"Clients can be surprisingly open and willing to converse with advisers on what might be the best possible route for them in order to fulfil that need."
We talk a lot in this market about the cross-selling and diversification opportunities that arise with each and every client a mortgage adviser deals with.
Not, as some might believe, in order to sell them products they do not need – what would be the point of that – but through carrying out a full review of their wants and needs and ascertaining where they might be short or where they have a requirement which isn’t yet met or needs updating.
Unsurprisingly, we tend to focus on those products which are the other side of the mortgage coin – namely protection and general insurance – which are often the ‘must haves’, but there are also other areas where the client may have no previous experience and is therefore looking for advice and a recommendation.
This, of course, would cover conveyancing – as you might expect me to highlight – given the large number of clients who will come to a mortgage adviser and have little, or no idea about what a conveyancer does, why they need one, or where they should actually source this service from.
Hence, why businesses like Broker Conveyancing exist and we have spent many years talking to advisers about the ready opportunity here, and why they are often in the very best position to provide that advice, given how trusted they are by those individuals.
It’s something of a cliché but if the client is trusting you with, what is likely to be the single biggest financial product of their lives, why wouldn’t they trust you to help them find the conveyancer who is going to help them complete.
There are however other legal areas which are sometimes overlooked by the advisory community, but where there is just as much of a need, and again where clients can be surprisingly open and willing to converse with advisers on what might be the best possible route for them in order to fulfil that need.
One of those areas is around wills, and while it is clearly not the most ‘upbeat’ conversation to be having with, for example, young first-time buyers who are just about to get on the ladder for the first time, it is clearly a very important aspect of buying a home, owning that asset, and ensuring their wishes are going to be followed should the worst happen.
And, it’s not as if, there isn’t a very real need for action in this area. Last year, the National Will Register conducted research into wills amongst the UK public, and found less than half of all adults in the country have made one.
The number was 44% but there was also a real discrepancy between women and men; with the latter much less likely to have a will in place (just 39%), while 50% of men have that document written.
There are however other issues to contend with, even for those who do have a will. Very often, and for a variety of reasons, the will they do have is either invalid, wrong, or not suitable, and this is particularly relevant for those who are making big life decisions, or for whom life has moved on quickly and their will has not kept pace with that.
As mentioned, it’s not a generally nice thing to have to think about, but it’s likely that people will be much more open to having that conversation with a trusted professional, especially at a point when they are, quite literally, getting their house in order.
Of course, as an adviser you’re unlikely to have the time, inclination or expertise to deal with this need yourself, but this shouldn’t stop you from being able to introduce clients to a trusted will writer, who can get the job done, provide that peace of mind, plus you also benefit financially from that introduction.
Wills are one of the services we offer to those advisers who use Broker Conveyancing, and those who’ve used us have outlined just how easy the conversation was with the client, and how quickly the referral could be made, in order to make sure they get that legal paperwork in order and have the clarity they, and their family, require going forward.
It's never likely to be one of the topics of conversation you are most looking forward to with a client, but by having it, you at the very least plant that seed in the mind if they don’t have a will, and at best, this gives them the motivation to do something about it. The fact you can offer that service immediately should hopefully provide them with everything they need to get that sorted.
