BY AMI

The issue of the trapped borrower or mortgage prisoner has been on the AMI agenda since the MMR was finalised in 2012.  We could be criticised for not getting enough traction on the issue until late 2018, but we were [...]

1 day ago / No Comments

BY AMI

In an unprecedented step the FCA has issued a Dear CEO letter to a sector of the market before they have completed the firm authorisation process.  The issues with CMC’s have been expressed by advice firms of all types for [...]

1 day ago / No Comments

BY AMI

The new affordability tests for existing borrowers proposed on FCA CP19/14 will allow lenders to disapply many aspects of the MMR affordability rules which have restricted the options of some borrowers.  It is proposed that the new simpler rules can [...]

1 month ago / No Comments

BY AMI

In deciding as part of its Mortgages Market Study that the market needed help by revising advice and selling standards, the FCA has made some interesting statements and assertions.  As one of the few still in their role from the [...]

1 month ago / No Comments

BY AMI

Following consultation, the FCA has decided to increase the ombudsman service’s award limit to £350,000 for complaints about acts or omissions by firms which take place on or after 1 April 2019.  AMI has been discussing with the FCA the [...]

2 months ago / No Comments

BY AMI

The FCA final report of the Mortgages Market Study set out its plans to resolve the issues it identified.  It has accepted, for now, the industry view that intervening to promote solutions to assist consumers to more easily find the [...]

2 months ago / No Comments

BY AMI

Figures from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government show housing starts in England remained reasonably robust in 2018, however, it’s unlikely that this indicates an entrenched trend towards increased building rates. The imminent removal of Help to Buy [...]

3 months ago / No Comments

BY AMI

The Government and the Treasury Select Committee have been increasing pressure on the FCA to do more to help borrowers trapped on SVR or what some might consider to be penal rates of interest often as a result of their [...]

3 months ago / No Comments

BY AMI

This month the FCA announced it is ploughing ahead with increasing the award limit for the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) from 1 April.  Seemingly the majority of those who responded to its proposals strongly disagreed, including AMI, yet the FCA [...]

3 months ago / No Comments

BY AMI

I have been listening intently to where we, as an industry, are on the technology journey with a wide range of firms investing in the future of how intermediaries interact with consumers and lenders.  Firstly, we have the traditional broking [...]

4 months ago / No Comments