Which lenders had the best broker feedback during Covid-19?

04 December 2020

Broker forum, cherry, has revealed which lenders brokers feel have performed best throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as highlighting problem areas relating to the companies which appear to have faired less well.

Studies conducted by the online forum found that lenders which have emerged positively, so far, are Halifax, Coventry for Intermediaries, Accord Mortgages, HSBC and Santander. Halifax received particular praise for the speed of its offers, and all of these companies received praise relating to consistently high service levels.

However, there was also feedback about other companies that faired less well, with key areas of broker frustration including processing delays, difficulties with telephone access, including long ‘on-hold’ times, as well as problems getting hold of BDMs. Where appropriate, these findings were brought to the attention of the companies concerned and to their credit, many expressed a keenness to engage with brokers in order to improve lender/broker dialogue and work together to find solutions.

Donna Hopton, director at cherry, commented: “The last year has been challenging for everyone, brokers and lenders alike. As such, we wanted to use broker comments to allow us to explore, and learn from, why some lenders re receiving better feedback than others. The lenders that appear to be best regarded by brokers throughout these difficult times are the ones that managed to maintain consistent high levels of service as well as impressive speeds to offer. Conversely, brokers have naturally been less positive about lenders with whom they have experienced processing delays and other frustrations.

“The cherry forum has always been a great place for brokers to give constructive feedback about lender performance at all levels and our aim is to ensure that lenders who wish to learn from, and engage in dialogue with, brokers have the means to so successfully, via cherry.

“Our genuine desire to maintain commercial impartiality means we are not in the business of offering praise or criticism – more that we are keen to assist in improving internal industry communications. The end game for us, is to be instrumental in raising industry standards and experience has taught us that creating dialogue between brokers and lenders, even when sometimes feedback is poor, can often result in very positive outcomes for all concerned – especially consumers.”

Jonathan Stinton, head of intermediary relationships at Coventry for Intermediaries, added: “We’re delighted to receive this recognition of the hard work our teams have been putting in throughout the pandemic. Our focus has been on delivering the best possible service levels throughout, making sure brokers could contact their BDMs or talk to us over the phone whenever they needed to. We even launched a new web chat service to help answer some of the more simple questions rapidly. It’s really rewarding to see our efforts have made a positive difference during what has been a difficult time for everyone.”