MortgagesDec 28 2018

L&G to slash mortgage processing times

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L&G to slash mortgage processing times

Legal & General Mortgage Club intends to reduce the intermediated mortgage process to a matter of hours, its director has said.

Kevin Roberts, director at Legal & General Mortgage Club, told FTAdviser the club has a vision to reduce the process from days and weeks to just hours and expects to see far more integration of technology in the market in 2019.

However, Mr Roberts said Legal & General will not be able to achieve this vision alone and would be looking to collaborate wherever possible.

He said: "We believe it is important for the industry to grasp the benefits of technology and improve the customer experience, we do not want outside disruptors doing this for us and taking our place."

Mr Roberts said creating a "frictionless" mortgage process via advancements in technology would mean giving people options for both self-service and digital interaction.

He said: "It will mean integrating with lenders and finding ways to bring valuations and conveyancing seamlessly into the process.

"It also means better systems for brokers to track the application process, highlighting any hold-ups or delays, and automating where cases can be pushed through the process more efficiently."

At its autumn conference earlier this year, Legal & General Mortgage Club found the proportion of brokers who cited technology and robo-advice as their biggest challenge over the next three years had dropped to 21 per cent - a decline of 28 per cent on last year’s figure.

Speaking at the time, Mr Roberts said the figures suggested advisers were embracing the role that technology can play in the mortgage application process and were recognising the importance of fintech to future proofing their businesses.  

But trade body The Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA) claimed earlier this month a robo-advice "revolution" would not happen any time soon and a completely automated mortgage market might never meet customers' needs.

Kate Davies, executive director at IMLA, said at the time: "We have already seen a number of digital advancements as the industry seeks out solutions to improve the mortgage and property transaction process.

"But we’re still some way from seeing a completely automated mortgage market as the technology cannot yet – and may never - fully address all customer needs."

rachel.addison@ft.com