers will continue to compete with the direct to lenders products on the lower loan to value cases, where lenders have the foresight to support brokers now, whilst lending is low and these lenders will inevitably reap the benefits when the market turns and brokers are once again seen as an essential contribution to BEST ADVICE.