The financial services industry has tried to improve its reputation for facilitating the switching of accounts and products by its customers. With bank accounts in particular, the move to seven-day switching has helped dispel the idea that everything takes an age.

But switching mortgages is not deemed easy. Research from Gocompare.com shows they are the hardest financial product to switch, with only 59 per cent of people saying their switch had been “easy”. What is not clear, however, is how many borrowers were dealing with their lender directly rather than through an adviser.

 

I suspect remortgaging will have been much more difficult for direct customers. Advisers should be able to market themselves above the direct competition in their ability to smooth that process.

 

An adviser who can scour the whole market, has strong relationships, inside knowledge on processing and underwriting, an ability to distinguish who fits where and when, plus the ability to provide many products and services, surely makes that process much easier for their clients.

Let’s make sure borrowers know their ability to remortgage can be seriously enhanced by using a mortgage adviser.