At times, running a brokerage is challenging, not least since last year’s ‘moment’ with Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini budget sending financial markets, swaps and as a result, rates soaring.

This created a new challenge for broker; contact the client and contact them earlier than we have ever needed to. How early can we switch the product? (This varies from lender to lender) and how do we go about administering this when everyone is requesting the same and all at the same time?

Bearing in mind we had to continue to write business and attract new customers, and service any purchases too. It became difficult, if not impossible.  Well, its now become even trickier

‘That’s your problem’ I hear the public say, well not entirely. Yes, it’s something as a company we have had to overcome but who’s it effecting the most?  The consumer.

In a world of treating all customers fairly and Consumer Duty; (the requirement of putting customers’ needs first), are we being provided with the support from lenders and the tools to enable us to carry this out successfully and fairly?

One of the UK’s largest lenders changed rates no less than 10 times since the beginning of last month, and within that was some additional criteria change. We then had almost every lender following suit.

As a company we understand the need to re price rates, we understand the instability in financial markets, the need to hedge and the volatile swap markets but what we can’t entirely understand is the simple lack of notice given to secure rates, often just a few working hours; often on a Friday afternoon.  A conspiracy theorist would think this was to the advantage of the lender not the consumer.

What do we need?  In simple terms, better communication, and transparency from both the banks and building societies.  As it stands, as a firm we are reviewing our customers a whole six months early, just to book a rate to protect against further interest rate increases.

We like to try and provide the best possible service we can, as such we are customer facing; so, when I review a client’s mortgage, by the time I have made an appointment, seen the client, and then handed the case for administration, quite often the rate has either disappeared or it’s a mad rush to secure ten cases in the space of a couple of hours.

This then hinders the lenders own sites (every broker is doing the same thing), intermediary sites crash, they can’t cope with the volume and yet again the clients rate of interest is lost, or at risk of being lost.

Inevitably some clients miss out, forced to pay hundreds of pounds a month, in some instances more, all because we have been given just a handful of hours to administer the changes.

One advisor in my firm carried out 26 Product transfers last months. We have eight advisers and let’s say 45 rate changes across all main lenders in each month, one lender stands out and commits to provide 48 hours’ notice of any changes, but most of the others commit to nothing, no notice and once again, who does this effect?  The consumer.

Our average £150,000 mortgage customer is spending £397 per month more, at £500,000 they are spending £1,323 per month more and our customers renewing a million-pound mortgage are on average, spending £2,646 per month more than they were just 18 months ago.

What I’m getting at, is no matter the demographic everyone is hurting and it’s worth posing the question, how long can they continue to do this?

With all this in mind and providing a level of understanding that the lenders are suffering too, are they really doing everything they can to help the client? Or are there areas needed for improvement to ensure the clients are provided with the very best outcome?

Do customers and brokers alike not require a little more notice than four hours?  This all results in damaged relations between clients and brokers (we are the messenger delivering all the bad news as it is!)

Client and broker relationships are being damaged, and less broker support ultimately leads to lack of support to the clients and more mistakes and less chance of securing a rate so desperately needed.

Ultimately, this leads to one thing; that a change is required to mutually look after our clients’ best financial needs, when they need us the most.

Justin Phillips is principal at  Open Vision Finance