Just Retirement welcomes the advance of drawdown lifetime mortgages

Just Retirement, the specialist UK life assurance group focusing on the provision of solutions for people at and in retirement, responded to the announcement by SHIP of a significant increase in the proportion of drawdown equity release business.

SHIP figures released on Monday showed that, in the last quarter of 2006, the number of people using drawdown more than tripled when compared with the same period in 2005 with more than 2,500 cases releasing £89.9 million while opening a total facility of almost £300 million.

Just Retirement’s own drawdown mortgage was launched in October 2005, to reflect the need to provide better value and greater flexibility for those seeking to use their homes to boost their standard of living in retirement. The company undertook extensive research to determine customers’ needs and, as a result, launched a mortgage that allows money to be drawn at any time during the lifetime of the customer, with minimum further advances as low as £2,000.

David Cooper, Group Marketing Director of Just Retirement, commented: “These new business results vindicate the considerable amount of work we did throughout 2005 to ensure we understood the needs and aspirations of those considering equity release. As a result we were able to launch a highly flexible product with very low minimum drawdown amounts and, along with our customers, are now reaping the benefits as our own results have shown. Developing flexible lifetime products poses certain difficulties for providers – which usually results in higher cost for homeowners. I am pleased to say though that our own innovative approach to development enabled us to offer a product which avoids imposing any additional cost at all, thus ensuring people are free to choose the best solution for themselves without the distraction or worry of a higher or hidden repayment.”