In this issue:
- Remote working top tips
- Using LinkedIn to promote your business
- Hints & tips for moving to remote advice
- EY Lifetime Mortgages survey findings
Welcome to the Spring issue of Later Life Perspective from your OneFamily team. We hope this latest edition finds you and your business safe and well whilst we all continue to follow the social distancing guidelines.
Changes to our processes
I want to ensure you are fully up to date with the interim measures we have taken recently to respond to the Coronavirus outbreak. Therefore, I would like to outline the specific changes we have made so that we can continue to support you and your customers.
- As a result of the social distancing rules we have now moved to using desktop valuations until further notice;
- We have accepted the guidance from the Equity Release Council regarding the legal process;
- We are happy to accept applications without a customer wet signature and will contact the customer to obtain their agreement to proceed.
We have created a new document, which provides further details of these changes and the adjustments we have made to our lending criteria and operations. We have a dedicated COVID-19 Hub Page which we are updating regularly, so please visit and save this page in your favourites.
I thought it would also be helpful to remind you of the key features of our Lifetime Mortgage products and the excellent service we provide:
- We offer fixed and transparent ERC’s across our full product range;
- We accept voluntary payments; giving your customer more control;
- Our online portal allows you to submit applications when you want – day or night;
- We give you direct access to our friendly underwriting team – of particular benefit in the current climate when there are so many product and criteria changes happening in the market;
- Our COVID-19 Hub Page contains details of how you can get in touch with us.
Turning our attention now to the newsletter…
In our first article, we want to focus on ‘remote working’ best practices – as we are sure some of you will be fairly new to operating from home, so we thought some guidance would be beneficial. We have also asked Alan Cairns, our social media guru, to show how you can take advantage of social media channels such as LinkedIn. Whilst you are remote working, using social media to reach your network and potential customers could make a difference to your business. Alan will show you how!
I am delighted to confirm that Barb Emmett, Head of OneFamily Lifetime Mortgages Operations, has been appointed to the Standards Board of the Equity Release Council. With Barb’s expertise, she has kindly provided Tips for Advisers delivering remote advice at this time and the aspects to consider throughout the journey; such as the extra vigilance needed whilst interactions are being carried out with less, or no face to face interaction. I hope you find this material helpful.
In our final article, we have the latest findings from the EY survey on the Lifetime Mortgage Market, which was commissioned towards the end of 2019. It discusses funder appetite, distribution and the growth in products and proposition innovations.
We hope you find this Spring edition an interesting read; we’d really like to hear your feedback and thoughts around the content. Just send your comments to myself or the editor of ‘Perspective’, Beckie Nye.
Finally, I would like to thank you for your continued support and hope you and your families stay safe.
Best wishes
Chris Brown
Head of Distribution
Remote working from home tips
Find out how to continue supporting your customers and make the most of this time with our remote working tips for advisers.
Using LinkedIn to promote your business
Find out how to get more out of LinkedIn with our guide for equity release advisers.
Hints & tips for moving to remote advice
Barb Emmett, our Head of Operations, was recently added to the Equity Release Council Standards Board*. Read her article about how to deliver equity release advice remotely.
Three key findings from the EY 2019 Lifetime Mortgage Survey
Whilst we are currently operating in a very different environment to last year, we thought it would be interesting to share some high level information from the EY Lifetime Mortgage market survey for 2019. This illustrates some very interesting principles relating to where the market was sitting at the end of last year and that we are sure will drive future developments as the industry continues to adjust to the current situation.
1. In 2019 the demand for funding lifetime mortgages exceeded lending volumes by c.£2bn: The survey output indicated that in 2019 the funders of lifetime mortgages had an appetite to lend a total of c.£6bn compared to the c.£4bn of lending which occurred in 2019. This suggests that whilst historically the lifetime mortgage market was constrained by the level of funding available, in 2019 it was constrained by the availability (or access to) customers who’s needs are met by the products available in the market.
2. The current distribution networks are a key constraint to growth in the lifetime mortgage market: Survey participants generally agreed that current distribution networks ability to access customers was a key constraint to future growth in the lifetime mortgage market. Predictions for the future to overcome this constraint included wider distribution networks, a potential loosening in the requirement for all customers to take advice and an integration of LTM advice into wider retirement planning.
3. Product features offered by lenders has grown and is expected to continue growing: As outlined in the graph to the right, lifetime mortgage lenders have generally increased the number of product features they make available to borrowers in the last 12 months and expect to increase this further over the next 12 months:
The 2019 survey is the 5th lifetime mortgage survey run by EY. The survey covers topics on the lifetime mortgage market, customer and distribution as well as funding considerations. In 2019 there were 22 participants including lifetime mortgage funders, lenders, distributors as well as interested and informed parties. For further information on the survey please contact Ben Grainger.
It’s been heartening to see how the equity release industry has responded to unprecedented challenges in 2020
Quarterly results from the Equity Release Council show a promising start to 2020, reaffirming the strong fundamentals of this market. Innovative new processes around property valuations and legal advice are supporting future growth and keeping us all safe.
As lockdown measures begin to ease we will continually review our process, making changes when possible and communicating them as soon as possible. For the latest information please see onefamilyadviser.com/coronavirus.
We’re still here for you and your customers
You can always submit lifetime mortgage applications through our online portal at any time – day or night. Login or register at onefamilyadviser.com/login/.
Our underwriters are available to talk to about your case. Give us a call on 0800 802 1645* (selecting option 4) or go to onefamilyadviser.com/contact-us/ for more information.
There were some important changes to our lifetime mortgage process in April, including:
Valuations
We implemented desktop valuations until further notice. This will be subject to adjustment as lockdown rules relax and onsite valuations can resume. See onefamilyadviser.com/coronavirus for the latest updates.
Offers
We have followed the Equity Release Council’s proposals for non-face-to-face solicitor appointments where face-to-face interaction is not possible during the ‘stay-at-home’ period.
Customer wet signatures
We do not require physical customer signatures to proceed with an application whilst the ‘stay-at-home’ period is in place.
Further advances
We can support customers looking for additional borrowing on their existing mortgage. These applications will not require a retention of funds, however they will be subject to a desktop valuation as part of the process.
To find out more about the changes please download our ‘Lifetime Mortgage Process and Criteria Changes’ document at onefamilyadviser.com/coronavirus.
All the best,
Chris Brown,
Head of Distribution, OneFamily Lifetime Mortgages
*Lines open 9am – 5.30pm, Monday to Friday. We might record your call to help improve our training and for security purposes. Calls to 0800 or 0808 numbers are free from UK landlines and personal mobiles. With business mobiles the cost with depend on your phone provider. If you’d like to know more, please ask your provider.
