7 Questions To Ask Any Broker Before You Use them:
1. Do they specialise in business and commercial finance?
Many brokers who claim they are specialists in commercial finance aren’t. Their expertise might be residential mortgages or buy-to-let, and they only offer commercial finance as an additional service.
Funding Track: We only arrange business and commercial finance. That’s it! And we’ve been doing it for over 25 years!
2. Are they regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)?
If not, don’t use them. If you’re not sure, ask for their FCA number or check the FCA register.
Funding Track: We are directly authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Our FCA number is: 740554
3. Are they members of the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers (NACFB)?
The NACFB is a nationally recognised trade organisation which has a membership of over 2,000 brokers.
To help protect you, NACFB members adhere to an industry recognised Code of Practice.
Our suggestion. If they’re not members of the NACFB don’t use them.
Funding Track: Our NACFB number is: M/0095/16
4. Do they have Professional Indemnity (PI) insurance?
If you use a broker who has PI insurance, you have the comfort of knowing you have recourse if something goes wrong.
To obtain PI cover, the insurance company will have examined the brokers credentials before agreeing to put a PI policy in place, which gives you additional “peace of mind”.
If your broker doesn’t have an up to date PI policy in place, don’t use them.
Funding Track: We have PI Insurance in place with Collegiate Underwriting
5. Are they Whole of Market?
A good commercial finance broker should be ‘whole of market’. In other words, they’re not tied to one lender or to a select panel of lenders.
Instead, they can research the whole lending market, and then provide you with all the options. That way, you know your broker has gone out to the whole marketplace and not just to their ‘favourite’ lender.
Funding Track: We have a panel of over 40 lenders we work with on a regular basis.
6. Can they provide you with case histories of recently completed deals?
A good broker will have done many deals just like yours. If you want to get a sense of ‘what they can do’, ask them to provide details of deals they have done in the past 6 months.
If you want more information, ask to speak to several of their clients – past and present.
That way you know that they really can do what they say they can do!
Funding Track: We have many delighted clients you can speak to if you want a recommendation.
7. Are they transparent about their costs?
The FCA requires finance brokers to provide their terms of business right at the very outset of the transaction.
The terms of business must include details of the fees the broker is charging to arrange the finance.
Be wary of using any broker who is “cagey” about telling you what they charge.
Funding Track: Part of our process includes providing you with a ‘Funding Roadmap’ which has a complete breakdown of our charges.