Coronavirus is making us all step outside our comfort zones. Social distancing restrictions have required a major rethink of how we do business. But it’s amazing how quickly it is possible to adapt to such a huge challenge.
As one of the leading providers of lifetime mortgages, it’s been necessary to transform our ways of working to keep our staff, financial intermediaries, partners and their customers safe while still providing solutions to their needs.
The LTM market is subject to some of the most stringent consumer protections in financial services which need to be maintained through the lockdown. Social distancing rules have made it impossible to visit clients in their own homes, conduct internal valuations or for clients to visit their solicitors, so one of the biggest challenges has been to find practical ways to remove face-to-face interactions.
We were one of the first providers to move from physical property valuations to desk-based valuations from our surveying business partners. This temporary valuation process has required some changes to our property criteria and LTV limits but ensures that most new business and pipeline cases can move forward.
To ease the application process for intermediaries, we’ve developed an editable application pack where intermediaries can scan and email paperwork without needing to send hard copies, with further enhancements planned in the coming weeks.
We’ve also added our support and expertise to help streamline other links in the chain that are impacted by the lockdown.
For instance, we supported the Equity Release Council (ERC) Board in making temporary changes to the rules its members follow to ensure that customers can still access independent legal advice without having to leave their homes. This involves a combination of written advice and documented video or telephone calls. The changes will be kept under review until face-to-face meetings with solicitors can safely resume.
We’ve also provided them with details on different ways on how customers can have their mortgage deeds witnessed – a mandatory requirement by the UK Law Society – while maintaining social distancing.
When we launched the Just For You Lifetime Mortgage early last year, it was widely welcomed as providing a single solution with flexible options, such as interest-servicing, to help intermediaries tailor it to their clients’ changing needs.
Government coronavirus policy now requires banks to allow mortgage customers to take a mortgage-payment holiday of up to three months. Our interest-serviced customers already have the flexibility to take up to three consecutive months as a payment holiday in each policy year and are also able to miss making six payments over the lifetime of the product. These features provide flexibility to clients and allows them to adapt to different circumstances as they happen.
As well as flexibility around interest-servicing, our lifetime mortgage also offers tiered-interest rates, a flexible cash facility for customers who don’t take the maximum loan-to-value at outset, an option to make overpayments, available across our entire LTV range to customers aged 55 and over.
Lifetime mortgages have been one of the most exciting growth areas of financial services in recent years. More intermediaries and clients have switched on to the important role that property wealth can play in achieving retirement aspirations whether that’s to supplement their income, provide lump sums or for tax or inheritance planning.
We don’t know how long the current disruption from coronavirus is going to last. It seems likely that restrictions will remain tighter for those judged to be at more risk due to age and health, so a quick return to normality seems unlikely.
Despite the challenging environment we find ourselves in, we’re happy and ready to assist with your customer’s lifetime mortgage needs.
