Brokers and Consumer Duty

Consumer Duty is starting to climb higher on the broker agenda. But many are still unsure of their responsibilities. To be Consumer Duty ready, and improve on the existing level of consumer protection, brokers must be armed with high-level data and insight on their clients. This insight is an enabler, allowing brokers to help clients make informed decisions by giving them choices that lead to better long-term outcomes.

This is particularly relevant in the current climate of rising interest rates as changing mortgages now gives the client the certainty of knowing how much their future payments are and when would be the right time to switch from their current product.

Using over half a million data-points, Dashly’s tech compares the clients’ mortgage against the entire market to try and beat their existing deal.

Let's not mince our words here. Providing good customer service and advice is about treating a client's quandary as if it were your own. For your own mortgage, you would turn over every rock, consider every alternative and associated issue. Boiled down, that's all it is and rightly so. The key is how to evidence this 'process of elimination' for every feature of the advice process and doing so efficiently (we are using the suitability letter for a lot of ours so agreed strategies are front and centre for us, the client and regulator). I have seen mortgage brokers on forums saying things like 'I don't really get what it has to do with mortgages, I think it has more to do with investments'. Then I flick a little elastic band against my wrist before I start twitching again.

Consumer Duty is a huge shift in the way the regulator will look at the work of everyone across the financial services world. Even if you feel you do a great job for your customers the question is: prove it. It's no good saying you're brilliant and offer great value, you have to be able to demonstrate how you deliver that time and time again. There's lots of great support in the market from the various networks, mortgage clubs and trade bodies - the Consumer Duty fact sheets from the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) are an excellent resource if you are a member.