Which? Slams Standard of UK Mortgage Advice

Professional mortgage advisors in the UK often offer their customers substandard service, new research from consumers' group Which? has revealed.

A "secret shopper" test conducted by the body saw researchers posing as customers and visiting a range of banks, independent financial advisers and estate agents.

Of the 50 firms visited, however, 41 failed to provide one or more pieces of essential information about taking out a mortgage, many were found to be inappropriately prioritising selling insurance in connection with the home loans and just four gave advice that Which? considered to be at an "acceptable" standard.

Martyn Hocking at Which? said: "Too many of the advisers that we visited took a 'one size fits all' approach or seemed as concerned with selling an insurance policy on the side.

"There are still more than 3,000 mortgage deals out there, and the difference in cost can be thousands of pounds a year, so it's vital people do their homework and choose their adviser with care."

Which? also said that it had now reported poorly-performing advisors to the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The watchdog itself has been in the news this week, calling on lenders to crack down on mortgage brokers who fail customers by committing fraud and submitting false applications.

The FSA said yesterday that it has banned 17 brokers for this reason over the past 12 months.