Playbook, mortgage broker
The work between a first conversation and anything reaching a lender
Applicants assume that once they have spoken to an adviser the application is in. It is not, and the gap between those two points is where nearly all the early frustration lives. There is a fact find to finish, a consent to give before any search happens, and a set of documents to gather that is entirely in the client's hands. How long the sequence runs depends on what kind of case it is, which is the part firms almost never publish and the part that would explain the most.
Why this is not the general answer
The handling pattern for setup and onboarding holds across every trade. What follows is the part that does not.
- Nothing reaches a lender until the fact find is complete and consent has been given for a credit search, and applicants want that search explained before they agree to it rather than after.
- A product transfer with an existing lender skips most of the sequence, a remortgage needs a fresh document set but no chain, and a purchase runs the longest version, so onboarding here has three lengths rather than one.
- A self employed applicant's gather is measured in years of accounts rather than in recent payslips, which changes the shape of the whole opening stage before anybody has done anything wrong.
- The stage that holds cases up is the document gather, and it is the only part of the sequence entirely within the client's control, which is worth saying to somebody who believes they are waiting on the firm.
How it arrives
- what happens after our first call
- does a decision in principle leave a mark on my credit file
- how long does it take to get from the first call to applying
- i am switching deals with my current lender is it the same process
- how many years of accounts will you want from me
- what actually happens during a fact find
What has to be indexed for this to work
| The sequence, published separately for each kind of case | Purchase, remortgage and product transfer, each with its own steps. One combined sequence is read wrongly by most of the people who see it, and the client switching deals with their existing lender is the one most misled by it. |
|---|---|
| Your credit search explanation, in the firm's own words | What happens at enquiry, what happens at full application, and at which point in your process each occurs. Applicants hesitate over this more than brokers expect, and a clear answer removes a real block before the first call. |
| Where the document gather sits, and what it holds up | Which step cannot start until documents are in, framed as sequencing rather than as a checklist. The list itself lives elsewhere: what is needed here is the reason the case is standing still. |
| The consents an applicant gives, and what each one covers | What is being agreed to, who the information goes to and what it is used for. Somebody who understands what they signed asks fewer worried questions later about why a lender has their statements. |
The reply
The first call is the start of a sequence rather than the application itself. After it, we finish the fact find, and nothing goes any further until you have given consent for a credit search, which we explain before asking for it [1]. Then comes the document gather, and that is the stage that usually decides how quickly everything else happens, because it is the part that sits with you. Only after that does a full application go to a lender. If you are switching to a new deal with your existing lender, it is a much shorter process than a purchase [2]. I cannot tell you what a lender will lend or how long yours will take. Leave your name and an email and an adviser will take you through the first step.
Correcting the assumption in the first sentence is necessary, because everything after it only makes sense once the applicant knows the call did not submit anything. Naming the document gather as the client's own stage is blunt on purpose, since the alternative is somebody waiting on the firm for a fortnight. The product transfer line is there because that client is otherwise reading a sequence far longer than the one they face.
Where it stops
The trigger. The visitor asks how far their own onboarding has got, says they have sent documents and heard nothing, or asks whether a search has already been run on them.
I cannot see whether anything of yours has arrived or what has been done on your case, including any search. Leave your name, your email and the property address and an adviser will check and come back to you.
It stops answering before it guesses, says who will pick it up, and asks for the one thing that makes a reply possible. Nothing about it reads as a dead end.
Never say this here
Out of bounds
- Never say a credit search has or has not been carried out on somebody, since the assistant sees nothing about any individual and this is the answer people act on.
- Never describe the process as leaving no mark on a credit file, when a full application is part of the same sequence and the applicant will remember the reassurance.
- Never say a case can be submitted before the fact find and the consents are complete, however keen the applicant is to move.
- Never give a total timescale from first call to offer as though the firm could commit to it, because most of that time belongs to a lender and to the client's own paperwork.
Questions
- Can it start the fact find in the chat and save the adviser a step?
- No. It takes a name, an email and a message, and that is the whole of what it collects. A fact find is advice work with recording duties attached, and gathering it through a chat window is not something the product does or should do.
- Is publishing three separate sequences overkill?
- It is the single most useful thing on this page. A product transfer client reading a purchase timeline concludes the firm is slow, and a purchaser reading a short one concludes something has gone wrong. One sequence per case type prevents both.
- People stall at the credit search question. Does an explanation help?
- It helps a great deal, and it costs nothing to publish. What loses people is a consent request with no explanation attached, arriving from a firm they spoke to once. Explaining it before it is asked for turns a hesitation into a step.
Keep reading
- Everything for a mortgage brokerProcess, documents and fees are safe to automate. Rates go stale fast and affordability cannot be answered generically.
- Handling setup and onboarding in generalMost product material is written for somebody who already understands it. A first run guide has to be ordered, not merely complete.
- What a broker charges, and what a lender charges, kept apartIndexed rate material is the fastest rotting content a broker can publish. How to answer what rate can i get without repeating last month's.
- Getting an initial call arranged without touching the calendarThe assistant cannot take a slot. It can remove every reason somebody hesitates to book one, then hand a warm enquiry to an adviser.
- The document list that decides how fast a mortgage case runsPayslips, accounts, bank statements and deposit evidence, with the periods each has to cover. The most durable material on a broker's site.
Try it on your own material
Upload a document or point it at your site, paste one line of HTML, then ask it something only your business could answer.