On 7 May 2019, the UK Financial Conduct Authority published a report it had commissioned by Revealing Reality on the way consumers buy regulated mortgages without advice.
There’s some interesting findings from the research including:
– execution-only customers generally understood they wouldn’t receive any advice on the mortgage;
– there was a lack of understanding (both for advised and non-advised sales) of the documentation given to customers;
– the difference between an advised and a non-advised sale was not generally understood;
– repetition helps make sure the customer understands the message;
– customers don’t like the look and feel of disclosure documents; and
– plain English, bullet points and Q&As, help get your message across better.
If you’re drafting mortgage documentation, this is likely to be a helpful bit of research. Depending on the outcome of Brexit, there may be an opportunity to simplify some of the documentation and procedures to tackle some of the problems found in this research.