Trussle: COVID-19 a wakeup call for an industry that needs digitisation

Ian Larkin, chief executive of broker Trussle, said now is the time for the mortgage industry to automate more of the home financing journey after the disruption caused by coronavirus.

He noted that the buyers’ market has gone into shutdown as people are no longer allowed out to view houses, lenders are withdrawing their products, and the number of mortgage applications that lenders are able to deal with each day has been reduced.

However, while more customers want support from their lenders, many traditional plyers are unable to work remotely and lots of the call centres and back offices in India are shut.

Larkin said: “As the situation continues to escalate, it’s clear that the industry was not prepared to handle the impact of COVID-19. The situation we face in the mortgage market is hindered by an archaic mortgage process that’s in serious need of digitisation from end-to-end.

“The current, and rather sudden, lockdown has resulted in an end to physical valuations, and as a consequence, customers are having the door shut in their face as many lenders can no longer accept applications from borrowers with high LTVs.

“It’s clear that now is the time for us as an industry to automate more of the home financing journey and transform the way we serve our customers.

“That way we’ll be well prepared to work more cohesively and continue helping people achieve their home ownership dreams should we ever experience another unprecedented crisis.”

Trussle saw a 55% rise in remortgage customers in March, and expects the number to rise as people look to reduce mortgage payments.