Letters to the Editor


Supermarket sweep attitude to blame Discuss industry topics, respond to letters, or start new discussions


Sir, Reading your news online that nine million pensioners are sick with money worry I’m now even more of the firm belief that “Good Old England” has gone forever. I now live in South America and rent out my two houses in the UK. I can survive this way, getting good value for


money with a favourable exchange rate. However, I have been forced into this.


There is nothing for me in England. Absolutely nothing. Nobody will employ me because of my age (55) and I have no pension, apart from the Old Age Pension, which is monkey nuts. I am absolutely ashamed of my own country,


which is sad, having paid into the system for 35 years. To hell with Blighty. I hope I never have to listen to any of those


lying politicians ever again. David Bruce, South America By email


Sir, As usual, Ray Boulger’s analysis on why the FSA is threatening economic recovery (MortgageIntroducer.com 13/08/10) is right on the button... but then Ray, surely we can’t have the FSA understanding the simplicity of it all? Ray’s experience and knowledge is


legendary in the mortgage business and far exceeds that of the whole of the FSA put together. As he says, though, that’s hardly rocket science. If those running the FSA concentrated less


of their time on their own self-importance and remuneration and more of their time actually working properly on behalf of the consumer and the country as a whole, they’d see that they are at massive risk of contributing to the long-term ill-health of a stuttering, laboriously recovering economy. Messrs Cameron, Osborne and Cable need to wake up and smell the coffee


Letter of the month


THESE FIGURES SHOULD SERVE AS AN EARLY WARNING Sir, Recently on www.mortgageintroducer.com you reported on research by the Consumer Financial Education Body, revealing that one in seven borrowers don’t know what kind of mortgage they have. This research serves to highlight the worrying lack of understanding or awareness amongst UK consumers of the fundamentals of their personal financial situation. I believe the “supermarket sweep” attitude to buying financial services products is in part to


blame. Big aggregator advertising budgets can play a role in driving consumers online to often buy financial products without necessarily having due regard to more than price. Brokers can play a central role in educating as well as advising their clients on both their financial needs and the appropriateness of the products they are buying. It is much less likely that any consumer who has been duly and professionally advised will be ignorant of important facts about their mortgage, such as the type of mortgage they have and its key features and benefits. This is equally true when it comes to protection. If one in seven consumers don’t know what


kind of mortgage they have, and three-quarters do not know how an interest rate rise of 1% could affect their monthly outgoings, how can we expect them to know what they need to know about the protection products they may have, or indeed how they would cope without it? Despite interest rates likely to rise around two million, 14% say they don’t know what they


would cut back on if their mortgage payments were to increase by £200 per month. Were these same consumers to fall ill or lose their job, where is their cushion? How many will have given a thought to how they might cope? In my view, these figures should serve as an early warning to brokers to make sure they


advise clients on suitable protection and make sure they are aware of the consequences of the ‘it won’t happen to me’ syndrome. Kevin Paterson Sales and marketing director Assurant Intermediary


before the FSA manage to drive to country to the wall. Paul Fielding By email


Sir Reading your analysis of Further broker fall out to come (MortgageIntroducer.com 13/08/10) it’s a good thing FSA dont run the army, otherwise they would have long gone bulldozed the whole country.


Are they for real? Just the other day I was


reading that the number people leaving jobs at FSA has shot up. Surprising? Forget the dogs, who let the rats in? With so many regulations going on, what’s


next new thing coming in political power? We really are the country of Flintstones, better off moving to Afghanistan where this nonsense doesn’t exist. Name and address supplied


20 mortgage introducer SPETEMBER 2010


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