Equity Release Club has announced a new member benefit to mark its 10-year anniversary.
As part of its anniversary celebrations, the club has launched a new, free Unity Rewards scheme, designed to recognise and thank all those members that engage with the club, those who use its AIR Sourcing system and also those who are members of the Later Life Academy.
Members can now earn points on their account for each application, completion, Wills & LPA, legal instructions, KFI request, funeral plan, FreeBen and deposit sense license. There is no minimum level of business to earn points, and the club will also be announcing additional ways to earn points in the coming weeks.
Once those points have been built up, they can be swapped for cash or benefits, plus points can also be contributed to a nominated charity. Members will be able to log into their Unity Rewards account at www.unityrewards.co.uk to check their points balance and use them as they choose.
In addition to the launch of Unity Rewards, members can now secure access to a free upgrade of the Air Sourcing system – sponsored by Pure Retirement. Version 2 of the system offers: online factfind and suitability reports; a range of online calculators and tools; the ability to instruct Wills & LPAs, and conveyancing; and marketing and download support section.
Launched in June 2007, the Equity Release Club was established to provide advisers with access to a range of quality products and to deliver strong relationships between its membership and its provider relationships.
Equity Release Club, AIR Sourcing and the Later Life Academy (LLA), are part of the Answers in Retirement Group, the group of companies covering a range of retirement and later life services.
Stuart Wilson, group managing director at Answers in Retirement, said: “It’s incredibly pleasing to see the Equity Release Club reaching its 10-year anniversary milestone. It represents 10 years of successful and successive growth, over a period which has presented many challenges, not least the fact we launched just prior to the credit crunch and subsequent recession. However, we have overcome such challenges and believe we’ve created a proposition that delivers real value and support to our much-valued membership.
“We now have over 3,500 members right across the UK and are very grateful for all their support, and that of our provider partners. The Equity Release Club is now the biggest B2B distribution model in the equity release sector, and a top three overall distributor. To celebrate such achievements, and to reward our loyal members, we are launching a Unity Rewards scheme, whereby members can earn points which can be turned into cash, benefits, or money for a favoured charity. It hopefully provides members with another great reason to use us.
“Overall, we are looking forward to working with, and providing more support and value, to our members. We’ve spent the last six months on the road, meeting many members at our training events, and we plan more of these later in the year to garner further feedback to ensure we continue to deliver the benefits they deserve. Once again, we would like to thank all those stakeholders who have contributed to the Club’s success – we truly couldn’t have done it without you.”
Cammy Amaira, head of intermediary sales at the Family Building Society, said: “I’m delighted to be able to congratulate Equity Release Club on their 10th anniversary. The Family Building Society and Equity Release Club share the same goal – ensuring under-served later life borrowers have full access to mortgages that are ideally suited to their particular set of individual circumstances. The recent launch of AIR Sourcing is another great benefit to advisers and lenders alike, and will ensure that even more borrowers can benefit for the right mortgage as they enter retirement.”