January 27, 2020

A day in the life: Jane King from Ash Ridge

Media favourite Jane King talks about her role in the ITV Tonight equity release special

Travelling up from London to Salford on a late one Sunday evening, courtesy of ITV, I was looking forward to the following day when we would be filming the ‘Tonight’ programme. This was my first project for ITV. I have done several guest appearances on BBC TV and radio but this had most been live. The Tonight programme was to be pre-recorded so would be more relaxed although would take a lot longer. I was told to allow the whole day.

The Tonight producers were looking to do a programme on equity release and in particular lifetime mortgages. They told me that this type of subject would suit their viewing demographic which was mainly older viewers. They wanted to take an unbiased view and thought it would be useful to have an independent qualified adviser appear who would be familiar with how lifetime mortgages work and could chat through any queries or questions a potential borrower may have.

The following morning my taxi struggled to find the address of what turned out to be a non-descript black low rise building which appears to be in the middle of a construction site where hundreds of new apartments were being built all around it. Fortunately, an ITV staff-member was outside waiting to meet me and waved frantically at my driver. Inside the building, where we were to film was amazing. It was set up as a fully functional bar (which I was told actually had a licence to sell alcohol) together with lounge furniture such as table, chairs, pot plants etc and this was to be our set. Naturally, it was full of cameras, sound equipment and other tech but sitting across the room around the table were the three ladies who were also taking part.

Pat, Pam and Frances were all in their 80s and proud of it. They told me that their local Townswomens Guild meeting had been gatecrashed by ITV looking for some volunteers to take part and so they did. They were very interested in the subject and wanted to know more and they were very chatty and extrovert, so I don’t think we were in any danger of running out of conversation.

The programme started with Pat, Pam and Frances being asked what they knew about the subject and how they thought it worked. It seemed to me that the consensus was that lifetime mortgages had not really moved forward since the 1980s and 90s when they were unregulated and were clunky and inflexible with high interest rates. I was then interviewed chatting to the three ladies and explaining how these products had improved over the last few years with more lenders, flexible features and how regulated had made them more transparent. I also mentioned that there were now more providers in the market which had led to more competition which was good news for borrowers.

In between filming we chatted and the overriding concern was that all three ladies wanted to leave a decent inheritance to their children and grandchildren. However, they also wanted to have a reasonable quality of life in their old age and take some advantage of the wealth that they had in their homes.

Finally Pat, Pam and Frances were interviewed again to see if they had changed their view on lifetime mortgages and whether they were more or less likely to consider this in the future.  All said that they had learned a lot and that they felt much better informed and able to make a decision as to whether this was something they would consider. They all agreed that they should seek independent advice.

It was just one day out of my life, but if Pat, Pam and Frances were there only people who benefited from the entire thing, it was still well worth it.

This article was supplied by Jane King. Others who wish to be featured on the Council website and in its newsletter should contact to [email protected]

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