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Paul Lewis responds to brokers

ended 18. January 2023

Paul Lewis has responded to brokers' reaction to his comments made in The i paper. Response below. Free PR platform, Newspage, asked brokers for their thoughts.

Response from Paul Lewis 17/01/23

"Never apologise, never explain. One of those quotes attributed to many people. And generally good advice when it comes to Twitter or the press. So I’ll do both. The quote in Jessie Hewitson’s excellent piece in The i paper was accurate – though I thought I said kebab shop not ‘cab’ shop – but that is no matter. I have said similar things in several of the interviews I have done. In my book, which Jessie was kindly writing about, I say this 

That is why it is a good idea to go to a broker that is what is called ‘whole of market’. They will look at every one of those 4000 mortgages and find the number one for you. Also, it is better to find a big national chain that is not here today and gone tomorrow. Never ask your bank. They cannot find you the best deal.

"Many of the comments have (a) criticised big national broking firms and (b) praised their own small, excellent, experienced, dedicated local firm.

"All that is understandable. But just as I say always find an independent, chartered financial adviser and admit that excludes some good, restricted advisers and some good IFAs who are not chartered, finding them amongst the rest is impossible. Hence my general advice. Which inevitably excludes some good guys – even those with an office over a kebab shop.

"But you cannot in 34 words, or even 67, list all the good brokers in the country even if I knew who they were. Nor is there any set of rules that people can use to pick the good ones and exclude the bad or the mediocre. But I have to give general rules. Saying ‘find a good local mortgage broker’ is pointless because the next question is ‘how do I know if they are good?’ Like a good plumber or a good builder it is impossible to say. And there is no time in people’s lives for trial and error over a mortgage. So I stick with the big national, whole of market chains who I have found excellent in the past.

“I am sorry if that upsets small local brokers – over kebab or cab shops – who believe they are excellent. And I await the torrent of abuse which I am sure this apology and explanation will bring down. Which is why you should never…etc.”

