In what ways is using a Broker an advantage?

dunstonh

maveli wrote: »

that could be true. but the tone in koexelek' comment is that it is a bad thing to do

The difference is the way its done.

An adviser doing their job correctly will present the needs and make you aware of the consequences if you dont protect yourself in a need area.

A sales person will do the same but will press the point harder and sometimes go too far.

Ian_Griffiths_Halifax

maveli wrote: »

that could be true. but the tone in koexelek' comment is that it is a bad thing to do

A broker has a number of lenders they can deal with whereas a lender has one.

One client I saw was offered a policy by Halifax recently and when I split it into 3 policies the price reduced from around £85 to £35. They were led to believe that they had to take the policy being sold by the Halifax.

I once remortgaged a couple and after replacing policies with equally good policies we saved around £90 which they weren't expecting, and so we used this saving to reduce the mortgage term by a around 3 years.

benjo

From my limited experience - Pro's...

They have a knowledge of the market that I dont.

They have knowledge of products I dont.

They have a knowledge of a wider market than the chap at the (insert name of individual lending organisation here) does - the very nature of being soley employed by one lender requires that those employees are 'specialists' in their own products or those products that their company are tied to.

They often have more 'local' specific knowledge than a large national organisation.

They are easier to reach than the man at the (insert lenders name here), since large national lenders usually have those horrible answering machines designed to make contacting the right department or individual impossible and make you want to poke your eye out with a stick.

They work more flexibly - can be contacted outside of office hours.

They can be fee free.

They have access to deals/lenders that are intermediary only.

They have experience in dealing with people who's circumstances dont 'tick all the boxes' - many large lenders experience of such cases ends with 'the computer says no, bye bye' leaving you to start all over again, often with no real understanding of which box you didnt tick or what you need to change in order to meet the lending criteria.

The Con's.....

You might get a 'wrong un' but then you might equally get a 'wrong un' working within a large lender, or the lender itself might be a 'wrong un' - 50 years ago who would have thought that banks today would had lost our trust, our respect and our money?

They may charge a fee.

They dont have access to some deals that are only available direct through the lender.

Im sure other people can add to this list, it's only my experience.

Conrad

If you are straight forward you do not need a broker and you can quite easily shop around for your own insurance - no broker required.

Brokers are only here for those with more complex situations. Those chasing prime straight forward business will not be around much longer what with the internet, Tescos, the post office and so on.

Ian_Griffiths_Halifax

If you are straight forward you do not need a broker and you can quite easily shop around for your own insurance - no broker E=Conrad;20713979]required.

Brokers are only here for those with more complex situations. Those chasing prime straight forward business will not be around much longer what with the internet, Tescos, the post office and so on.

I have 5000 clients who would disagree with you.

I also have many many clients who I have assisted in negotiations on house prices which anybody can do, but some people feel cheeky in doing.

There are lots of reasons for using a broker and you need to find another job if you can't think of any!

haziec

Do any of the brokers on here know how long the Halifax is taking to make a mortage offer following the application??
thank you