Mortgage providers should ‘treat their customers fairly’

Mortgage providers should treat their customers fairly in line with the industry guidelines introduced by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), according to one expert.

Peter O’Donovan, mortgage manager for Bestinvest, is convinced of the importance of the FSA’s treating customers fairly advice, in light of the number of different home loan deals available in the UK.

Many thousands of families are struggling to cope with their mortgage-related debt management issues and Mr O’Donovan insists that there is a responsibility on financial service firms to inform their customers as fully as possible of their options.

“It’s really important to make sure the customer understands exactly why you’re recommending a particular product, or why you think that they should look at certain variations,” he said.

“This is particularly true for first-time buyers who have no idea [of what is best for them],” he added.

Fewer mortgage deals are being approved in the UK as a result of a number of rises in the base rate of interest and a tightening of lending criteria in recent months, according to the assessment of the Council of Mortgage Lenders.