Nothing Worthwhile Ever Comes Easy
We’ve been running the Mortgage Credit Directive countdown clock for a few weeks here in Bridging and Commercial Distributor, and I’ve never tried to disguise the fact that there is a bit of work to be done in order to get your ducks in a row by the time the MCD lands on the 21st of March this year. Ensuring that you have the right permissions in place and, if you weren’t already authorised by the FCA, making sure that you have transitioned to their regulatory regime to meet the deadline, means that you can offer second-charge products as part of your proposition and continue to provide the same breadth of services to your customers.
I’ve recently spoken to a handful of brokers who worryingly told me that they intended to avoid the ‘hassle’ involved in getting MCD ready by simply opting out of the second charge market. I can’t stress enough how bad a move I believe that to be. Firstly, the firms who choose to limit their offering to dodge some fairly painless extra work; please think about the fact that you are removing a substantial - and growing - portion of your business and taking a very short-sighted view of your future. It’s akin to ruling out going abroad on holiday because you can’t be bothered filling out a passport application and learning a few words in a foreign language! Secondly, I’m sure that we’d all agree that a smaller range of options for consumers is a negative outcome. Not only because you might lose the ability to guide a customer to the best solution for them but we all know how fickle even the most long-standing client can be; if you can’t help them, they’ll go elsewhere!
So, you might already be aware that MCD doesn’t affect you however, if it does, please don’t let the ‘hassle’ be the reason you choose not to apply for permissions. You don’t even need to do it alone! There is a solution to all of the issues surrounding the Mortgage Credit Directive, and that is to engage a specialist provider to handle your application and ongoing compliance requirements for you. The Consumer Credit Centre, which is part of the SimplyBiz Group, has a 100% success rate in getting consumer credit applications approved first time by the FCA and it the cost for this service is less than an average two day’s earnings.
The SimplyBiz Group has twelve years of experience in this area and a highly skilled specialist team, and that’s just one of the reasons why AOBP has chosen to partner with us. If you want help with applying for permissions or changing your application date for consumer credit authorisation, please get in touch with us urgently on 01484 443424.
David Golder
Managing Director
Consumer Credit Centre
SimplyBiz Group