Imla: brokers not taking Tcf seriously

Mortgage lenders have embraced the Financial Services Association’s (FSA) treating customers fairly (Tcf) initiative but brokers have some way to go, the Intermediary Mortgage Lender’s Association (Imla) has said.

The Association says lenders have implemented wide ranging Tcf programmes with 43% of responsibility for such initiatives being taken by either managing directors or chief executives. Where this is not the case lenders have assigned responsibility to Tcf managers, compliance directors, or risk departments.

Imla says around 50% of respondents report that changes to product design or product lifecycle processes have been undertaken

But many lenders feel mortgage brokers have not fully understood or embraced Tcf principles.

Guy Batchelor, chairman of IMLA, says while lenders are taking Tcf very seriously there are concerns within the lending community that many brokers have not grasped the new FSA directive with the same enthusiasm.

Batchelor says: “There was a feeling that Tcf must be embedded into the entire supply chain to include all third party providers. Over 80% of our members expressed some concerns that brokers are less than fully prepared for Tcf. Given the pivotal role brokers play in interacting with customers, it is clearly important that they play a full role in delivering Tcf.”

But intermediaries have hit back at Imla's claims, James Cotton, a mortgage specilaist at L&C, says brokers have taken Tcf very seriously. "I don't think you can dimsiss mortgage intermediaries in that way. Brokers will have appraoched the initiative in different ways but they have adopted it well."

He adds: "The move to priniciple based lending has been a failry hefety move and does take a lot of getting use to because it is moving from a fixed rule book to something that is far more flexible. But the larger brokers are more than able to cope with that and the smaller brokers will be getting help from mortgage clubs and networks."