Members dispute Ami's savings claim

The Association of Mortgage Intermediaries' report suggesting mortgage advice can save customers nearly £2000 annually appears to have been refuted by its own members.

Mortgage consultants have reacted angrily to the figures issued by the association, which examine the value of mortgage intermediaries to consumers in getting them the best available deal.

The report, compiled by independent financial services research company NMG, estimated that intermediaries could save customers up to £1 830 a year compared with going direct to lenders.

The report also found that people who used a broker were more likely to be placed with a lender first time, and 55 per cent of people who used an intermediary felt they were kept informed of their applications process, compared with just 34 per cent of people who went through a bank.

But mortgage consultants claim it is nearly impossible to compete with lenders while dual pricing exists and say they are losing hundreds of thousands of pounds in business.

Tim Robinson, mortgage consultant for Leeds-based Pearson Jones, said his company had lost £3m in remortgaging business in a week to major lenders who were offering cut prices direct.

He said: "The clients stuck with us for protection, but it does not change the fact that the banks are cheaper. A broker cannot save a client money if the lender is offering a cheaper rate. We can only save money on everything else that goes with it but whether that adds up to £2000 a year I am not sure."

Fiona Sharp, senior adviser for Nottingham-based Finance4Women, agreed that most brokers were struggling with dual pricing, and said she knew of many that were reassessing their business' viability.

"While we can definitely give the best service, often at the moment we cannot offer the best products. To say in a broad stroke that we save our clients £1830 a year is just not the case. In many instances we have to tell our customer to go to one of the high street banks to get the best value for their mortgage."

Richard Farr, director for Ami, defended the claims saying the differentials in pricing were a blip and the tide was turning.

He said: "What this report shows is the value of advice that is given by our advisers. We can now put an empirical figure on it and it shows that more and more people in the UK are flocking to intermediaries for help and guidance."