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By: Staff Reporter
More than 85 per cent of brokers believe it is critical to offer their clients mortgage protection insurance, new data from Ali Group has found.
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According to a recent survey by Ali, the majority of mortgage brokers see mortgage protection as part of the core mortgage process, rather than an ‘add-on’ or ‘cross-sell’.
Ali Group head of sales and distribution Darren Smith said most brokers understood they needed to offer mortgage protection during the application process, as this is when they achieved the highest success rate.
Mr Smith believes that brokers most versed in providing mortgage protection are those that respect the ‘duty of care’ that offering mortgage protection gives their customers – that it’s their responsibility to ensure their customers are aware of and understand all the eventualities in taking out a mortgage.
“This relates directly to a brokers’ service proposition,” Mr Smith said.
“Brokers focused on ensuring an excellent customer service experience must go over and above simply providing a transaction.”
While many of the brokers surveyed had referral relationships with a financial planner or insurance broker, this did not prevent them from offering mortgage protection.
John Minihan, an accredited mortgage consultant with Port Macquarie-based brokerage Professional Finance Mortgage Brokers, said mortgage protection played a critical part in his offering.
“From my experience, banks are quite aggressive in marketing additional products to newly-introduced clients, so if you address mortgage protection early, you’ll get the best results,” he said.
“It takes time to become familiar with the language and get the process right. You need to feel comfortable and find the right way to package up the benefits of the product considering the emotional sensitivities that surround it.”