16 responses from the Newspage community

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Kylie-Ann Gatecliffe
Director at KAG Financial
Saying you should only stick with big national chains is like saying only buy your flowers from Tesco, don't bother with the small florist on the high street. Only get your donuts from Gregg's, don't bother with your local baker. It really is not that hard to know a broker is good. A starting point would be looking at their online reviews, as this is what brings in a lot of our clients. Word of mouth is also another huge factor. It really saddens me in this current climate where small businesses are struggling that anyone would ever suggest only using big firms, in any industry not just ours. Thankfully I believe people choose people and the brokers who excel at looking after their clients won't ever struggle for business, whether they work from their kitchen table, above whatever shop they please or in a larger office.
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Scott Taylor-Barr
Principal Adviser at Barnsdale Financial Management
It is such a shame that this is the route Paul has decided to go down in his response. It shows a deep lack of understanding of the mortgage market's structure. Many of the small businesses he disparages are supported and backed by large, national networks, which often dwarf the scale of the large, national brokers he advises people to go to. So, if scale is the best indicator of quality, these businesses must be even better than those he suggests. Of course not, as scale has never been an indicator of quality. If you want to find a good, high-quality mortgage broker then there is a raft of review platforms, for example, VouchedFor, Trust Pilot and Google. Look for businesses, or more importantly individual advisers, with consistently high scores over a prolonged period, then you are going to find a great broker. Simple.
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Rhys Schofield
Brand Director at Peak Mortgages and Protection
I mean, finding a good local broker is hardly difficult. Go on Google, search for “Mortgage brokers near me” and call whoever has the best reviews. That's it. Local brokers live and die by word of mouth and reputation, so who does Paul think actually does a better job of looking after people from initial conversation right up until picking up the keys? The local broker above a kebab shop with hundreds of 5-star reviews and raving fans or the soulless corporate with a multi-million pound ad budget and massive staff turnover as their good staff tend to leave to set up above, you guessed it, a kebab shop?
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Lawrence Robbins
Director at A Mortgage Now
Paul, while smaller mortgage brokers will appreciate some of your clarification here, our experience of the market is very different. We will all have numerous occasions during the year where we are contacted by potential borrowers who have been let down by the large 'nationals'. Why? Often, due to the business models of national firms, which are only interested in 'vanilla' cases and cannot afford to spend time on anything more complex. Many of their advisory staff are relatively inexperienced and do not understand lending options and technical details in the same depth as an experienced mortgage broker. As for how to 'find a good local mortgage broker', ' it's not that difficult, a quick check today on Trustpilot will see my own business with a review score of 5.0 against 4.5-4.8 for the well-known nationals.
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Riz Malik
Independent Financial Adviser at R3 Wealth
I would love to have an office above a kebab shop.
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Mike Staton
Director at Staton Mortgages
Somebody take this guy's shovel from him, he needs to stop digging that hole. He is a prime example of why financial reporters/writers, who make a living from influencing people's financial decisions, need to be regulated or at the very least, their publications must come with a warning that they are not qualified advisors and their advice is their own opinion. His counterargument is also incorrect. Whole of Market brokers do not have access to every mortgage on the market, it's this type of uneducated bile that influences mis-selling. Small brokers are governed by the FCA and for residential mortgages their clients are protected by the FSCS. There's no benefit of using a large firm. The likelihood is you won't see the same adviser next time, they will set up on their own if they are any good, hopefully above a Kebab shop.
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Craig Fish
Director at Lodestone Mortgages
Don't be further misled by this psychologist (who did nothing with that as a career). This statement is just that, a statement, and not an apology. This journalist, who seems to think he is the Simon Cowell of financial services journalism, is just looking for some media attention due to his book launch and appears to be succeeding, so I guess he should be congratulated on that, and that alone. He deserves no more attention or time. We 'small' brokers are much bigger than him, and don't need his words or apology, to know that we offer a way better service than these 'factories' who are simply transactional businesses with no care for the client.
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Justin Moy
Managing Director at EHF Mortgages
Well, at least Paul has responded to the comments made by many of us. It would have been easy to say nothing and hope it blows over. He may be talking from personal experience, but I think any commentator in the public eye needs to understand that marketplace. How those in our industry construe comments like that, and more importantly what do those words do to our clients: they may start to doubt our advice because we may not be a business with 100 advisers. I would like to think most brokers would praise the great service from lenders in public and the bad service privately, and in the same spirit commentators should embrace the whole mortgage broker population positively, and if there is some point to be made, do so with evidence or keep the view private. Find the right words, as loose lips sink ships, as they say.
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Benjamin Blyth
Director at Houz Mortgages
By Paul's own logic, small independent journalists should not be taken seriously. I’ve got clients who would rather me spend time on their goals and so that’s exactly what I’ll be doing today. One final point though on ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ and large broker firms. Which? Mortgage Advisors. Try giving them a call.
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Joe Stallard
Director and Advisor at House and Holiday Home Mortgages
To say it's "impossible" to know how to find a good mortgage broker is just lazy and wrong. By that analogy, I'm sure Mr Lewis only ever eats at McDonald's or Pizza Express rather than local independent restaurants. As with anything, search out good reviews and recommendations and go from there. Hardly rocket science!
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Sabrina Hall
Mortgage Adviser & Protection Adviser at Kind Financial Services
The apology exposes his lack of understanding of the industry even more than the original comment. The assumption that smaller advisers are "here today, gone tomorrow" is just factually incorrect. The assumption is that large national firms are better when every adviser I know has examples of clients who have come to them after a national firm has messed up or had a declined application that the smaller independent adviser has subsequently got agreed. I find the arrogant and dismissive tone of the apology so frustrating. He's given incorrect information that could impact small businesses that have worked hard to build up their business over time. Someone with a platform and audience that he has should know what they are talking about before making comments such as that.
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Michael Webb
Managing Director at Mortgage Republic
Paul Lewis continues to show his complete lack of understanding of how the mortgage intermediary market operates in 2023. Whilst a directly authorised smaller firm may struggle to access all lenders in the UK market, the vast majority of the type of businesses he describes as "over a kebab shop" will be appointed representatives of very large networks, with access to the whole of market with exclusive deals for their clients. When someone is so clearly out of touch with the workings of an industry it is surprising they are used as an expert opinion. The media should do more due diligence on the credibility of their sources.
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Anil Mistry
Director and Mortgage Broker at RNR Mortgage Solutions
It is important to recognise that this statement is not an apology like he has mentioned. Paul now uses the term "whole of market”, which is a term that has very restrictive use when it comes to FCA guidelines. He then makes a comparison to each other. However, it is crucial to understand that mortgage brokers and IFAs/chartered IFAs have distinct roles and cannot be directly compared to mortgage brokers. To find a reliable local mortgage broker, the best approach is to ask for recommendations from trusted family and friends and to read online reviews. Building trust, familiarity and reliability with a mortgage broker are essential for making a good decision no matter how small the firm.
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Steven Morris
Advising Director at Advantage Financial Solutions
Two ears, one mouth Paul. The best broker for a client is the one who can provide the best outcome. There are absolutely rules to dictate this, e.g. product access. "Get yourself a whole of market broker". The issue here, Paul, is that a broker can call themselves whole of market whether or not they can access 50 or 100 lenders. Product use: Just because a broker has access doesn't mean they use it. When I was 21, I worked at a big national firm (well, call-centre, let's be honest). Whilst I was there, it was commonly believed that expats can't get mortgages. Now I'm older and wiser and I specialise in expat mortgages.
Complaints. Go to the FCA website and look at the number of complaints some of these firms get; disproportionately high even factoring in the higher business levels they do. Google reviews: Game, set, match: Morris.
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Amit Patel
Adviser at Trinity Finance
I cannot for the life of me see an 'apology' in the statement. It appears as though he has taken a leaf out of Jeremy Clarkson's book. Issue a statement, no apology and think 'it will be alright on the night'.
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Hannah Bashford
Director at Model Financial Solutions
I don’t have any more kind words to say and as my Mum always used to say when I’d argue with my brother, 'If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything!".