After having a stressful few years in the industry and seeing and hearing the comments from fellow brokers, I wanted to start looking at why we feel like we do. Mental Health is very much in the forefront of people’s minds and it’s important to consider the root cause of any issues. Personally, I have found it hard going, and actually I am the most stressed I have been since joining the industry in 2004.
Since Covid, we have all had a lot of adapting to do and, to be fair, as a whole, given the short notice and the pressures at the time, the virus was handled well. However, as we have left the grips of the pandemic, service as a whole everywhere has taken a nose-dive.
In our industry, there have been statements from lenders about steps brokers can take to help, but what is largely missing is a strong voice for brokers. I have had fantastic support from my main mortgage club, Paradigm, however I know other brokers have had to cope on their own.
A recent survey on the cherry broker forum found that only 4% of brokers are happy with what they’re doing, with the top frustrations being constantly changing goalposts and landscapes, paperwork to meet regulatory requirements and frustrations with lender service.
As brokers, the buck largely stops with us. In fact, we pride ourselves as being the central hub, joining all the relevant entities such as estate agents, lenders, solicitors and developers throughout our client’s homebuying experience. We are literally the intermediaries for everyone in the process. With all the problems that a client can encounter, there is little wonder why the stats show a huge increase in stress and mental health issues in the broker market. After all, no broker input means no progression of the case.
What we are really missing is a broker voice where we can truly get heard. The Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) has been a good voice, however their focus over the last few years has mainly been around regulatory changes and campaigning to reduce broker regulatory costs in FCA and FSCS fees and levies, which has, of course, been very welcomed. Their work recently to help firms navigate the Consumer Duty is also admirable, but what we also need is a route to be able to provide feedback to companies when we are having issues, concerns and problems that cannot be solved by our normal channels.
We want this feedback to be taken seriously and to be able to get to the right people at lenders. Whilst I don’t condone poor behaviour by brokers, their frustration can boil over as problems are not being dealt with in the manner they should be dealt with. This in turn creates stresses and pressures, and it contributes to the root cause of why we feel like we do. Some processes are just so out of touch with reality and, just because things have always been done a certain way, it doesn’t mean that change can’t be implemented or at least listened to. Whilst customers may be seen as just another account number on the balance sheet for providers, for brokers it is our livelihood and our reputation at stake.
A lot of self-employed brokers are small firms which can be between one and five brokers. Quite a number are lone workers and this takes its toll when you have no-one to let off steam to. Small broker doesn’t equal poor quality. Where larger brokerages have face-to-face BDMs and senior relationships, smaller firms usually do not have this option. We have had to use poorly understaffed Live Chat where, at times, I have found myself been place number 377 or higher in the queue on some cases, literally waiting for hours to get a question answered or case update.
When service levels are poor, we have had to wait up to five weeks or more just for an AIP decision, we have also had product withdrawals at no notice which has been detrimental to the client. On top of this, the FCA being much more a data led regulator demands that we complete more surveys about our financial resilience, read and contribute to more consultation papers some of which are 700 pages long, agree and contribute to major changes in regulation. Even if we ring the regulator, we cannot get any help or guidance on how to deal with any of this.
We are working much harder for less return due to market conditions. There are often not enough hours in the day to handle the current job pressures. We are all aware that no job is easy and there will always be challenges. However, in my opinion, we just seem to be so behind the game. Communication has been the general root of my gripes and this shouldn’t be as we have the more ways to communicate now than we have ever had.
This is why I wanted to gauge the feeling of my peers and to understand what the reasons really are for brokers feeling the way they do. I wanted to express my thoughts honestly and openly as I don’t think this has been done enough. Cherry was my first port of call as our anonymous broker forum and the results really can’t be ignored. This is the start for me in establishing an industry voice where we can all help each other to drive up standards, communication and general courtesy within the industry.
We are all trying to get to the same outcome for our client but seem to be working against each other rather than cohesively. No person in the chain is more important than the other – we all need each other to make it happen.
Michelle Lawson is director & personal mortgage & protection adviser at Lawson Financial
