Independent, whole of market, panel ... I am a mortgage customer, get me out of here...

Posted on 14 August 2008 by Drew

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Having just returned from two weeks in France, some of which was spent (thankfully) with non-mortgage types, I learned a valuable lesson.  The UK mortgage buyer is confused.  Just what is the best way to get the best mortgage for them and who should they see.  And we are talking (in the main) about intelligent people here.  They hear they should go for independent mortgage advice on one hand, but then Martin Lewis tells them that they should get whole of market mortgage advice on Trevor MacDonald and they just do not know what to do.  What's the difference they cry?  Well, in practice, there is virtually no difference in the product you could end up getting, it is about the way you obtain the mortgage and how you pay for it.

To be a fully paid up member of the independent mortgage broker club, you have to charge a fee as these are the rules set down by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).  To be a whole of market mortgage adviser you do not have to charge this fee but can still search the entire mortgage market.  Put simply, that is it.  A sub-difference is that, more often than not, independent mortgage brokers tend to meet their clients on a face to face basis, whereas whole of market mortgage advice is invariably given over the phone. 

So, in practice, we are dealing with semantics here, but two terms for effectively the same thing has always confused.  Let's leave it as this; make sure you get either independent mortgage advice or whole of market mortgage advice.  There are the same and you should just pick your preference on the way you speak to an adviser.  Do this and you can be sure of getting a mortgage that is just right for you.

Categories: Mortgages, Media, Interest rates

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