Inform 28th June 2024

The Mortgage Works 

A new way to verify income

The Mortgage Works are always working on ways to streamline the mortgage journey for both you and your clients.

So to reduce the number of proofs they need, they’re introducing a new tool in NFI Online which will allow them to automate the verification of your clients income: Work Report from Experian.

Work Report provides them with digital payroll data, which they have integrated into their systems to remove the need for manual income proofs and verification where a match is established.

You’ll notice the new tool is live in NFI Online from today and functionality will be fully enabled in coming weeks. Please continue to upload requested proofs as you currently do, and you will start to see the frequency of proof requests likely reduce going forward.

To see how it works, you can get more info on our website.

Natwest Intermediary Solutions

With immediate effect Natwest have increased the maximum loan to value (LTV) for new build properties.

The new LTVs are as follows:

• New Build residential houses: 90% LTV, up from 85%.
• New Build residential flats: 85% LTV, up from 75%.

Please note, other policy limits will still apply, for example Interest Only.

These changes support their commitment to the new build market and enable them to better meet the evolving needs of your customers.

You can find more details including new build process and policy on their new build hub.

Process improvement to exposure limits

Alongside the LTV increases, Natwest have also implemented a process improvement in relation to exposure limits. Their team can now check this for you at first point of contact, which enables you to get a quicker response and confirmation for your new build customers. In some instances a referral may still need to be made to L&G specialists.

For more information on the new build changes or policy talk to Natwest’s Business Development Team on 0345 026 0008 (Relay UK 18001 0345 026 0008). Calls may be recorded for training and monitoring purposes

Metro Bank

INTEREST ONLY ENHANCEMENTS

Hodge for Intermediaries

Two criteria enhancements to our specialist mortgage range

At Hodge we’re always evolving to support your clients as best as possible. With this in mind, we’ve introduced two new criteria enhancements across our products.

What’s changed?
1. We’ve increased the age of the first death stress for joint borrowers on the 50+ product
2. We will now accept a self-contained annexe across our product range

Increasing the age of the first death stress for joint borrowers on our 50+ product

The first death stress test is a way of ensuring a mortgage remains affordable for the surviving customer when their partner passes away.

As a data led organisation we keep up to date with market intelligence and recent ONS statistics shows us that life expectancy has increased to 87 years of age across the UK.

So, we’ve made changes…

On the back of this ONS data, we chose to raise our death stress from age 82 to 87.
This allows customers to spread their mortgage across a longer term making monthly mortgage payments more affordable.

Business development director, Emma Graham gives more context on our death stress enhancement:

“This enhancement to the first death stress will enable customers to spread their mortgage across a longer mortgage term, making monthly payments more affordable as they lend up to and into their retirement.

“By implementing these latest changes, we aim to better support customers who need more flexible lending arrangements, especially in the current challenging market conditions.”

Want to know more? Speak to a BDM

Self-contained annexe: Let’s dig a little deeper

There are over 30,000 properties in the UK with an annexe and rising. This is mainly driven by childcare costs, an increasing number of families supporting their children in saving for their own property as well as a greater numbers of people working from home.

What’s changing in our criteria?

We’ll now accept properties with one self-contained annexe subject to the following:
• They’re let on a short-term basis for holiday letting
• They’re occupied by parties related to the property owner (such as a family member).
This is acceptable across all of our products (50+, RIO, Professional Mortgage and Holiday Let).

Jon Matthews, head of property risk, explains why we’ve introduced the annexe enhancement:

“We continue to see demand for properties with a self-contained annexe as families look to support one another intergenerationally. This change represents further flexibility in our property criteria, removing any ambiguity around annexes for your customers.”

Read more about our enhancements in our Knowledge Hub

Chorley Building Society

Credit Renew Product and Lending Criteria Update

Credit Renew – Increased Loan to Value

The Society has increased the LTV on both its Credit Renew 1 and Credit Renew 2 products.

Credit Renew 1 – 2 year discount is now available at 90% LTV (previously 80% LTV) and Credit Renew 2 – 2 year discount is now available at 75% (increased from 70%).

Also available are 60% LTV options on both products.

Our Credit Renew products are split into category 1 and category 2, which acknowledges the differing stages that customers may be at, in their recovery from life events.

Credit Renew – Lending Criteria Changes

Changes to the lending criteria of Credit Renew products now provide greater flexibility.   Defaults up to £1,000 can now be accepted on standard lending (subject to still meeting being registered more than 6 months ago and no more than two in last two years).

If a client has a default, they are now able to settle this with the loan, subject maximum LTV.

For full details view our lending criteria here – https://www.chorleybs.co.uk/lending-criteria/

To take a look at our product range and view our product interest rates visit: https://www.chorleybs.co.uk/intermediary/

Remember we credit search and not credit score, taking a flexible approach to lending.

We are currently processing DIPs within 24 hours and apps within 3 days, so get in touch with our team on 01257 235 001 or intermediaries@chorleybs.co.uk if you have any queries at all.

ARIA FINANCE

Case Study: Simultaneous Bridging Finance and Buy-to-Let Mortgage for Portfolio Landlord

Loan type: Bridging Loan / Buy-to-Let Mortgage   |   Amount: £401,724 / £2,037,793   |   LTV: 33% / 64%  |   Term: 12 months / 25 years

Aria Finance recently assisted a portfolio landlord to purchase a property at auction with a bridging loan while simultaneously providing a buy-to-let mortgage to quickly refinance the bridge and allow extra funds for further purchases. The Aria Finance team closely collaborated with the client to devise a successful strategy that met their immediate needs while also placing them in a strong position for future growth.

