Concerned consumers turn to brokers for mortgage advice

At the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) Annual Dinner Director General Chris Cummings, and AMI Chairman the Rt Hon John Gummer MP, called for the mortgage industry to work together and put the interests of consumers first.

During recent months borrowers have increasingly turned to mortgage intermediaries for support demonstrating how much consumers value advice. To build on this, AMI outlined its plans for a concerted campaign to promote the value of mortgage advice to consumers.

AMI was praised for its work by Shadow Financial Secretary Mark Hoban MP who said that there is no-one better than John Gummer and Chris Cummings to be representing the interests of intermediaries.

Chris Cummings, Director General of AMI, said: "In the first quarter of this year, consumers have increasingly turned to our members to seek out professional mortgage advice. For example, over 80% of First Time Buyers used an intermediary - a 10% increase on the previous year. The re-mortgage markets also saw intermediary business up by 10%.

"Our members provide mortgage advice that is wholly focussed on the individual consumer's needs. This means finding suitable products and providing high levels of customer service. Our recent research shows that 8 in 10 consumers chose to use an intermediary for mortgage advice and only 2 in 10 selected them because of cost.

"During this difficult period consumers need advice more than ever. That is why we will now begin a concerted campaign to demonstrate to consumers the value of mortgage advice. We look forward to the support of the entire industry for this important initiative."