Hybrid agent Yopa has announced the launch of an in-house mortgage proposition, Scout Financial Services.
It is headed by Neil Weston, who is now head of financial services at Yopa and was previously its national sales trainer. Before joining Yopa, he was with Connells.
Weston said: “With Scout we’re offering a one-off lifetime fee, meaning we can support our customers through every stage of their financial lives.
“As well as mortgages, our brokers are able to offer additional services such as life insurance, critical illness cover and income protection.
“This is an exciting time for Yopa as we venture into the financial services space and look for new ways to improve customer experience.”
The service currently has four brokers, but plans to have ten by the end of next March.
They will be based in Yopa’s contact centres in Watford and Hinckley and will be available during the week from 8am to 7pm, and on Saturdays between 9am and 5pm.
Anyone with a YopaHub account can access the service, meaning potential customers do not have to be a buyer or seller through Yopa.
A spokesperson for Yopa said that there is no fixed price for the one-off lifetime fee mentioned by Weston, and that fees are flexible depending on the needs of the individual.
The spokesperson said that Scout is a completely independent company which is a subsidiary of Yopa.
Asked if there would be any pressure for buyers to use the service, the spokesperson said: “There will be absolutely no pressure, but using the service will make things simpler for customers.
“We will of course always pass on all offers, regardless of who is arranging the mortgage.
“We are incredibly proud of the transparency offered by Yopa through the YopaHub – our sellers can see all offers as soon as they come in.”
Comments (10)
I remember when Your Move offered a lifetime fee to their clients. Then changed their mind, hoped people had forgotten and tried to charge them again. Then changed the rule and said it was the lifetime of the client being in the same property, not the client’s lifetime!
Big money in FS and it is about time Yopa got on the gravy train, I cannot believe it has taken them so long.
If a “national” firm offered me (a mortgage brokerage with just 5 brokers) a contract to offer mortgage advice to their buyers and sellers, I’d be very worried that we couldn’t give the service level agreement to them to be able to cope with the work………. In this instance, I’d be more worried we wouldn’t survive as a business on the lack of leads methinks!
The lifetime guarantee offered by that outfit who had a load of tarmac left over from a job round the corner and will do your drive for £50 is likely to have more longevity.
Why offer a lifetime service when you won’t be trading long enough
“With Scout we’re offering a one-off lifetime fee…”
Which, if referring to the lifetime of the customer, and dependent on the actual fee being charged, could work out quite cheap.
If, on the other hand it is referring to what some might think to be an extremely limited lifetime left for Scout/YODA before they shrivel and fade away into the same oblivion that has claimed Tepilo, eMoov, Hatched, HouseNetwork, Estates Direct etc, could, in his own inimitable words,
“Work out expensive to be very!”
“With Scout we’re offering a one-off lifetime fee, meaning we can support our customers through every stage of their financial lives.
You cannot guarantee to get someone a mortgage in the future!!!
They are probably going to charge a one-off large upfront fee added to the loan (incurring interest) then you’ll be lucky to hear from them again!
We offer a one off lifetime fee ourselves, but we don’t have the massive overheads required to service a massive corporate agent……… By the sounds of it, neither do Scout!
Doomed
Thought these lot had gone under…. can’t keep up with these FSBO companies anymore.
A national company with just 4 brokers looking to increase to the heady heights of 10 …. speak volumes how little business YOPA are doing.