Hodge will now accept no-search indemnity insurance in an effort to help brokers deal with the upcoming stamp duty holiday deadline.

It says that it has also made a series of process simplifications, such as the instructing of valuation earlier in the process and adopting a more “risk-based approach to underwriting”, which has resulted in the halving of the time taken to process applications.

Alongside this, Hodge says that it has bolstered the resources available to its underwriting team.

Hodge business development director Emma Graham says: “As a result of the pandemic we knew there would be added pressure on local authorities to complete searches in time for the stamp duty holiday deadline so decided to help as many customers as we can by accepting no-search indemnity insurance on a temporary basis.”