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Here at Birminghammoneyman, we believe that there are many positives to using the services of a Mortgage Broker in Birmingham, instead of going direct. That is just our opinion though, of course, we would say that!
There are loads of positives going elsewhere, so it is worth exploring your mortgage options. Thankfully for us, most people will opt to speak with a Mortgage Broker in Birmingham. In this article, we will look at the pros and cons of both routes.
The first benefit of going to a Mortgage Broker in Birmingham is that whilst most high street banks can be approached directly, not all mortgage lenders can be.
This means that to get the best deal across all lenders on our panel, you will benefit from speaking with a Mortgage Broker in Birmingham, though a mortgage lender may still have some deals you cannot get going to a mortgage broker.
An experienced Mortgage Broker in Birmingham will typically require a fee, whereas this may not be the case when going direct. That said, we can help to recommend other services that you may need for much cheaper than they might be with a lender.
In previous arguments some would say that “the bank manager knows my finances inside out,” but this was no longer the case once credit scoring was introduced.
If you know what you are doing and what you are looking for, going direct can be a quick and straightforward process. On the other hand, if you do not know what you are doing, you could harm your chances of ever obtaining a mortgage, as you will not match all lender’s criteria.
A trusted Mortgage Broker in Birmingham will be able to go over the different lenders’ mortgage criteria and will be able to match you up with the most suitable mortgage deal. We always aim to get this recommendation right first time.
Back in the day, mortgage advisors from high street banks would approve you for a mortgage, regardless of circumstances. You would not benefit from correct Mortgage Advice in Birmingham or any consumer protection.
In 2014, the government banned this type of practice. Now, only experienced Mortgage Advisors in Birmingham could go about providing expert Mortgage Advice in Birmingham to customers and making recommendations for products.
The only downside is speaking with specific individuals at a bank, which means you could be waiting months, just to speak with someone.
Because of this, the usage of a Mortgage Broker in Birmingham became more popular. As a company ourselves, we offer various time slots seven days a week, allowing you to pick a time that is convenient to you, and not months in advance!
Quite often, if you book your free initial mortgage appointment early, you may be able to speak with one of our Mortgage Advisors in Birmingham on the same day.
Nowadays, the most difficult part of the mortgage process is matching up against the right mortgage lenders’ criteria. It is also essential to remember that deals with the lowest rates often have higher arrangement fees.
You may have come across a really good deal, only to find that you need to pass affordability checks and be eligible for that deal in the first place. With the help of a Mortgage Broker in Birmingham, we will be able to find the most suitable deals that are suitable for you.
Thanks in part to the regulations that followed after the credit crunch back in 2008, mortgage applications perhaps are not as straightforward as they used to be.
This is not necessarily a terrible thing, however, as it makes lenders have less of a chance of anyone falling into arrears, which both customers and mortgage lenders do not want to occur.
There are still a lot of situations that could cause some issues for applicants, some of which a Mortgage Broker in Birmingham may be able to help with.
As an expert Mortgage Broker in Birmingham, we have seen mortgage lenders demonstrating their competitive prowess, trying to offer better interest rates than their fellow mortgage lenders.
Because of the changes to regulations, the other difference between these lenders is their mortgage lending criteria and whether the customer can match up with them.
Examples of how these can differ, is that some mortgage lenders may have more products for self employed applicants than others, whereas others may not but will be more lenient to something like bad credit mortgages. If you are looking at getting a mortgage as a self-employed applicant, check out our article all about getting a mortgage as a self-employed applicant in Birmingham.
Our trusted mortgage advisors in Birmingham will always keep you in the loop, with availability from early until late, every day of the week, responding as soon as they can.
With our services as a Mortgage Broker in Birmingham, is that nowadays people are so busy. It is often easier to use a professional service, to take the stress off your shoulders.
This is especially beneficial for professional applicants who are dealing with customers of their own, not having the time to run through their process themselves.
