§ Mr. MacShaneTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the regulatory bodies which oversee the work of mortgage brokers who give advice on mortgages. [41617]
§ Mrs. Angela KnightFirms which sell, or offer advice on, mortgages which include an investment element, such as an endowment policy, have to be authorised by one of the Financial Services Act regulators, normally the Personal Investment Authority.
The banking ombudsman and the building societies ombudsman can also consider complaints about malpractice related to the selling of mortgages.
The mortgage lending industry is currently considering the possibility of producing a code of mortgage lending practice.
§ Mr. MacShaneTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the work of regulatory bodies which pursue cases of malpractice by mortgage brokers giving advice to the public. [41616]
§ Mrs. KnightThe performance of the Personal Investment Authority and other self-regulatory organisations is a matter for the Securities and Investment Board.
917WIn 1993–94, mortgages accounted for 8.9 per cent. of preliminary complaints to the banking ombudsman, and 10.65 per cent. of the complaints accepted for full investigation. Cases varied from those who claimed that banks had given poor advice, to those who were concerned about mistakes in the calculations of repayments or final redemption figures.
In 1994–95, mortgages constituted 56 per cent. of the preliminary complaints received by the building societies ombudsman, and 62 per cent. of the cases which came to the ombudsman for resolution after exhausting the society's own internal complaints procedure.