UK lenders allowed to dual price

The UK's financial regulator, the Financial Services Authority, says it will not intervene in how lenders price and distribute their mortgage products, including allowing the practice of dual-pricing.

Brokers have complained that dual-pricing (offering one price via brokers and another one via a branch) does not serve the best interests of consumers.

Chief executive of mortgage broker Email Mortgages, Michael White was reported in Introducer Today.co.uk as saying:  In general, most would accept that mortgage advice is a positive service that consumers benefit from. However, dual-pricing does not have consumer's long-term interests at heart. It is only likely to contract the avenues from which consumers can seek advice."

However FSA spokesman Robin Gordon-Walker said mortgage lenders were not obliged to deal through brokers and that "how they chose to price and distribute their products is a commercial matter for them".

"If certain lenders decide to offer their direct customers cheaper deals, we do not see that customers' best interests would be served by preventing this, said Walker.

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