From your first initial touch we will discuss your case, and will use our knowledge to help. We like to go above and beyond with customers that need our help.
During your process, one of our Mortgage Advisors in Birmingham will be able to discuss the maxium amount you can borrow and supply you with an agreement in principle, which can help when making an offer on a property. As well as recommend additional services like solicitors and property surveys.
We can also reccomend any potential insurance options with you, helping prepare you and your family for the future, in the event of anything unfortunate that affects your financial state.
If you would like to go direct, that that’s fine, but wether a customer is a First Time Buyer in Birmingham, Self Employed in Birmingham, or looking to Remortgage in Birmingham, they prefer to enlist the services of an expert Mortgage Broker in Birmingham.
Book your free mortgage appointment today with our Mortgage Broker in Birmingham and our Mortgage Advisors in Birmingham will see how we can help you along your mortgage journey.
Just because you aren’t married and choose to settle down with kids means Life insurance doesn’t apply to you. Even if you are single, there are good reasons to take out life cover.
Having a life policy in place can support your family dealing with your debts, i.e. mortgage repayments if the most unfortunate happened to you.
Life cover gets taken out to cover mortgage debts: typically, the policy will set up to pay out a lump sum, equivalent to the home loan, in the event of the policyholder’s passing.
If you live with a partner or have children, the cover might get extended to provide an income that your dependents can use to pay for living costs.
This extra protection is unlikely to be necessary for single people, but taking out protection insurance covers the mortgage is still a good idea.
If an individual passes before their mortgage gets paid off, their bank or building society can attempt repayment of the loan from their late customer’s estate — this is their accumulated assets.
Most likely, to pay off the remaining balance, the property will get sold. But if the home is in negative equity, the lender has the right to demand that the difference gets made up from the estate.
The other alternative is that the lender can demand that the property gets sold. But the surviving family members cannot continue to make up any shortfall. To make matters worse, if the probate process — during which the individual’s estate gets dealt with — is drawn out, the lender can continue to add interest charges, increasing the total amount.
Taking out life insurance advice in Birmingham will help make sure that these problems do not proceed.
If you think you might want to take out life cover at some point, speak to one of our dedicated protection advisors in Birmingham. For example, if you plan to become a First Time Buyer in Birmingham or already a homeowner, or perhaps your circumstances have changed. It makes financial sense to do so now rather than waiting.
A life insurance policy means that an inheritance can be left to children or grandchildren, for example, irrespective of whether there is any equity left in the home. If you are hesitent to go to a broker, we do have an article on why use a Mortgage Broker in Birmingham, where we highligh the benefit of using our service.
The term “Mortgage Protection Insurance” is an umbrella term used for various types of cover. The goal of this is to protect borrowers from any unfortunate events or circumstances that would prevent them from being able to keep up their mortgage payments. When connected to a mortgage, they give a sense of security and peace of mind to borrowers.
There are usually two life cover options; “Whole of Life” or “Term Assurance.” When using Whole of Life Cover, you are guaranteed to have your mortgage paid off in the event of death. Term Assurance does the same thing, but only if you die within a chosen amount of years.
Within Term Assurance, there are also some branching types of cover. These include “level,” “increasing,” or “convertible” Term Assurance. Nowadays, we mostly see people utilising “Decreasing Term Assurance.”
By linking this to a repayment mortgage, the sums assured reduce at about the same mortgage rate. The premiums on these are usually cheaper than the other types of cover. If you passed away within the term, the risk to the insurer has diminished.
At that point, the remaining sum should be more than enough to pay off the remaining mortgage balance. This type of insurance helps out the departed families, making sure they don’t have to struggle with their debts after you pass.
Sadly you won’t be around to see it get utilised. Nevertheless, whilst you are undergoing treatment and recovery, your finances could be affected. You’re left unable to pay off any commitments, which in turn leads to the development of Critical Illness cover.
Functioning similar to Life Assurance, Critical Illness Cover gets taken for a specific term of years. There are also other options you can choose from, such as level or increase.
