Our Mortgage and Insurance Services & Costs

The Financial Conduct Authority

The Mortgage Fixer is an Appointed Representative of The Lending Channel Ltd which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA regulates financial services in the UK and you can check our authorisation and permitted activities on the Financial Services Register by visiting the FCA’s website www.fca.org.uk/firms/systems-reporting/register.  Our Financial Services Register number is 626787.

Our Services

For first charge mortgages we are independent mortgage advisers and we will recommend a mortgage product that is suitable for you following an assessment of your personal needs and circumstances. This will include a detailed assessment of affordability.

We will consider all products and lenders that we have access to. This means we will not consider those lenders that are only available by you going direct to them.

We will not advise on bridging finance, second charge mortgages / secured loans and mortgages over non-residential / commercial premises.

Where you are increasing your borrowing, we will consider the merits of both a new first charge mortgage (remortgage) or a further advance from your existing lender. However, we will only consider a further advance where we are able to deal directly with the lender on your behalf.

It may be in your best interests to explore other available options and look at further alternative forms of unsecured borrowings such as a personal loan, as these may be more appropriate for your circumstances.

For non-investment protection contracts we are an intermediary and will act on your behalf when providing advice and making our personal recommendations to you. We will do this based on a fair and personal analysis of insurers for term assurance, income protection and critical illness cover.

For general insurance contracts we are an intermediary and will act on your behalf when recommending an insurer based on your demands and needs from a fair analysis of the market. The insurers we consider will be listed to you when we carry out our research. It will be your responsibility to ensure the policy meets your demands and needs for building and/or contents, private medical insurance, and accident sickness and unemployment cover.

The Costs of our Service

For arranging Non-Complex Mortgages* we will not charge a fee for providing advice and submitting your mortgage application.

*Applicants meet mainstream criteria, which will include a clean credit profile, standard residential property and straightforward income.

For arranging Complex Mortgages** we will typically charge a fee of £250 for providing advice and submitting your mortgage application.  This fee is payable when the application is ready to be submitted.

**Applicants do not meet mainstream criteria, which will include an adverse credit profile, non-standard property, complicated income, ex-pats, debt consolidation, more than 2 applicants, guarantor / joint borrower sole proprietor, buy to let mortgages in both personal name and limited company name. This list is not exhaustive.

For arranging Product Transfers and Mortgage Reviews we will not charge a fee for providing advice and submitting your mortgage application.

For arranging Self-Build Mortgages we will charge an upfront application fee of £250 and a 1% broker fee on offer for providing advice and submitting your mortgage application.  

We will also receive and retain any commission paid by the lender after your mortgage completes. The amount of any commission will be confirmed by the lender in their illustration document.

Refund of Fees

Please note our fee will still be charged should the lender reject your mortgage application due to you not disclosing any material information about your personal situation. It should also be noted that we do not provide a refund should you decide not to proceed with the mortgage after a formal mortgage offer has been presented to you.

Non-Investment Protection and General Insurance Contracts

We will not charge a fee to arrange or provide advice on these types of plans as we will receive commission from the provider / insurer after the policy has been placed on risk.

Our Ethical Policy

We are committed to providing the highest standard of advice and service possible. The interest of our customers is paramount to us and to achieve this we have designed our systems and procedures to place you at the heart of our business. In doing so, we will:

be open, honest and transparent in the way we deal with you;

not place our interests above yours;

communicate clearly, promptly and without jargon;

seek your views and perception of our dealings with you to ensure it meets your expectations or to identify any improvements required.

Cancellation Rights

Certain protection and insurance contracts allow you the right to cancel after a contract has been put in force. Prior to you entering into a contract of protection or insurance we will provide you with specific details should this apply to include: its duration; conditions, practical instructions and any costs for exercising it, together with the consequences of not exercising it.

Complaints

If you wish to register a complaint, please write to:

The Complaints Department

2/1 King James VI, Business Centre, Friarton Road,

Perth PH2 8DY

Or call us directly on 01738 583008.

A summary of our internal complaints handling procedure is available on request. If we cannot settle your complaint you may be entitled to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service at www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk or by contacting them on 0800 023 4567.

Financial Services Compensation Scheme

If you make a complaint and we are unable to meet our liabilities, you may be entitled to compensation from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

Further information about the limits applicable to the different product types is available from the FSCS at http://www.fscs.org.uk/what-we-cover/products

Client Verification

We may be required to verify the identity of our clients, to obtain information as to the purpose and nature of the business which we conduct on their behalf, and to ensure that the information we hold is up-to-date. For this purpose we may use electronic identity verification systems and we may conduct these checks from time to time throughout our relationship, not just at the beginning.

Law

This agreement is governed and shall be construed in accordance with the Law of Scotland and the parties shall submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Scottish Courts.

Force Majeure

The Mortgage Fixer shall not be in breach of this Agreement and shall not incur any liability to you if there is any failure to perform its duties due to any circumstances reasonably beyond its control.

Termination

The authority to act on your behalf may be terminated at any time without penalty by either party giving 7 days notice in writing to that effect to the other, but without prejudice to the completion of transactions already initiated. Any transactions effected before termination and a due proportion of any period charges for services shall be settled to that date.