Offer a richer mortgage experience
By Louise Weiss, National Account Manager at Bank of Ireland for Intermediaries
High net worth clients are likely to expect more from their lender and their broker, so it’s important to feel confident you can deliver the right level of service.
Some clients will already have relationships with solicitors or tax advisers and have more complex income streams or assets to consider as part of the affordability calculation. So, it’s important to deal with a lender that can understand and prioritise those needs with a more tailored approach.
For those cases that sit between private banking and off-the-shelf products, and if an applicant’s income structure is more complex, consider Bank of Ireland’s extra level of service. For mortgage cases from £150,000, we can reroute or classify a deal to get this higher level of service for the extra attention to detail and knowledge it might require.
One-to-one relationship management can also be useful to sift the complexities behind an application, like multiple income streams, or considering 100 per cent of an employed client’s bonus income.
In another example, as large portfolio landlords increasingly look to place properties inside a limited company or special purpose vehicle (SPV) to mitigate tax, we’re happy to assess income being drawn from these different streams for the purposes of a residential mortgage application which supports the affordability mix.
The Bank of Ireland range offers a raft of solutions targeted to make life more straightforward for both you and your clients, who may appreciate the extras in life.
The broker view
All clients and advisers want to quickly establish where they stand with a lender. At this borrowing level, high net worth clients are likely to expect a certain level of priority and service.
Instead of a paper-based application, at Bank of Ireland we ask brokers submitting more complex cases to email a bullet-pointed summary of the details to their relationship manager. The relationship manager will then look at the case with a view to finding and structuring a solution. They may also send the proposed solution onwards to an underwriter for extra reassurance before outlining the proposal to the adviser. We do this because our tailored case underwriters agree the deals on a mandated basis, leading to quicker decisions. If an underwriter has assessed the case prior to the decision in principle being submitted, for continuity purposes we keep the case assigned to the same underwriter through the whole application. The broker’s contact then remains the same, guaranteeing case continuity for more complicated applications.
Borrowers who qualify for this tailored lending approach are not always looking for a multi-million-pound full personal finance arrangement. Some private banks will ask for a client’s assets to be under management in order to feel comfortable with the overall case and offer terms to the adviser. However, Bank of Ireland offers only first charge, ‘dry lend’ mortgages from £150,000 to £2.5 million depending on the product and loan to value with no expectation of further business from that client.
People’s working lives have changed as those with a single job are increasingly in the minority as the majority of people work several jobs to meet the rising cost of living. Despite this, self-employed borrowers or those with a ‘side hustle’ strand to their income continue to report greater difficulties getting a mortgage that reflects their full income.
As technology and automated underwriting becomes more widespread among lenders in the UK mortgage market, more self-employed borrowers will fall through the cracks. Simple cases will fly through, but this won’t help the increasing number of borrowers who need extra care and attention during the underwriting process.
Expert manual underwriters can lean into these cases and understand the person behind the figures and their future plans in order to offer a bespoke approach and solution. The key importance is understanding the journey the client has taken through their life and career and the personal or professional reasons behind the property purchase.
Underwriters can assess several income streams in detail to understand their credit, bonus and work history and take a rounded view on their likely onward professional direction.
A pragmatic approach to affordability
Wealthier clients or those on a predictable blue chip or professional career trajectory should also expect lenders to take a more generous view of their affordability.
Bank of Ireland offers up to 5 x income and can look to offset liabilities against savings to take a pragmatic view on expenditure such as school fees, which is a useful add-on to help manage borrower liquidity.
Clients with Self Invested Personal Pensions might also find it helpful to harness a percentage of their pot on an annualised basis, stretching affordability further.
For these cases, after submitting the initial case detail and proposal for the loan, the introducing broker should discuss the case further with their relationship manager. As an adviser, this allows you to get an immediate view, helping you manage the expectations of your client and any other parties involved in the deal.
Offering the best service to your clients allows you to build more in-depth and long-standing relationships. This in turn will provide opportunity for long term growth for your wider business and network.
For adviser use only. Please note this content has been supplied by our lender partner and as such, is their responsibility. No party shall have any right of action against Legal & General in relation to the accuracy or completeness of the information in this article.