Pushy Mortgage Broker?

squibbs25

Hi,

I looking for a little advice if possible.
If you felt like your broker seemed extra pushy, how would you handle it?
(without meaning to offend:o )

I was passed details of a broker though a friend (he did her mortgage ect) so i contacted him.
He found a deal while we were on the phone (10 yr fixed @5.59% on a mortgage of £60,000) which i was quite happy with. (still am)
He has (at my suggestion) talked through with us about Mortgage protection Insurance (currently with Halifax for both mortgage and MPI).
The broker suggested taking out critical illness cover and life insurance and sickness/unemployment benefit.
As i have the day off work today i thought i'd find our exsisting details from the Halifax, to find we are both already covered for critical ilness and life cover benefit. Just rang the broker and told him what we are already covered for and it costs' less than the prices he has quoted. his reply was i will see if i can beat that, i dont see why they should get the money!
He wants me to keep the policy out fo rhim to look at tomorrow when he comes round.

So far there has been quite a few mistakes made (by him?), one was when the mortgage offer came through it was all wrong!
As for the insurances/benefits (life/critical/sickness-unemployment) they have all come through wrong aswell. (family medical history details all incorrect, all differ on 3 seperate forms, phone number wrong on one, only one of us insured on another, they all contidict each other)
When i told him last week he was adamant that they can't be wrong.
Then he said it must be a mistake at the other end (meaning not his mistake).

I feel like he is being far too pushy for my liking, i understand he has a job to do but if that's the case then why so many mistakes?

Do i have to take out the insurances/benefit cover with him?
I'm thinking of staying with the Halifax as they already are aware of the medical history (have even paid out on the policy for us when hubby was off work with kidney stones). I'm scared as if there is a mistake that i miss then it could jepodise any claim (god forbid) if it is needed in the future.#

I can feel myslef getting really stressed out with it all.
I though going to a broker was supposed to take some of the stress away not add to it! :mad:

How do i nicely tell him to back off?
Sorry for the rant and thanks for reading.

Squibbs

Dan_Collins_2

These brokers are still about, I guess he is just after the money! Life and cic is not cheap and earns a good deal for him. I would say that he has to fully justify replacing products like that. Now depending on the age and type of your product I would doubt he will beat the price without giving up the quality of the policy.

Tell him to drop the insurance. Do it via email if your not happy doing it on the phone or in person.

You should not take out policy because you were put under pressure.

Good luck

dunstonh

If you felt like your broker seemed extra pushy, how would you handle it?

If the reason for being pushy is genuine. i.e. this deal is being withdrawn, you need to get it done now or you will miss it, then that is fine.

If it is being pushy trying to get a sale then you have to decide if its the adviser meeting the requirement to advise you on your needs which you may not appreciate or if its too heavy trying to get a sale.

As i have the day off work today i thought i'd find our exsisting details from the Halifax, to find we are both already covered for critical ilness and life cover benefit. Just rang the broker and told him what we are already covered for and it costs' less than the prices he has quoted. his reply was i will see if i can beat that, i dont see why they should get the money!
He wants me to keep the policy out fo rhim to look at tomorrow when he comes round.

Nothing wrong with any of that. You would expect any whole of market adviser or IFA to be able to comfortably beat a bank's pricing.

So far there has been quite a few mistakes made (by him?), one was when the mortgage offer came through it was all wrong!

The broker doesnt print the offer letter. The lender does.

As for the insurances/benefits (life/critical/sickness-unemployment) they have all come through wrong aswell. (family medical history details all incorrect, all differ on 3 seperate forms, phone number wrong on one, only one of us insured on another, they all contidict each other)

I thought you said you said the broker hasnt seen your existing details yet? In which case the insurances shouldnt have been done yet.

I feel like he is being far too pushy for my liking, i understand he has a job to do but if that's the case then why so many mistakes?

Nothing you have said so far suggests anything pushy. Mistakes are different. Everybody can make mistakes and some of them may not be his fault although it looks like some of these are his fault. Potentially all of them could be.

Do i have to take out the insurances/benefit cover with him?

no.

I can feel myslef getting really stressed out with it all.
I though going to a broker was supposed to take some of the stress away not add to it! :mad:

it is meant to. However, your frustration seems to be more towards the mistakes than him being pushy. Is he actually an independent mortgage broker with whole of market insurance? (the fact you said he couldnt beat the price sounds more like tied agent than indepedent).

How do i nicely tell him to back off?

No means no. If the broker doesnt stop then he is actually breaking FSA rules and you should tell him to leave. However, do not mistake the requirement to tell you what you should have and the reasons why as being pushy. Its only if he isnt taking no for an answer that you should tell him to sod off.