The purpose of this cover is to pay out a lump sum and taken on a decreasing term—basis in line with the reduction of your mortgage balance. The key is that the benefit gets paid if you fall victim to one of several specified critical illnesses.
It will then pay out whatever the long-term prognosis of that illness. The type of illnesses covered varies for each provider. In general terms, insurers usually cover between 40 – 50 specified conditions, including cancer, heart attack, and stroke. Payouts depend on meeting the required level of seriousness of the particular situation suffered.
Whereas Life and Critical Illness cover pay out a lump sum, “Income Protection” pays out a monthly amount. They got designed to replace your wages in the event of you being unfit to work in Birmingham. Unlike Critical Illness cover, there are no restrictions on the illnesses or injuries covered.
The only factors being whether they make you unfit to work. There are, however, restrictions on how much you can cover and how quickly benefits would start to get paid because the insurers want you to have an incentive to return to work rather than being better off on sick.
Typically, the most you can cover would be approximately 55%-65% of your income. Benefits would begin to get paid after a “deferred period.” Usually, it equates to the length of time you would receive sick pay from your employer.
Benefits would continue to get paid for as long as you remain unfit to work. Or until the policy term ends, whichever comes first. However, to make premiums cheaper, most companies offer a “budget” option whereby benefits would get paid for a shorter period.
Usually between 2-5 years – to at least allow you to make alternative arrangements. In case it looks like you’ll get incapacitated for longer than that.
Like Life and Critical Illness Cover. These policies are underwritten based on your health and lifestyle at the time you apply. All income protection policies get written on a single life basis.
Similar in many ways to Income Protection, you are covered by these policies if made unemployed. Benefits get usually linked to your mortgage and other costs (rather than necessarily your wages). It would usually be paid one month “in arrears” after a successful claim.
These policies only get underwritten at the time of a claim. Rather than at the outset, which can sometimes mean there can be some confusion/delay regarding whether demand would get met.
They are a useful safety net if you get made long-term unemployed. But be sure to check the details of how/when any unemployment benefits would get paid out. As it may be that you would have returned to work before any monies become due.
Probably the least common of the “mortgage protection” type policies. However, these can often be valuable, particularly for those with young families in Birmingham. These plans can get taken to cover Life and Critical Illness and get underwritten on the application.
Unlike the traditional forms of policy or instead, pay out a lump sum. The covers would pay an annual or monthly income for the remainder of the term of the plan. Thus, it can replace the payment of the primary breadwinner for several years.
Dependent upon a particular client’s circumstances. Because of this would usually be written on a level or basis. Or an index-linked basis designed to keep up with inflation.
Whether you are a First Time Buyer in Birmingham, a Buy to Let Landlord, someone looking to Remortgage in Birmingham, insurance is always hugely beneficial.
Many people have different policies, and it would be wrong to think of these as an “either/or” choice. You can have more than one kind of Mortgage Protection Insurance.
In any case, affordability plays a massive part in the real world while it would be fantastic to cover every Mortgage Protection Insurance type.
A good Mortgage Advisor in Birmingham like us can tailor the type of cover to be the most suitable combination to your family’s priority and budget.
Suppose you do take more than one policy, your Mortgage & Protection Advisor in Birmingham. Typically, we would usually place all the covers with one provider. To help save you the additional policy administration charges which individual policies carry.
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UK Moneyman Limited is Registered in England, No. 6789312 | Registered Address: 10 Consort Court, Hull, HU9 1PU.
Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
We are entered on the Financial Services Register No. 627742 at www.register.fca.org.uk
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Birminghammoneyman.com & Birminghammoneyman are trading styles of UK Moneyman Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
UK Moneyman Limited is Registered in England, No. 6789312 | Registered Address: 10 Consort Court, Hull, HU9 1PU.
Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
We are entered on the Financial Services Register No. 627742 at www.register.fca.org.uk
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