Advice on Positive Solutions Mortage Broker

lonestarfan

Has anyone used this Broker. I can't work out if they are whole of market or not.
My brother used them and got a mortgage but I don't know whether it was the best deal on the market as I'm not sure if he was whole of market.
I'm looking for a broker myself and wondered if anyone has any experience of Positive Solutions. They are a large cross country operation I believe. I think bro got them from a referral on money supermarket.
TIA.

ACG

You have said the same 2 things in about 3 different ways on that post.

They are part of a network called intrinsic (I used to be part of them), their brokers are whole of market.

Senior_Paper_Monitor

I was simply going to say ...

1) They are apparently a large financial services company (owned by Aegon) with a 'franchise model' - so it will be down to the individual adviser that you end up with as to how good they are. They are probably what used to be referred as 'whole of market' for mortgages - but it is not totally clear on their website.

2) 'Money Supermarket' do virtually no quality control in their 'referrals' - they simply flog the lead to the highest bidder.



But beware their apparent charges (from their website - they are potentially huge) ....

We give you the option of paying a fee for our mortgage advice. The precise amount will depend upon your circumstances, but will typically be £100 – £300 per hour. If you choose to pay a fee and we receive commission, we will pay that commission to you.

Equity Release is a lifetime mortgage or home reversion scheme. To understand the features and risks, ask for a personalised illustration.

We give you the option of paying a fee for our lifetime mortgage advice. The precise amount will depend upon your circumstances, but will typically be £250 - £350 per hour.

... whether this charging model works for you will depend upon the details of your mortgage (our figures show that even the simplest mortgage absorbs at least 10 man hours)

Senior_Paper_Monitor

Are we talking about the same company ACG ??

amnblog

Positive Solutions is a network of advisers originally set up by ex directors of Allied Dunbar.

They were recently owned by Aegon as an IFA network and a sale to intrinsic has been agreed - I do not know if it has gone ahead yet as the agreement was only announced this month.

You would expect a whole of market mortgage offering but ask the adviser what their offering is to be sure.

lonestarfan

Senior_Paper_Monitor wrote: »

I was simply going to say ...

1) They are apparently a large financial services company (owned by Aegon) with a 'franchise model' - so it will be down to the individual adviser that you end up with as to how good they are. They are probably what used to be referred as 'whole of market' for mortgages - but it is not totally clear on their website.

2) 'Money Supermarket' do virtually no quality control in their 'referrals' - they simply flog the lead to the highest bidder.



But beware their apparent charges (from their website - they are potentially huge) ....

We give you the option of paying a fee for our mortgage advice. The precise amount will depend upon your circumstances, but will typically be £100 – £300 per hour. If you choose to pay a fee and we receive commission, we will pay that commission to you.

Equity Release is a lifetime mortgage or home reversion scheme. To understand the features and risks, ask for a personalised illustration.

We give you the option of paying a fee for our lifetime mortgage advice. The precise amount will depend upon your circumstances, but will typically be £250 - £350 per hour.

... whether this charging model works for you will depend upon the details of your mortgage (our figures show that even the simplest mortgage absorbs at least 10 man hours)

I read their website too & couldn't conclude if they were whole of market so thanks for your opinion as seems we concur. I read the charging model too and felt it was high. My brother paid no fee at all, but did buy a small life assurance policy of £40,000 so maybe the broker earned some commission on that which was enough for his fee but tbh I would say he must have done about 10 hrs work as you say. It was a straight forward case as he has very good job, good credit record and loads of savings/deposits. So if I'm to use them I must ensure I'm clear from the outset then about what the charge is for what outcome. Thanks both.

lonestarfan

On Professional adviser.com I'm reading a few worrying things about how 2 directors have stepped down in Feb 2014 and a case of negligent advice. I sort of started to think of using positive solutions for a remortage advice but I'm thinking of looking for some other broker possibly now. What's the difference between this positive solutions adviser and an Appointed Representative of a company authorised and regulated by FSA. I'm looking at a website giving me brokers in the midlands for the unbiased site.

kingstreet

The FCA is the regulator.

Some firms go "directly authorised" which means they register directly with the FCA. They are responsible for their own compliance, PI etc.

Alternatively, a network can be the authorised firm and appoint representatives. The network handles compliance, provides the PI cover and the AR pays a fee in return for these services.

Think of the network as an umbrella, under which a number of ARs can sit.

AR or DA makes little difference to you. You are still looking for a firm which doesn't have a restricted panel of lenders. The consumer protection is the same.

lonestarfan

Thanks.
I need to ask them if they have a restricted panel of lenders then when I speak to them.
If I'm understanding all this correctly do I to take it that a restricted panel of lenders would mean that they are not whole of market?
I would like whole of market I think.

amnblog

If you are not confident you want to deal with your PS Brokers - use another broker.

kingstreet

Yes. It used to be "whole of market for products available via brokers" was the way we described ourselves, as lenders such as HSBC don't accept business from brokers.

Our terms of business now reads;-

Whose mortgages do we offer?

We are not limited in the range of mortgages we will consider for you but not deals that you can only obtain by going direct to a Lender.

Some brokers who can work on a fee-only basis and who would rebate you any commission to offset the fee may recommend a direct-only lender/product but you would not benefit from an arrangement service and would have to apply directly.

In such circumstances, there won't be any commission.