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In fact, even when times are not so tough there is nothing wrong with a little bit of moonlighting. Heck, I do it myself - writing this column is not my day job.

But just because it is okay to earn a few extra pounds outside office hours does not mean that you should not be careful about what work you take on. So I make a plea to mortgage advisers to give serious thought before taking on whatever extra income they choose to make in these days of falling commissions and customers. For example, it is common practice for mortgage advisers to give introductions to other local businesses. You may get £50 or so for giving a new client to a conveyancer, surveyor or estate agent.

There are also debt counselling companies that are willing to reward intermediaries that introduce them to potential clients. It must be a good stream of income. Mortgage advisers, as middle men who see the in-depth financial details of many clients, have an ideal opportunity to pass on a bit of trade. It works both ways of course and it may even generate a bit of business for yourself.

Of course, with this comes the old message: be careful who you recommend. Your

reputation depends on the quality of the business that you are advising someone to use. Then we have claim-handling firms. Mortgage advisers have told me how some claim-handlers are offering tasty inducements if they pass on the details of any clients that has run up rather large credit card bills or have a payment protection policy that has never paid out.

Technically there is nothing wrong with it but it is walking a moral tightrope. Most of the time mortgage advisers that are making a little extra income in this way are doing so without the knowledge of their bosses – and that adds a further layer to the conundrum. I am sure that while the FSA can do nothing about the actions of claim-handlers, it would be interested to hear of mortgage advisers who were consorting too keenly with them.

There are a lot of former intermediaries that once flogged endowments hand over fist now running claims management firms, putting in claims for mis-selling on the very products they once made a killing from.

On principle I would object to claim-handlers who said their success rate on endowments mis-selling was better than those consumers who went to the FSA. Those that jumped on the bank charges bandwagon did nothing for the credibility of this ambulance-chasing industry.

So it does nothing for the reputation of, not just individual, but all mortgage advisers to get too involved with this sector. After all, should they ever find a loophole that allows them to make make claims that a customer was not put on the very best rate available then the shoe could soon be on the other foot.

Prices aren’t right

The problem with the lack of first-time buyers in the market has nothing to do with stamp duty. It has everything to do with high prices and a little to do with product innovation.

There are no 100 per cent loan-to-value deal anymore. While I am not encouraging more to be developed, the shortage of deals at 95 per cent LTV is causing a problem for buyers.

You see, of those that do allow a 5 per cent deposit half impose a higher lending charge. This is as arcane a bit of money-making as you can get. The lenders argue they have to price for risk. So does that mean that the likes of HSBC, Nationwide and Bradford & Bingley do not price for risk? With the exception of B&B, both of these lenders have cheaper rates than their rivals that do charge a higher lending charge. Any product manager from a lender that does not impose a higher lending charge will tell you the interest rate tierings are how they price for the risk of lending these higher loan-to-values.

It is why those with a 40 per cent deposit can get the cheapest deals. Lenders are either committed to a 5 per cent deposit offering or they are not. I would argue those with a HLC are not. If they clearly cannot get the rate right, and they clearly have concerns about the quality of the borrower they are allowing to access this product, then they should get out of that sector altogether and not pretend they are there to help first-time buyers.

Sticks and stones

I was interested to learn a new nickname I seem to have been landed with. It is apparently doing the rounds at a large player in the mortgage market. They are not happy that I constantly complain about changes to their product range.The nickname, in case you were wondering, is Moany Coney.

James Coney is assistant editor of the Money Mail section of the Daily Mail email: james.coney@hotmail.co.uk