Mortgage Expo 2022 Review
It was fantastic to be back at Mortgage and Business Expo London this year, so as we navigate unprecedented times in the secured lending market, what did we learn at this years’ event? Thomas Brett, Head of Mortgage and Lending at Contact State discusses the main themes of conversation at the Business Design Centre.
The feeling at the Mortgage Expo this year was of optimism and a steely determination to come together as a market to provide the best service for customers at this difficult time.
Alongside a packed room for an update from the Bank of England on the current climate for interest rates, there were other fantastic talks about a range of subjects, including a great panel discussion regarding equity release and how this market is changing, Google’s digital garage on social media writing, and a whole host of talks on specialist lending options available.
Consumer Duty and what this means for mortgage and equity release marketing
As the FCA requires all firms to have a plan in place detailing how they intend to abide by the new consumer duty principles by the end of October 2022, the timing couldn’t be better for brokers to learn more about this area. The regulator has already confirmed it’s imperative to look at the whole customer journey, not just the advice, and all aspects of this needs to be fair, regardless of a good outcome.
Hearing how Consumer Duty will be a positive force for change in the mortgage and equity release markets and in advertising for these products is heartening. By ensuring the customer journey is fair throughout, and not just at the advice stage really does help to protect the consumer.
Panel Discussion
As well as Contact State sponsoring and exhibiting at the Business Design Centre, we had the privilege of hosting a panel discussion on how consumer duty will change marketing in mortgage and equity release. We had a fantastic panel of experts on this subject; Ryan Berry of Cornerhouse, a directly authorised lead generation firm, Dominik Lipnicki, Founder of Your Mortgage Decisions and Access Equity Release Brokerages, and Kelly Melville-Kelly, Head of Risk and Compliance at the Equity Release Council, fresh from hosting her own panel discussion on equity release.
We asked our experts a host of questions including ‘Why is oversight of the whole customer journey so important?
Ryan’s response can be found here
Kelly’s response can be found here
And Dominik’s response can found here
Ask The Experts
With consumer duty such a hot topic it was great to be interviewed by Jessica O’Conner, reporter at the Intermediary about how this changes marketing, sludge design in customer journeys and how brokers and networks can help solve these issues with greater oversight.
You can find that interview here.
Data Control Matters
Contact State’s Data Control Matters research report officially went live at this years’ Mortgage Expo and it was fantastic to share this fascinating document with so many brokers in the market.
The report can be found here.
Our research asked 5,000 people how they felt about applying for their borrowing online, and how they share their data. The findings are incredible and show the digital shift in action, with 100% increase in homeowners looking online for their next mortgage.
We truly believe this will inform how brokers will find customers moving forward, and gives an important glimpse into how improving online customer journeys will benefit brokers/advisers, but most importantly, for customers.
With the regulators pushing towards greater transparency on customer acquisition and greater scrutiny on the messaging seen by potential customers, now is the time to look at oversight from first point of contact through to post sale care.
