I am FSA qualified and used to work as a financial advisor. My experience of this industry is that a broker will sell you the product that is best for him, in terms of commission and bonuses, and not the product that is best for you.
We used to get incentivised promotions through from certain companies for selling one particular product over another so of course if your interested in earning money thats the product that you push.
To be honest I don't see the need to employ a middle man these days when it's so easy to shop around with the internet etc and the high street banks practically giving money away !
Dan,
I made your last point recently, but sarnie did point out to be fair that he had access to a greater range of products than I (for example) could get to through say fool.co.uk and also might get a better rate (which presumably would be passed to the end-user?) But for straightforward advances with no CCJ history, reasonable mortgaged percentage of property value etc, I think the internet is hard to beat personally
Isn't this how folk with an eye on the most competitive rates end up tied into products or with huge redemption penalties? Its like doing your own conveyancing - if you f@ck it up who do you sue?
No not really, it's a starting point and you are in a better position (with no baggage or targets if you like) to make an informed decision by asking the right questions. All the site is doing is putting you in touch with a likely provider direct - and you take it from there.
Yes Dorian but what your getting is tied advice. What that means is that any lender can only give information on their products and no one elses. Therefore their advice is limited. Also they will only give you the answers to the questions you ask. Legally they are not 'allowed' to advise you in anyway shape or form. If they were to give you advice then they would have to give 'whole of market' advice and would therefore 8 out of 10 times would be advising you go to another bank as they have a better product! Are they going to do that? NO.
If you don't ask about something eg Is the mortgage portable? Then when you want to move house and find that you've got to pay a whopping penalty then there is no come back as they have given you an 'Information Only' service. I, on the other hand, am completely independant and can legally advise on the whole of the market and not just a range of products from one lender
The internet sites are a load of tosh really too. How can a top 10 table be formed when there are over 28000 different mortgage products to choose from. Someone like Halifax will have about 800 products on their own Also if you think that these comparison sites are 'independant' then think again. The site will get a referral fee from the lenders that subscribe to be placed on their tables