This edition of Focus On features Tim Wellard from LiveMore Mortgages. Read on to learn about Tim, his role on the Provider Forum and thoughts about the challenges facing the sector.
Tell us about yourself and your role with the Council. At the start of 2024 I became the Senior Proposition Manager at LiveMore, having joined in March 2022 as Product Manager for Mortgages. Previously I worked in product at a bank for over five years. I started my career as a graduate at a major utilities company and left nine years later holding a product development manager role having learnt about the importance of understanding the customer, learning this through both insight and analytical specialist roles. In my spare time I’m a keen cyclist.
My role is to develop the proposition supporting mortgage brokers and financial advisers with well-designed product solutions, that deliver excellent consumer outcomes in an increasingly complex market. I work with colleagues and LiveMore’s strategic partners to deliver a whole of market proposition for later life clients. As LiveMore’s representative, I see the Council as a key strategic partner.
When and why did LiveMore join the Council and what have the benefits been to date? It’s a very exciting time for LiveMore and the later life lending market in general, and it’s great to work in an environment that takes a fully holistic approach to later life lending.
In July 2023, LiveMore expanded its offering to include equity release, specifically launching a lifetime mortgage product, to broaden our appeal and services in the retirement financing market. We joined the Council at a similar time and felt the benefit of their experience straightaway, when they reviewed our product guide, and terms and conditions. We have experienced a positive introduction and engagement with Council members. Importantly, the Council has updated standards for advisers following Consumer Duty and introduced product standards for hybrids too.
Please explain the role of the Provider Forum and its motives for 2024 and beyond. The Provider Forum encourages lenders to work together to overcome challenges for the sector and to drive innovation, which in turn provides better customer outcomes. From a LiveMore stand point we are keen to support customers across all solutions, standard mortgages and equity release too, whether customers are 50 or 90+.
As explained by the Council in Q1, we look to the rest of 2024 with confidence and are starting to see the market return to growth. Structural drivers of the later life lending sector are only due to intensify over the coming years and Council members are ready to support clients as they make sustainable long-term choices about their finances.
Please could you share your views on the opportunities and challenges in the sector? The volatile economy is a great challenge for lenders and brokers alike. It hasn’t been easy for brokers to juggle all the multiple interest rate changes, for example.
Consumer Duty regulations will make sure that across the market we all rise to the challenge and make sure we are consistently delivering the best possible outcomes for our customers, particularly our older customers. While it’s a better market for them, challenges like ageism and vulnerability are ongoing.
The biggest barrier to success for equity release brokers may well be awareness of the range of product options available in the later life market. This is key going forward and aligns with the Consumer Duty obligations by ensuring the most appropriate product has been selected for the customer based on their individual circumstances.
To help address the challenges faced by brokers new to the wider later-life market, we have invested a lot in technology, with our affordability calculator and product matching engine. Lenders need to understand brokers’ pain points and work out how to address them. Our focus for 2024 is technology, and other useful resources and learning materials for brokers.
What would you say to any member / individual interested in joining one of the Council forums and in particular the Provider Forum?
Working together in the Provider Forum is a great place to share and develop better consumer outcomes and support the smoother workings of the market, albeit with healthy consumer-beneficial competition between providers.
Personally, my big push is to develop our proposition, enhancing existing and developing new customer products and solutions in the later life space. Membership of the Council is one great way for members and individuals to gain great insights, education and up to date knowledge to support their professional development, widen their network, all in the pursuit of serving clients in later life with the best solutions suited to their needs.
- The views of contributors are not necessarily shared by the Council.