Read the case study in full here. 

LV= Adviser

Fuel for Life, our dedicated protection e-zine

Paymentshield

Paymentshield’s 5 Top Tips for GI conversion

Recognising that while advisers might have their hands full keeping up with the demands of the mortgage market, there will be many firms still wanting to ensure their clients’ homes are properly protected by discussing General Insurance (GI). Not only does recommending quality insurance add value for your clients, but it can also help you to build a more resilient business.

With this in mind, Paymentshield has a range of resources aimed at helping advisers to have more GI conversations with your clients.

Paymentshield’s referral option is one example. It enables advisers to redirect their GI business to their team of in-house specialists when advisers don’t have the capacity to offer advice directly. As an indication of its success, this year has seen our telephone referral team deliver quote-to-sale conversion rates of up to 63%

So, to find out more about what contributes to this team’s success, and how you could strengthen your conversations if you choose to handle GI yourself, discover 5 top tips from Toni Mawer, Paymentshield’s outbound Customer Operations Manager.

5 tips for stronger GI conversion

1. Ask probing questionsFact finding is critical, but this needs to go beyond the obvious questions about the property itself. We ask questions that help to establish what the client really values: “what’s important to you about your insurance”, “what do you expect this to do for you”, “are there any specific items you want to make sure are covered”.We want the client to feel we’ve put in the effort to really understand them, rather than immediately offering them a standard product. And establishing these things upfront is important to support the rest of the conversation, allowing us to link back to why a particular option will meet their needs.
2. Tailor the conversationAnything picked up during the conversation can be used to help shape the conversation and show we’re actively listening. For example, if the client mentions a dog or cat, it could be an opportunity to talk about any product exclusions such as pet damage and introduce optional extras into the conversation.Likewise, if they mention their child is going to university, we might use it to reference specific product features that may benefit them, such as that up to £10,000 of contents cover is included for household members who move out.The key thing is to be flexible and adaptable, and be led by what the client tells us.
3. Assess eligibility early onWe sometimes get cases referred to us where a customer isn’t actually eligible for our standard home insurance. It might be they have a bespoke type of property, it might have subsidence, or it might be used for business purposes. We establish upfront whether we can help, and we don’t waste their time if we can’t. You don’t want to go through the process, get to the property detail stage, and then realise what you’ve discussed so far is no longer applicable.
4. Demonstrate how the product performsEveryone is price conscious in today’s market, and it’s important to be prepared to address that as part of objection handling. Reinforcing the benefits and demonstrating how the product performs if something were to happen is really important. It can also be a good opportunity to link back to what’s valuable to them: for example, “this optional extra will ensure the ring you mentioned earlier will be covered both within the home and away”.We also make sure that if they ever do need to make a claim, they are confident they can afford the excess. And we’ll talk them through the different excess options, as well as what they might pay with or without optional extras.
5. Respect the decision-making process!If the client needs more time to consider the purchase, we’ll diarise a convenient time to get back in touch. Clients might need to go away and check the value of a particular item. Some people are just naturally more reflective. There’s no rush to make the sale today!Agreeing a time to call back means that you’re not going to catch the client at a bad time, and they’re willing and prepared to carry on the conversation.

Ultimately, there are several ways advisers can go about offering GI to their clients, whether it’s offering advice yourself, your firm employing an in-house GI specialist, using a telephone referral service, or offering clients a digital journey where they can buy quality insurance in their own time.

No matter what you choose, it’s important to really understand your clients and their needs – that’s when you’ll see the best results if you’re having the GI conversation yourself.

Find out more about Paymentshield’s referral service here

The Mortgage Lender

Pride, visibility, and the right to get it wrong

Championing our team members is one of our favourite things to do and this month we’re pleased to re-introduce Ross. After an incredible response to last year’s article our Underwriting Administrator has written a new piece, speaking passionately about his experience with Pride, advocating in the workplace and why visibility is still so important in 2024.

Read Ross’s thoughts.

The Family Building Society

We’ve just launched our NEW Education Hub!

The Education Hub is your go-to space for insight into our products and criteria, and the wider industry as a whole, covering a wide range of lending areas such as:

• Later life
• Buy to Let
• Family support
• Expat

Find out more about how we may be able to help your clients with our flexible criteria, supported by our human underwriting, and no ‘one size fits all’ approach to lending.

Explore the array of articles, podcasts, videos and webinars we have produced alongside several industry experts including Financial Reporter, MoneyAge, Mortgage Introducer, and Mortgage Solutions.

Visit the Education Hub Now

Zurich Assurance Ltd

Zurich Accelerate: Medical care at the speed of life

Zurich Insurance is proud to offer Zurich Accelerate, a service that provides access to experts from around the world to offer a package of medical care services for cancer, heart and neurological conditions, which can be used in addition to public or private healthcare.

Available as an optional benefit for Zurich Personal and Income Protection policies, Zurich Accelerate gives you fast access to consultations and diagnostics as well as treatment abroad at some of the leading hospitals in the world if required. It can also help you access the latest precision cancer medicine and cancer clinical trials.

Sam Wells, Head of Protection Proposition Innovation at Zurich says:

“Zurich Accelerate can fill a significant gap in the market. Unfortunately, some patients can experience delays in diagnosis and treatment due to increased demands on public healthcare.”

Here are some of the benefits of Zurich Accelerate to help in your conversations with customers. Continue reading here.