Poor results for equity release advisors
August 17, 2009 by admin
Filed under News, News-Mortgages
A recent study into the skills and knowledge possessed by equity released advisors has produced poor results according to a recent report, with many of the advisors that were tested showing a lack of knowledge and offering poor quality advice to the rising number of people that have expressed interest in equity release programmes.
In fact, it is claimed that up to two thirds of advisors in the equity release sector were not up to scratch.
The results were release after the consumer campaign group, Which?, carried out a mystery shopping exercise that involved testing the skills and knowledge of equity release advisors.
When it came to passing the benchmarks for offering good advice to customers looking into equity release around two thirds of advisors failed to meet the required standards.
With more and more people considering equity release as a result of the current financial and economic situation officials are worried that the advice that many are getting is not good advice and could lead to problems.
A number of failings were found as part of the exercise, with different advisors failing in different areas such as failing to carry out proper checks, and failing to get facts before recommending a particular equity release product.
One official from the consumer group said: ‘One IFA said there was no chance of using up all the equity in the ‘customer’s’ home ‘unless you live to 150′.’
Tags: fact, equity release advisors, number, equity release, benchmarks, Independent Financial Adviser, KnowledgeAnother also added: ‘If you’ve been hit by plunging pensions, it might be tempting to release some much-needed money using your home. However, opting for an equity release plan is a big decision and it’s not one that should be taken lightly.’
