Equity Release companies query

ppeetteerr

Hello,
Just starting to looking into equity release and trying to understand what all the different companies are and what they actually do. I have a few questions if anybody can help.

Question 1:
As I understand it some companies like Age partnership / Aviva / Key / Readers Digest etc, etc. are just brokers and not actually Lenders, is that correct?

Question 2:
Is using a broker (such as companies above) the same as using an Financial adviser?

Question 3:
Can anybody provide me a list of say the top 20 or 30 equity release companies which shows whether they are Brokers or Lenders?

Thanks in advance,
Regards.

ACG

1) Key is a broker as is age partnerhsip. I thought Aviva were a lender but I could be wrong. 
2) No. An equity release mortgage broker is different to a financial adviser (FA). FAs do things like pensions and investments, but can also do mortgages. They may or may not be able to do equity release, it depends on whether they sat the exam. 
3) Its not really that simple. I do not do equity release, but a lot depends on what you want - do you want the highest amount you can get, do you want the best rate, do you want the ability to make payments, do you have health conditions (the more likely you are to die, the better terms you may get - mental isnt it!). 

I would suggest a broker. We used to refer to Key but had a bit of feedback that said it was not really a personal service. I would suggest finding a local broker personally. 

Thrugelmir

Financial companies such as Aviva will wear both hats. Being lenders and selling direct in their own right. 

MWT

ppeetteerr said:

Question 2:
Is using a broker (such as companies above) the same as using an Financial adviser?

Equity Release is a regulated product and you are going to need to take advice during the process.

A key decision point is how much you want to pay for that advice as no matter how confident you may be on your own knowledge and plans, it is an unavoidable step that can cost you anywhere from £0 - several thousand pounds.

The zero end of the scale could be one of the High St. lenders or somewhere like StepChange Financial Solutions.

Whereas many of the other brokers/advisors will charge a lot more without necessarily having access to a wider product range than StepChange for example.

Whichever route you decide to take for advice, they will be getting a payment from the chosen lender, so keep that in mind.