Is my mortgage broker dodgy?

payless

Arkie & Conrad

you need to either add the required statement to your signatures OR make no mention that you are a broker in your posts

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=325378

...Mortgage Advisers who choose not to use the signature should not indicate they are brokers in any other way within their posts....

Conrad

twinkle_star wrote:

, but no doubt they all pee in the same bucket.

No, each company must appoint someone as responsible for compliance with ALL FSA rules. It is this person you would complain to USING RECORDED / SPECIAL DELIVERY post.

You will usually find compliance people are from a different mould to salesmen. They are unlikely not to act in your best interest as this would seriously breach FSA rules. All such people know that if you are not happy with thier own complaints process it will be escalted by the client to the Ombudsman and with the FSA being made aware of breaches.

MortgageMamma

Conrad, thats a bit of a sweeping statement regarding fee's free brokers, on what evidence to you base that statement? I for one never bully or pressure sell clients into taking unwanted ancillary products, as its against my ethics and a false economy when the client stops paying the premiums and you get a big clawback and ultimately have worked for nothing!

Arkie, whilst I am not totally against fee charging in any form (just because I choose not to do it does not mean its a bad thing) you cannot really call a fee free broker a shark, not everyone is driven by how much money they make, some of us are just in this job because we like it. Added to which those of us that are directly authorised and self employed have no targets, so we don't need to ram products down our clients throats.

MM

arkie

"Arkie, whilst I am not totally against fee charging in any form (just because I choose not to do it does not mean its a bad thing) you cannot really call a fee free broker a shark, not everyone is driven by how much money they make, some of us are just in this job because we like it. Added to which those of us that are directly authorised and self employed have no targets, so we don't need to ram products down our clients throats."


Im not calling anybody sharks, I was just backing up conrad.

As for targets, we all targets in life , like you Im self employed, i have various introducers nationwide, but I , like you have targets, I need to live to pay my mortgage, pay my utility bills etc, pay FSA fees etc, and just because we dont have a sales manager pushing sales targets down our throats doesnt mean we have targets.... life is full of targets... some people might call them dreams others call them ambitions, you know where Im coming from,

As for pushing insurance down peoples throats no broker should do that , it comes off and I waste my time, (I dont suffer a big clawback as its all on the drip, no point borrowing money from life & GB companies !!!)

Finally as you say you love your job, I call it a career and I love my career

Ian_W

arkie & conrad,
Payless [post #22] has pointed you to the code that Martin has asked Brokers to abide by when posting on this site. If I remember correctly amongst the reasons he decided to ask brokers to abide by it were to indicate that you may have expertise us mere mortals do not possess and also that you may also have an industry bias.

This is a private site and for all of us, except the owner, posting is a privilege not a right and it seems to me to be plain discourteous and downright rude to Martin to blatantly ignore the rules he lays down for posting on HIS site.

For a second time could I ask you to abide by the code?

twinkle_star_7

Thanks very much guys and girls for all of your help. I know you all do a great job (especially on here) and I dont have a bad opinion of brokers, as dunstonh rightly said I picked a bad apple.
Thanks to all of you I now know how to tackle this rogue if he tries to bully me again, funny though Ive not heard anything from him since he came round last friday - maybe he realised that he overstepped the mark.
Il keep you all informed of the progress, but for now keep up the good work guys.
Thank god for this site.

twinkle_star_7

Hi guys,
My rogue broker rang me last night to rearrange my life and critical illness cover, when I told him that I was going to stay with the policy that is already up and running he said "you're having a laugh arnt you?" I said "no Im not". He went on about his commision again and I told him that he made me feel very intimidated when he came round last friday. He was fully apologetic and said he didn't intend to make me feel like that.
He then tried to persuade me again to cancel my policy and restart it via him. I told him No. He then said "right well then how would you feel about me charging you a fee for sorting out your mortgage?" Thanks to you guys I shot him down in flames. I told him that his IDD key facts document was uncompliant and that he couldnt charge me a fee. He became very quiet, then appologised some more. After this he went away with his tail between his legs.
Il post again if I have anymore problems but I think I might of seen the last of him. I can't thank you all enough for helping me out with this. I'd of been lost without you all. Keep up the good work. Best wishes to you all.:j

MortgageMamma

Good on you girl!

I still think you should report him anyway - imagine how many other people have had this done to them ? This rogue needs his pathetic little bum kicked out of the industry. Its prats like him that give the rest of us a bad reputation.

AndyWallace

Nobody should ever be pressured into buying products from a broker, and that includes the mortgage itself.

The aim of the FSA's regulation is to protect the consumer from unscrupolous salesmen. A key part of the compliant process is clear and unambiguous terms.This is to be found in the IDD, which should be presented at the initial stages of the process. A consumer can and should indeed rely on this document.

The terms should not depend on other matters either, for example, "I will not charge you the broker fee if you take out insurance..." That statement itself is putting the consumer under mild pressure to take the product. You can also infer from this that the broker is more interested in the insurance commission than he is the fee he proposes to charge.

Also remember that the broker is giving 'advice' and that the advice must be suitable to the clients needs. So, particularly with insurances & mortgage protection, whether the advice is appropriate will ultimately depend on the answers to a series of "What if..." type questions.

1. What would happen if one of you lost your lives? Would the other person be able to maintain the mortgage payments and other household bills should this unfortunate event occur?
2. What would happen if you, let's say, broke your leg, and was out of work for 6 months?
3. What would happen if you became critically ill?

And so on.

A good adviser will ask these types of questions and recommend the options available. He will record details of this conversation on his fact find, or may even have a seperate insurance/demands and needs fact find. The broker may even refer you to somebody more qualified than himself.

A poor adviser will not even ask these questions, or worse, ask you to sign a document to say that you have been offered it but do not wish to take it. Again this is sales pressure.

Andy.

AndyWallace

MortgageMamma wrote:

I still think you should report him anyway

MortgageMamma wrote:

Its prats like him that give the rest of us a bad reputation

I hate comments like these.

Looking at what seems to have happened might indicate pressure tactics. But you are quick to mention other people's sweeping statements yet often make them yourself.

Andy.