Recent research has revealed that 41% of homeowners described the process of obtaining a mortgage as stressful.
According to Trussle, jargon and paperwork were cited as the two most common contributors to this associated stress, with consumers stating that there was a need for a change. The survey found that just under three quarters (73%) of those asked said a legal requirement for lenders should be introduced, enabling their outstanding balances to be accessible online. 70% said that mortgage statements should be available to download.
An experiment also conducted an experiment involving a local conveyancing firm and one of the Big Six lenders. Trussle discovered that in order to complete the purchase of a home, the mortgage customer had to deal with 219 sheets of paper; if this figure is applied to the 1.5 million new mortgage customers in the UK last year, this would total around 328 million sheets of paper.
Commenting on the findings was Ishaan Malhi. Trussle’s founder and CEO stated: “I’ve experienced the frustration of struggling to secure a mortgage first-hand. There‘s too much jargon, too much complexity, and not enough transparency. Millions of people lose out not only financially, but emotionally as a result. Your mental health is no less important than your financial or physical health, so I’d like to see modern brands working hard to reduce the friction and stress of their products and services.
“The mortgage sector has traditionally been one of the worst offenders, with 40% of borrowers finding the process stressful and a third sitting on the wrong mortgage, collectively spending £15bn a year too much on interest as a result.
“If service providers focus on making the overall user experience simpler, more intuitive, and accessible, hurdles will be reduced and many people are going to save money in the process.”