Conrad

Do not take his insurance.

Apart from the medical history you outline, it is almost certainly the cased any new policy will have stricter claims criteria. He is supposed to compare existing with new but he wont, all he has in mind is making a sale.

He is a salesman and will possibly get you to sign if he meets you - probably one of the worst mistakes you could make. REMEMBER ALL THE SALES BANTER IN THE WORLD IS MEANINGLESS WHEN IT COMES TO A FUTURE CLAIM. If it isnt clearly written down then it doesnt count.

If he insists get the relevant insurance companies chief compliance officer to verify in writing that the new policy IN EVERY RESPECT exceeds that of your existing policy TO INCLUDE CLAIM CRITERIA.

squibbs25

Thank you for your relies so far.

As regards being pushy, i think he has found us a good deal on the mortgage, we are happy with that - its not the mortgage that he is being pushy with.

It's the extra's that he wants us to purchase.
I admit i asked about the products (as the existing MPPI was taken out with the current mortgage via the bank) and after reading on here wanted to make sure we were not paying through the nose for it
He tried to sell us house building and contents insurance, and was not too happy when i said no, i am happy with the company we have, thank you!

As for the new insurances/benefits: we have filled out a form as hubby has in the past suffered from kidney stones, and our current MPPI paid the mortgage while he was unable to work, so it needed to be mentioned on the form (at first the broker said dont worry, but i made him include it in history, also where on the form it asks for health details on members of the family we both had info to fill in - THIS is where the mistakes are.)
He wants me to keep out our current policy details so he can compare with what he is offering. (fair point).

I think it's more the way he speaks to me, hubby has just admitted to me on the phone he finds him very patronising (sp)

I spoke to him on Thursday and he insited that he came round on Friday to fill in the last bit for the mortgage (we need to sign things for the solicitors and he is the witness), when i told him that i couldnt do Friday he told me it would have to be saturday.
He was quite put out when i said the earliest i can do i Tuesday evening.


As far as i am aware, he is a whole of the market broker, but the insurances/benefits are all with the same company, which really i would have thought would be right anyway, but now you mention it maybe he's not.
We are only paying a fee for him to do the mortgage, not for any extras we might* take out (he is paid by that company).


I think it's his attitude that is hacking me off at the moment!

Sorry to bore you!

Squibbs

dunstonh

(at first the broker said dont worry, but i made him include it in history

That certainly sets alarm bells going. You were right to do what you did and to be honest, ignoring everything else, that alone would put me on guard.

As far as i am aware, he is a whole of the market broker, but the insurances/benefits are all with the same company, which really i would have thought would be right anyway, but now you mention it maybe he's not.

That sounds like a tied agent. Tied to a particular insurer. Tied agent insurances are more expensive than independents/whole of market. You usually find that the best income protection provider will not be the best life assurer etc.

Tied agents have a reputation of making out they are whole of market when they are only on mortgages.

I think it's his attitude that is hacking me off at the moment!

The more you say, the more understandable your views are.

Rick62

Also if you (or your husband) has pre-existing conditions then changing your cover could reduce your ability to claim for future related conditions.

REALGSA

Plus in his defence, now days, mortgage lenders run out of money very quick, thus they could decline or ask for some informtion you cannot provide or say you cant borrow as much, thats a reason why he could be a bit pushy to want to get it through

ProvidaMortgages

If you are happy with your existing cover and it is adequate to cover your current mortgage arrangements, then keep with what you have. With pre-existing conditions, I would not recommend re-broking cover. In concurrence with other people in this thread, it sounds like he is a tied agent and not sourcing from a wider panel/whole of market.

Conrad

That guy needs to be reported to the FSA. Telling you not to disclose pre existing medical conditions is a fraud, and one that would have cost you your home when the new insurer declines your claim on the grounds you didnt disclose your full health history.

It is people like that that time and agin give the indsutry a terrible name. Putting his commision above your financial security.

I will guarantee he does this all the time (Im always comming accross this) and putting people at risk, so if it were me I would report him and recommend the FSA go over all his past insurance sales in order to safeguard unsuspecting clients.

squibbs25

This thread has given me food for thought, before i posted on here i thought i was over re-acting (we can all be prone to make 'off the cuff' comments which can be taken the wrong way,) but after my last conversation with him i knew i hadn't misentupreted what he's said (attitude wise).
I've spoken at length with hubby about not taking new insurance/benefit policies out, we are keeping with our exsisting company, I'm more than happy with them. The only thing we will have to do is update for the new mortgage amount.

I must point out he has not been pushy with the mortgage, just with the extra insurances/benefits.

Squibbs