Inform 3rd December 2021

We’re delighted to announce that Principality Building Society have launched a semi-exclusive proposition for Newly Qualified Professionals.

In a nutshell, they’re offering 5.5x Loan to Income for clients that have newly qualified as:

• An Accountant
• An Actuary
• Barrister
• Dentist
• Doctor
• Optometrist
• Pharmacist
• Solicitor
• Surveyor
• Vet

In the last 5 years.

In addition, they’ve also launch two bespoke semi-exclusive products for these newly qualified professionals – click here for more information.

Getting case updates just got easier

Great news, you can now get updates on your existing Virgin Money applications through our live chat service.

Discuss a new application and check the progress of your existing cases all through live chat, without having to call us.

Plus, our case tracking service is still available on VMO and we’ll continue to send you regular updates by email, so you’re always in the know.

Give our live chat service a try, it’s easy to use and available 9am – 5pm Monday to Friday (9.30am – 5pm on Wednesday). You just need to have your FCA number handy.

If you’ve got any questions or would like to discuss a new case directly, please get in touch with your BDM 

Globally, on average, 1 man dies by suicide every minute of every day.

3 out of 4 suicides in the UK are committed by men.

With shorter days and Christmas approaching this time of year can be particularly tough for those struggling with mental health. Whilst the impact on relatives and immediate family is clear, we focus below on how the loss of a key person or employee can have a huge impact on a business.

We know that continuity and succession planning may not be high on the priority list for your client but have they considered how they would cope financially if they lost a key employee? What might the implications be if one of the business owners died or suffered a critical illness?

Business Protection is designed to help protect a business from the financial effects of key people being diagnosed with a critical illness or even dying.

While your client may be aware of the need to protect their business, they could need your advice to identify the right solutions.

You can find more information on Business Protection and what each insurer provides in our document library via the LifeQuote Platform.

Once identified, the Quoting System on the Platform has a dedicated area to quote for Business Protection where you can select Key Person Cover and more including; Business Loan Protection, Partnership/Shareholder Cover and Relevant Life.

Whilst Movember creates a focus on a range of health issues for men, it doesn’t stop when November ends. We are sure it’s an area that you want to become more aware of to support your clients.

If you are overwhelmed or concerned about your mental health, speak with someone immediately, contact the NHS on 111 or contact Samaritans on 116 123.

If you’re ever worried that someone’s life is in immediate danger, call 999 or go directly to emergency services.

If you arrange the advice, we will help with the administration and processing of these cases on your behalf click here.

At Bluestone they understand the New Build Landscape is changing – here’s what they have done to help…

Many New Build developments face delays due to supply chain issues and a shortage of materials and labour. These challenges, along with high consumer demand for New Build properties, is resulting in developers often forward selling or releasing units many months ahead of build completion.

Bluestone Mortgages are committed to supporting the New Build Market and as a result have made the following changes to their policy:

• New Build offer validity extended to 6 months, with the ability to apply for a further 3 months extension

In addition, they’ve also simplified the process on Help to Buy cases, by removing the requirement for the Authority to Proceed (ATP); meaning that fewer documents need to be submitted with the application.

Bluestone believe their New Build amendments can support current and prospective homeowners that allow disenfranchised borrowers the chance to purchase their new home.

If you have any question. feel free to them a call on 0800 368 1833.

When arranging a trust for your client’s protection policy, we understand the importance of it being set up correctly and providing your clients with a fluid and efficient process.

Our new automated trust service means that you can now place your client’s protection policies in trust at the touch of a button saving weeks and sometimes months.

This means that:
• you can reassure your clients and trustees that their needs have been fulfilled promptly

• there is a more fluid approach meaning less delay for you and your clients

• it makes it easier for you to do business

To help select the most appropriate trust for your clients, we have our trust chooser which will also provide you with a link to the correct trust form.

You can find out more about our online trusts here.

As well as Family Assist mortgages at 100% LTV, our lending options up to 95% LTV include the following criteria options for first time and next time buyers

• Joint Borrower Sole Proprietor: A close family member contributes to the mortgage but doesn’t appear on the title deeds. The residential applicants are expected to have a career path which should enable them to afford the mortgage repayments on their own in the future.

• Multiple applicants: we accept up to 4 applicants on a mortgage with up to 3 incomes used in assessing affordability.

• Gifted family deposits: a non-repayable and non-interest bearing gift from a parent, sibling, child, grandparent, aunt or uncle. Extended family can be considered providing a long-established relationship with the applicant can be confirmed.

• Guarantor mortgages: a person acts as a guarantor for the borrower. The guarantor must be able to afford the proposed mortgage repayments together with their own financial commitments.

• No credit scoring: applicants considered with little or no credit history or who may have failed credit scores with other lenders.

• Flexibility on income: we allow applicants to use 50% of regular bonus, overtime and commission payments in the affordability assessment and can take a common sense view of self-employed applicants with 2 years’ accounts history up to 95% LTV.

