Whats the best way to find an IFA and mortgage brroker?

GAILEY

Is there any national list of reliable brokers? - Don't really just want to pick one out of the phonebook if I don't have to ?
Alternatively, can anyone recommend one - I am in Cumbria.
Thanks:beer:

Senior_Paper_Monitor

Best source is friends and relatives - i.e referrals

If not try:

www.unbiased.co.uk, www.searchmortgagebroker.co.uk, www.freeindex.co.uk

but not that much different to the phonebook (except freeindex is heavily recommendation based).

Have a look at their websites, speak to them and see if you feel comfortable - and that is probably more important than they are on your doorstep (remote advice is perfectly practical in most cases). Based on your previous thread you probably want a smaller, experienced and customer relationship based firm/individual rather than a large processing factory.

dunstonh

Is there any national list of reliable brokers?

IFAs handle the majority of regulated advice transactions but have under 2% of complaints at the FOS (and only around 1/3rd of those are upheld). So, statistically, the odds are that most are reliable.

Most IFAs no longer do mortgage business but employ dedicated or refer to dedicated mortgage advisers.

MalgorzataP

[FONT=&quot]Hi,[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Wherever you go to look for an adviser, make sure you know what type of advice they can give as not every adviser will be able to advise on every mortgage provider in the market! Only an independent financial adviser or whole of market mortgage broker is able to look at all the mortgages available to recommend the best option for you. You may find this section on our website useful just for some extra hints and tips. Good luck with your search! [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Malgorzata / unbiased.co.uk[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]

Wh05apk

The best way is by referral from friends/colleagues, Unbiased.co.uk are not unbiased, they operate by advisors signing up, with very little checking done, they are then "encouraged" to upgrade to a better listing - that doesn't sound very unbiased to me!

MalgorzataP

[FONT=&quot][/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT] [FONT=&quot]We rigorously check and verify all whole of market mortgage advisers and IFAs registering on our website. We run weekly checks against data supplied by the Financial Service Authority (FSA) to ensure that the advisers have the relevant permissions and authorisations to provide the advice listed on their profiles. In addition we verify all qualifications with the relevant awarding bodies before they are featured on the adviser’s profile. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The site is an inclusive directory and any mortgage adviser can list themselves on it as long as they provide whole of market advice and pass our verification process. Some advisers have chosen to upgrade their listing for added functionality and benefits.[/FONT]

Wh05apk

MalgorzataP wrote: »

[FONT=&quot]We rigorously check and verify all whole of market mortgage advisers and IFAs registering on our website. We run weekly checks against data supplied by the Financial Service Authority (FSA) to ensure that the advisers have the relevant permissions and authorisations to provide the advice listed on their profiles. In addition we verify all qualifications with the relevant awarding bodies before they are featured on the adviser’s profile. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The site is an inclusive directory and any mortgage adviser can list themselves on it as long as they provide whole of market advice and pass our verification process. [/FONT]

ALL brokers legally have to have the "relevant permissions and authorisations" to trade, lenders will not accept applications from anyone without them, so in that respect using your site is no different to plucking a name from a phonebook.

"Some advisers have chosen to upgrade their listing for added functionality and benefits"

you mean pay for a higher placed/profile listing? therefore it cannot be unbiased as you are providing a bias towards the paid for listings?