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Deloitte’s latest report into customer experiences of using mortgage brokers has highlighted a number of key improvements borrowers would like to see.
Commissioned by the MFAA, the report surveyed more than 1,000 borrowers who took out a home loan in the last two years; 543 borrowers went direct to a lender while 474 used a broker.
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They were all asked the following question: If anything, what would you like to have been different about your experience? Participants could select one of two responses from a choice of six.
Over 30 per cent of participants were completely satisfied and didn’t think their broker or lender could do any more for them in the future.
Almost the same amount said they would like a faster process.
Interestingly, more than 20 per cent of respondents who used a broker said they would like “more advice on available options”.
Just over 15 per cent of both broker and direct-to lender customers said they would like “more education/knowledge about the mortgage process”. Roughly the same number of respondents from both channels said they would like “more proactive interaction from my broker/lender”.
MFAA interim CEO Chris McRostie said that the association commissioned the survey to gain an independent understanding of the channels customers preferred and why.
“We also wanted to know what customers valued most and what providers could do to improve their services,” Mr McRostie said.
“Deloitte found that 82 per cent of broker customers felt that brokers generally acted in their best interests, with 40 per cent saying brokers acted in their best interests ‘all of the time’, and a further 42 per cent comfortable that brokers did so in general.”
The MFAA said that these figures suggest there is more work to be done.
“We do want to continue to build on our personal relationships with our customers, and make sure that those customers who feel brokers act in their interest to a limited extent change to be absolutely certain that they do so ‘at all times’,” Mr McRostie said. “This is an area we will focus on,” he said.
The MFAA also highlighted that brokers need to improve on their relationships post-settlement.
“Although 45 per cent of those surveyed rated brokers as providing ongoing advice when they needed it, with 22 per cent noting they had proactive interactions about their mortgages, almost 20 per cent said they no longer had contact with their broker,” Mr McRostie said. “This is an area where we would like to see improvement.”
[Related: Direct-to-lender customers unwilling to use brokers]