For more information about our products and services, including our affordability calculator and applying through our online portal, visit our website at mansfieldbs.co.uk/intermediaries.

This week we want to share with you some results from our surveys, that we send out at offer stage to every broker. Over the last 12 months we’ve received some great feedback about our products and services – here are some highlights:

• 88% rated the service from our BDMs & RSMs as Excellent or Good
  (6% ok, 6% don’t know)
• 90% rated the service from our telephony team as Excellent or Good
  (10% ok)
• 88% rated our lending criteria as Excellent or Good
  (9% ok, 1.5% poor, 1.5% don’t know)
• 87% rated our website as Excellent or Good
  (12% ok, 1% didn’t use)
• 84% rated our online application portal as Excellent or Good
  (13% ok, 1.5% didn’t use)

We want to continually improve the services and products we offer, so let us know if there is anything we can do – just drop us an email or complete one of our surveys if/when we send one to you.

We’ve also included a new Friday Fact for you to ponder and details of our final face to face event of this year.

Friday Fact: We offer dual or separate legal representation for both individual and limited company applications, so you can choose to use your own solicitor if you want. As long as you choose one from our panel to work on behalf of Zephyr.

To discuss a new case find the contact details for your RSM or Telephone BDM on our website.

For general enquiries about Zephyr contact us on 0370 707 184 (Mon to Fri from 9am to 5pm) or send us an email

With people living and working for longer, we’re making changes to our critical illness products to meet the changing need for protection.

With immediate effect, you’ll be able to offer longer policy terms on all our critical illness products. In doing this, you can help us support more people and ensure they have the required cover in place.

What are the improvements?

• Increasing the maximum policy expiry age, from their 70th birthday to their 75th birthday
• Increasing the maximum policy length, from 40 years to 50 years

The need for protection

Financial commitments are encroaching further into our later lives, and because we’re living longer, periods of ill health could interrupt the reliable income needed for later life financial commitments.

That’s why it’s important to ensure your clients have the required level of protection, should the worst happen. Critical Illness Cover provides your clients with financial breathing space so they can focus on what’s important – their road to recovery. And now it’s there to protect even more people, for longer.

Find out more about our critical illness offering and how it can be tailored to suit different budgets and needs.

After launching a high-LTV refurbishment finance product, Bridging Director for LendInvest, Justin Trowse, explains what this offers to borrowers in the current market. Find out more here.

Thanks to your support at the Financial Adviser Service Awards 2021, we’re delighted to:

• WIN Company of the Year
• WIN our 17th five stars in the Pensions & Protection Providers category
• WIN our 12th five stars in the Mortgage Provider category

See how we help financial advice firms win.

 THE CASE  

Our clients were moving to a larger property within the same part of London, requiring a mortgage of around 65% LTV on a purchase price of £1.8m.

 THE CHALLENGES 

This case provided two key challenges: affordability and timing:

To reach affordability we added 75% of the main applicants substantial annual bonus to their employment income from a city based banking job. By considering six times income the case met affordability requirements.

We were notified at the point of application of a fixed timescale on this case, with completion required by early November.

 THE OUTCOME 

Regular, precise and actionable communication between ourselves, the broker and their client meant all parties were on board with ensuring each step of the process was completed on time to deliver completion less than 40 days after application.

Faster mortgages: TFI’s top tips revealed…

1. Short deadline? Make us aware from the outset
2. The Ugly, the bad and the good: we want to know it all so we can see any case challenges upfront and find the right solution
3. Go the whole nine yards: Complete all paperwork fully as partially completed documents or those without sufficient information may cause delays
4. Extra extra: if we need more detail supply it as quickly as you’re able to – and keep us informed
5. Three rings: keep in touch. If something has changed or there is a problem let us know so we can work together

Have you got a complex case challenge? 

Call 0800 378 669 or visit www.teachersbs.co.uk

We have been a leading equity release partner for over 10 years and are a member of the Equity Release Council. We continuously enhance our lifetime mortgages to enable your clients to better achieve their financial objectives and help them enjoy a stress-free retirement.

Here are just some of our services that your lifetime mortgage clients can benefit from:

24/7 access to a remote GP

Lifetime mortgage customers and their family members can access LV= Doctor Services, providing fast and convenient remote medical support.

LV= Doctor Services is a non-contractual benefit and can be changed or removed at anytime. LV= Doctor Services is provided by Square Health Limited. This service is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority or the Prudential Regulation Authority.

Help to navigate the UK’s elderly care system

We have partnered with MorganAsh to provide access to Care Navigator designed to help your clients better navigate their way through the UK’s elderly care system.

Support when you need it

We support you with the right tools. Our online portal is the smarter way to do business. 24/7 access allows you to support your clients whenever they need you and manage more of your equity release business efficiently and flexibly.

Plus, our experts are here to assist you. We’re dedicated to delivering excellent service through our knowledgeable sales, underwriting and processing teams. We’re here to help offer you case consulting, information and technical support.

Click here to register for their portal