www.mortgagestrategy.co.uk COMMENT
ROBYNHALL
Fighting for the Intermediary
Learning the value of impartial advice
Think you’re smarter than a 10 year old? In my opinion that’s the
basic level of competence you’d need to go up against a NatWest
MoneySense adviser. We’ve all seen the bank’s television
advertisements talking about another way to do banking – more
like another way to rub you up the wrong way.
Given that we’ve all got a stake in the bank as it is owned by the Royal
Bank of Scotland and taxpayers own most of that, you have to wonder
what it was thinking when it carried on with its MoneySense promise to
offer impartial advice. Talk about audacious. Can a Tiller Girl with eight
hours’ training offer the same advice as an experienced broker?
‘‘
Our old friends at Which?
aren’t too happy about
NatWest’s MoneySense
campaign either
You might recall
that not long ago
NatWest Mortgage
Services ran a
broker-focussed
publicity campaign
highlighting how, by
using the lender for self-cert deals, brokers did not have to be detectives to
find the right mortgages for their clients.
It even sent me a magnifying glass in the post to make the point, which
I used to kill ants emerging from a crack in my patio one sunny afternoon.
It’s a shame that nobody at the bank used it to look at what was happening
in the mortgage market.
Anyway, our old friends at Which? aren’t too happy about NatWest’s
MoneySense campaign either.
An investigation by the consumer association has revealed that the
MoneySense service “doesn’t always deliver the impartial advice it
promises”.
I may be a Scouser but even Ken Dodd could not have knocked me down
with his tickling stick when I heard that.
According to Which? less than a quarter of MoneySense sessions
The long road to recovery
In my last column I mentioned the
optimism that hung in the air at
the Council of Mortgage Lenders’
annual lunch.
I wasn’t wrong. Last week
investors in the City were betting
on the crisis being over soon and
shares rallied.
On Tuesday the FTSE closed at
its highest since January 12,
adding £31bn to the value of the
market. Shares in Barclays, which
had been as low as 51p, soared to
more than 300p.
Even Crispin Odey, the hedge
fund manager who made millions
by betting bank shares would fall
in the run-up to the crisis, turned
positive as he told the Evening
Standard “this is the start of a
long bull market”.
Coming so soon after the bank
holiday weekend it was a crazy
response and whatever green
shoots these City boys think they
can detect, it will be a long time
before they are seen in the
mortgage sector.
The day after shares shot up,
the National Institute of Economic
and Social Research said this
recession would be the worst
since the 193os. We’re still a long
way from a market recovery.
attended by its researchers provided the impartial information advertised
“without any attempt either at or after the meeting to interest the
customer in NatWest products”.
In more than a quarter of visits advisers spoke exclusively about
NatWest products and in two of these there was not even a passing
reference to shopping around.
Impartial advice is invaluable and I can’t help but feel that NatWest has
scored an own goal here – and it’s not as if it can blame this one on Sir
Fred.
Which? is not only calling on NatWest to look at how it is marketing the
MoneySense service but also, more importantly, on the public to shop
around before taking out NatWest products – by which it hopefully means
talking to brokers.
Doug Taylor, personal finance campaigns manager at Which?, says that
if such schemes are to benefit consumers more must be done to ensure
intermediaries are properly trained to provide impartial financial
guidance.
I couldn’t agree more. Separate research from the organisation shows
that seven out of 10 consumers have never spoken to a financial adviser
and almost half are most likely to seek mortgage advice from their bank –
neither of which is good news for you.
But rather than training their staff why don’t banks adopt at least one
local, verified and endorsed independent mortgage and financial adviser as
an initial point of contact for their current account customers seeking
guidance?
Not only would banks be treating their customers more fairly, they
would also be giving you – the only true source of impartial and best
advice – a fair crack of the whip.
I can’t help but think this is what HSBC is piloting with John Charcol.
Although the development may bug some of you, at least the lender is
taking brokers into its fold – albeit slowly.
Life imitates Star Trek
Did you notice the publicity surrounding the launch of the excellent new
Star Trek film that beamed into cinemas last week?
The 1960s sci-fi yarn has been given a makeover to appeal to the
mortgaged masses, kicking off with the original show names of a cast
now only watched on satellite repeats and DVD by Trekkie diehards.
Series creator Gene Roddenberry’s famous split infinitive – to boldly
go where no man has gone before – certainly strikes a chord, although
whether he pondered a parallel with the UK mortgage market is less
certain as he’s been dead since 1991.
But much like Star Trek the mortgage market, with all its ideals and
innovations, was created by those inspired to think about the future.
And the authors of the Financial Services Authority’s review of
mortgages to be published later this year will also be heading where no
man has gone before, but don’t worry. Christopher Columbus almost
discovered America and he didn’t know where he was going either. And
what a delight that has been – George Bush, Richard Nixon, Dodgeball –
it goes on.
MORTGAGE STRATEGY May 11, 2009 25
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