July 11, 2019

Member News, Awards and Innovations

Crown Equity Release

Crown Equity Release continues to offer its equity release reversion plan to homeowners in England. Crown’s investor base are prepared to look at all types of property of different construction methods; they will also consider ex-local authority property and flats whatever the lease length.

A new innovation is our split payment plan whereby the vendor receives a cash lump sum and a series of monthly payments over a fixed number of months. At the end of the payment period another part of the property’s value may be sold to finance another series of payments. Should the vendors die during the payment period any monthly payments due are paid to the estate out of the proceeds of sale of the property.

Crown is pleased to report that the number of enquiries for these products has increased substantially in January 2017.

 

Pure Retirement

It’s a time of growth at Pure Retirement as we are once again recruiting for Property Underwriters, Mortgage Processors and Marketing personnel to join our rapidly expanding team, ensuring we’re on hand to offer all the support needed by our registered advisers for the day to day of their business.

We were delighted at the end of last year to win the award for Best Provider for Adviser Support at the Equity Release Awards, and thrilled again to be shortlisted for Best Equity Release Lender in 2017’s Mortgage Strategy Awards. Providing an exceptional service to advisers and customers alike is something very close to our heart at Pure, so a very big thank you to all who voted for us, and following the successes of 2016, we have recently become a member of the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

Paul Carter shares his thoughts on last year, looking back at the developments in Equity Release in an end-of-year Mortgage Solutions feature. And going forward, Pure are proud to be sponsoring Lifetime Mortgage Insight Magazine from The Premier Equity Release Club. Launched this January, it will be published quartlery, with articles, information and commentary from the leading experts in the industry.

We will be at various events across the country in the next 2 months, run by the Premier Equity Release Club and the Equity Release Club, with recent updates on our products and the bespoke marketing support we are now able to offer to our registered advisers. And we will also be exhibiting at Glasgow’s FS Expo on March 21st, demonstrating our latest products and services and the benefits they can provide. See our latest updates for further details of upcoming events.

 

East Devon Law

Legal Eye awards first Quality Standard to CILEx regulated professional

The Council is delighted to note that Legal Eye, a subsidiary of ULS Technology has announced that one of our member firms, East Devon Law, the practice of Chartered Legal Executive Ian Hunt, is the first CILEx regulated lawyer to achieve the Legal Eye Quality Standard (LEQS).

The Legal Eye Quality Standard is the only assessment scheme which spans the three legal regulators i.e. the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA), Council of Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) and Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx).

Ian has over 24 years’ experience as a qualified Private Client Lawyer and is a long standing full member of The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners and an accredited full member Solicitors for the Elderly holding the SFE Older Care in Practice Award.  East Devon Law , is a member of the Council since April 2015 and  being a member of the Trading Standards approved legal service provider has also been awarded the highest rated legal service provider in the South West.

Paul Saunders, Managing Director of Legal Eye says “We are delighted for East Devon Law to be awarded the Legal Eye Quality Standard. We work in an environment where lenders, professionals and clients fully recognise accreditations which demonstrate quality and it is great to see a professional from the CILEx regulatory body.”

Ian Hunt, Principal of East Devon Law says “Quality standards are crucial to the future success of East Devon Law and the high quality service we offer our clients.  I am very proud of my team and also to be able to update our website and literature with the LEQS logo with the certificate proudly displayed in our office alongside our other accreditations.”

Victoria Hurdley, CILEx Director of Development says “I congratulate East Devon Law on becoming the first Chartered Legal Executive led practice to be awarded the Legal Eye Quality Standard Achievement.  This award not only recognises all of the hard work of Ian Hunt and his colleagues but, also, exemplifies the professional conduct, innovation and dedication to the delivery of consistent, quality assured, legal services of CILEx members across England & Wales”.

 

The Big Book of Benefits

Gareth Morgan, Ferret Information Systems, producers of Fintal who are members of the Council, together with a colleague, are publishing a new book on benefits, money and older people, a subject that can be confusing and complex both for the adviser and the consumer. The book, The Big Book of BenefitsMoney and Older People 2017/18, however, has been designed to be accessible and easy to read.

The book being published in May covers benefits for older people in great detail, including state pensions, disability benefits and means tested benefits.

It also covers other areas including:

  • equity release
  • pension freedoms and their effects
  • social care charging and contributions
  • grants for home adaptations
  • practical issues around appointees and deputies

If you are interested in pre-ordering a copy (expected to cost £35), then please direct all requests to Gareth at [email protected].

 

Age Partnership

Age Partnership Acquires Web Technology Business

Retirement specialist Age Partnership acquires website development and optimisation business The Marketing Lab further strengthening their growing in-house digital team.

The acquisition sees The Marketing Lab’s seven strong team of developers and project managers joining the leading equity release specialists; led by the former managing director Dan Otterburn who will now join Age Partnership’s senior team as head of web development – a newly created role.

Speaking of the acquisition Age Partnership’s chief executive Tim Loy said; “We have been a client of The Marketing Lab’s for a number of years and during this time our focus on our own in-house digital capabilities has grown. We recognise the importance of digital technologies not only for our business, but also for our customers.

“The acquisition of The Marketing Lab allows us to further develop our business processes, provide a smoother online journey for over 1 million people who visit our site every year and improve the technological capabilities of our website. We are constantly evolving our technologies in order to ensure that our customers continue to receive the best possible service throughout every interaction that they have with us.”

The Marketing Lab, which was based in Hebden Bridge will keep their office and will continue to work with their key clients, alongside the Age Partnership development and optimisation work.

Dan Otterburn, former MD of The Marketing Lab said: “Throughout the 12 years that I have worked as a supplier for Age Partnership they have always been extremely forward thinking in their approach to digital technologies. When they approached me regarding their interest in purchasing The Marketing Lab I looked at it as a great opportunity for my staff to really focus on their strengths, whilst working with the Age Partnership team to achieve technical excellence – something that we’re all very much looking forward to getting stuck into.

“The Marketing Lab’s key clients will continue to receive the same high level of service and quality of work that they have become accustomed to, the only difference is that this will now be done under the umbrella of Age Partnership by a team that has doubled in size.”

Age Partnership have a strategy of becoming a technological leader within the financial services sector and expect the acquisition of The Marketing Lab to bring them one step closer to that goal.

Key Appointment at Age Partnership

Leading equity release specialist Age Partnership has appointed mortgage industry guru John Malone as an ambassador to further develop the company’s Partnerships proposition.

John brings with him over 50 years’ worth of industry knowledge, having worked across all sectors, including lending, insurance, estate agency, broking and distribution. John’s dynamic approach has seen him revolutionise the mortgage industry with his forward thinking business models.

Speaking of the appointment Age Partnership’s chief executive Tim Loy said; “We are delighted to welcome John to our team, it is fantastic to have someone of his stature on board. John joins a team that has already more than doubled its referrals since the beginning of last year, and I’m sure that with John’s help they will be pushing on to new heights in the near future.”

John will also be providing strategic insight to support the growth of the company’s mainstream mortgage operation, which it successfully launched in 2016.

John Malone went on to say: “When Age Partnership approached me about the role I knew that I’d be joining a company that is at the forefront of equity release market growth. I was delighted to accept the position of ambassador and join a business that puts their customers at the heart of everything they do.

“I’m thoroughly looking forward to taking up the new position and working with the rest of the Partnership team to grow the department and help Age Partnership to further expand the market, which firmly looks set to fulfil its huge potential.

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