Case Study 1
- Case Background
- Mr & Mrs Martin are both aged 75 and requested a financial review with their financial adviser to see how they could supplement their pension income. During this review, their adviser noticed they had an existing equity release plan taken out ten years ago with an equity release interest rate of 7.49% per annum. Their adviser was not licensed to provide equity release advice, but deemed the interest rate seemed high. He therefore contacted the Equity Release Partner helpline who were able to confirm that there were lower interest rates available in the market & accordingly we arranged one of our nationwide equity release advisers to contact Mr & Mrs Martin to discuss this straight away.
- Adviser Approach
- Or adviser phoned Mr & Mrs Martin the same day and spoke to them about what they were trying to achieve. They mentioned the financial review service being conducted & the need to create better living standards in retirement. Our adviser liaised with the IFA, to develop a retirement income strategy together. Following meeting the clients, he was able to quickly confirm that not only would be able to achieve a much lower rate, but also release more capital from their home, to help supplement their pension income. He then obtained a Letter of Authority. This would then enable him to contact their existing equity release lender to obtain a current redemption value & potential penalty. He then compared this with their existing deal This would involve outlining the savings in interest rate, the level of future interest savings, but also explain the set up costs & the process involved. The Martin’s were delighted in being able to see an improvement in retirement lifestyle & saving interest by obtaining a lower interest rate.
- Outcome
- The Martin’s equity release application was quickly processed by our dedicated support team based in Cheshire. Mr & Mrs Martin opted for a Drawdown Lifetime Mortgage plan, initially to receive an initial lump sum of £25000.00, with a further £20,000 in reserve for future use when required. This was all completed within 6 weeks of the introducers initial telephone call into the Equity Release Partners helpline. Throughout the processing of the application, the IFA Introducer was kept informed at the key stages of the equity release process, enabling the IFA to keep his advice in tune with the date of the equity release completion.
Case Study 2
- Case Background
- Mr & Mrs Robinson are aged 68 and 65 have lived in their home for thirty years. They are both retired, have no mortgage and feel their house is valued around £350,000. They contacted their mortgage broker as they want to add on a conservatory now they are spending more time at home. Their mortgage broker was not able to source them a conventional mortgage due to their age, so uses the calculators on the Equity Release Partners website and confirms to them that they would be able to release around £105,000 from their home on a lifetime mortgage. Mr & Mrs Robinson are keen to find out more and he refers their details through using the online equity release referral form.
- Adviser Approach
- The Equity Release Supermarket adviser rings the Robinson’s the same day and discusses the various options available from the whole of the equity release market. Our adviser arranges to meet with them in the comfort of their own home to discuss their needs and plans in more detail. Following this discussion the Robinson’s ask that our adviser completes his research. He shows quotes from the two lifetime mortgage plans that they are interested in so that they are able to discuss this with their family. Our adviser arranged to call them after they had time to think matters through and the Robinson’s confirm that they want to proceed with the Aviva Flexi plan that allows them to pay 10% each year of the original capital borrowed. The adviser had previously confirmed that they could potentially repay the loan in 15 to 16 years so this would protect their children’s inheritance.
- Outcome
- The equity release adviser arranged a further visit to their home to help them complete their paperwork. The application was quickly processed by our dedicated support team and Mr & Mrs Robinson received an initial release of £50,000 to pay for their new conservatory and new car, but also had a further reserve of £55,000 should they need further funds in the future.
Case Study 3
- Case Background
- Mr & Mrs Dunn aged 70 and 62 have three grandchildren that they want to help with their university education. They have a house worth £420,000 with a small mortgage remaining of £30,000. They initially approached their financial adviser who was unable to help as neither Mr & Mrs Dunn were working. He contacted the Equity Release Partner helpline who confirmed that they could release around £100,000 depending on the type of plan that they opted for, however the small mortgage would be need to be paid in full out of the release. He confirmed this with his clients and they were happy to proceed on this basis and contacted the Partners helpline again who arranged for an equity release adviser to contact the Dunn’s.
- Adviser Approach
- Our adviser phoned Mr & Mrs Dunn the same day and spoke to them about what they were trying to achieve and also discussed the different he plans across the whole of the market. The Dunn’s preferred to deal with matters over the phone and our adviser agreed to contact them the next day when they would have their mortgage paperwork to hand. After going through matters in more detail our adviser researched the whole of the market for the most appropriate plan which offered an initial release of £60,000 with a further reserve of £36,000. Our adviser followed this up with a further call going into details of the plan who confirmed that they wanted to proceed. The application paperwork was issued to the Dunn’s for their completion and the Equity Release Supermarket adviser called them to ensure that they had no problems with completing the forms.
- Outcome
- The application was quickly processed by our dedicated support team and Mr & Mrs Dunn received an initial release of £60,000 within 6 weeks of their initial call. This paid off their existing mortgage and also gave each of their grandchildren a lump sum of £10,000. They also had the option of utilising the cash reserve facility should they ever need further funds in the future.
Case Study 4
- Case Background
- Mrs Honey, aged 73, reached the end of her interest only mortgage term. She was initially allowed 12 months to remortgage or sell the property by her lender. Despite several requests for an extension these were turned down. In addition to an outstanding mortgage of £74,000 paying £357.00 per month, she had credit card debt of £22,000, paying £386.00 per month. Mrs Honey lived in a 4 bedroom house in Surrey valued at £520,000.
- Adviser Approach
- The Equity Release Supermarket adviser met Mrs Honey at her home with her son and the introducer partner. At the meeting it was clear to our adviser, that Mrs Honey did not qualify for a conventional mortgage due to affordability. She only had a widow’s pension of £1,080 plus state pension, but was not entitled to any additional state benefits. She had completely exhausted her savings, leading to the increasing credit card debt to pay some general bills and essential purchases. Her son was no longer able to support her. Her objectives were primarily to clear the outstanding mortgage and pay off the credit cards to improve cash-flow and if possible have money on deposit to use as and when she needed it. Our adviser recommended that Mrs Honey only took the amount she needed to complete and meet her immediate objectives and to reduce interest roll up set a cash reserve to make cash withdraws as and when needed. The adviser was able to show to by doing it this way she would minimise the effect of interest roll up. He was also able to show in respect of cash-flow Mrs Honey would be £743 per month better off.
- Outcome
- A drawdown lifetime mortgage with an initial release of £106,000 was recommended with an additional cash reserve of £86,000 to withdraw further funds as and when Mrs Honey needed it. The application was submitted to the lender who in conjunction with the clients equity release solicitor repaid the mortgage directly with the surplus funds to clear the credit cards passing to Mrs Honey.