Aggregation chief flags broker stress, turnaround times

“Nobody has come out in any of these reports and mentioned the stress factor on brokers,” Ms Sale said.

“Mortgage brokers are on call 24/7. Then there is the emotional impact on a client,” she said.

“If a bank makes a mistake or turnaround times blow out, where will that fall on? It falls squarely on the broker. Does Sedgwick lie in bed at night and worry about a client potentially losing their deposit because of a 21-day turnaround time? That’s stress.”

The report made a number of observations about broker commissions and comes as ASIC prepares its own review of broker remuneration.

Ms Sale said that she believes ASIC’s review, unlike the Sedgwick Review commissioned by Australian banks, will take “all components” into consideration before finalising its report.

Over the last 12 months ASIC has undertaken extensive investigations and collected data from lenders, aggregators and brokers. The FBAA recently revealed that ASIC has been granted an extension by the government due to the sheer magnitude of data gathered.

“I believe that ASIC are taking note of the people in the industry that are there on a daily basis,” Ms Sale said.

“Mortgage brokers do a magnificent job. They don’t just go into a branch each morning and go home at night and not worry about anything. There are human emotions and stress involved,” she said.

“We are a profession. It’s not like the old days. The more people who write these reports realise that, the better off we’ll be.”

[Related: Former Vow CEO weighs in on commission review]