In the midst of a global crisis, the Mortgage Lender Benchmark today returns to find out which lenders are providing the best service to mortgage brokers and their customers.

This is the fourth edition of the Mortgage Lender Benchmark, which is a bi-annual independent research study that helps lenders to understand what brokers really think about them and how they compare with other lenders. Brokers are asked about lenders’ criteria, speed, eligibility, communication and relationship managers. They are also asked to share what they like about each lender and what could be better.

From today until the 3rd May 2020, mortgage brokers will be able to share their feedback about the last five lenders they’ve done business with, be it banks, building societies, specialist or lifetime lenders. For the first time, this research will also ask brokers to rate the technology they use, including criteria and sourcing systems.

Nate Harwood, Co-Founder of Smart Money People, said “It’s clear that the coronavirus is having a severe impact on the British economy, including the mortgage market. In these uncertain times, the Mortgage Lender Benchmark sets out to help lenders by providing actionable insight that enables them to better understand, and ultimately enhance their intermediary propositions. How individual lenders handle these challenging market conditions will prove to have profound and long lasting consequences.”

Mortgage networks and clubs will also be able to better understand how the feedback left by their brokers compares against that left by brokers across rival networks and clubs.

468 brokers gave their feedback on 93 lenders as part of the last Mortgage Lender Benchmark report which was released in December 2019. Alongside league table data, the study produced 44 pages of SWOT (strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis on individual lenders, providing a unique broker insight of banks, building societies, specialist and lifetime lenders.

The December 2019 report identified a wide gap in the performance of lenders, with the highest rated lender achieving an NPS of +73, and the lowest receiving a -70 score. Communication also provided to be an achilles heel for many lenders. One broker sharing his experience of a high street lender said, “The case is handed to a call centre and its never the same person you deal with regarding the case. No one knows anything about the case and so you’re put on hold for 20 mins while they review all the previous notes.”

To find out more about the Mortgage Lender Benchmark please click here. Or contact the authors via email: 

Michael Fotis, [email protected]

Nate Harwood, [email protected]