Interview Support is tops for Sam Whittlesea

A supportive role

Before he became a mortgage adviser, Sam Whittlesea had a different job: supporting troubled youngsters. He’s still supportive – of his clients and other brokers, as he tells Simon Meadows

Sam Whittlesea’s path into the mortgage industry was probably like that of few others.

“I worked with disadvantaged young people and families,” he explained, “with youth offending teams and career services, in schools and pupil referral units. I’d always been on that advice or mentoring side of things, and then when we had the financial crash, funding for support for young people dried up massively.

“I’d always been interested in finance. I luckily knew someone who was chief executive of a growing financial services company down in the South West. And he said, ‘Well, the average age in this industry is about 60. We really need to get in some young blood; do you want to come and work for us?’“

A DIFFERENT CHALLENGE

Nearly twelve years on, his work is challenging, but in a different way. He is owner of Whittlesea Mortgages, based in Bridgewater in Somerset. The business has grown by recommendation, rather than a large advertising budget, and it continues to expand. Its offering includes advice on remortgages, buy-to-let, and interest-only and portfolio mortgages.

“There is a huge market now,” Whittlesea said. “For consumers to have any idea what’s out there, or what choices they should make, it’s almost impossible, it’s so complex. Our average client, if there is such a thing, could equally be someone with fairly straightforward circumstances buying a house – nothing complicated – right through to someone with 20 properties, HMOs, the whole portfolio.

“I’ve never had anything that we’ve turned away from an adverse credit

Sam Whittlesea

history point of view. I know a lot of advisers aren’t keen on that sort of stuff, but, maybe because of my background, the more complicated stuff I find much more interesting and rewarding. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out and you’ve wasted days of research. But when you work them out, it’s brilliant, and the client really sees the value.”

PROTECTION IS VITAL

Whittlesea considers giving advice on financial protection products a vital part of his business, be it life insurance, critical illness or serious illness cover, income protection, or private medical insurance.

“I’m an absolute evangelist for protection; it’s not just an add-on,” he emphasised. “I had a very sad case with clients whose daughter became very ill with a rare form of brain cancer. But I had arranged critical illness cover for the parents, including children’s cover. Sadly, their daughter died – but they could stop work and have enough money in the bank from that claim to allow them to give their daughter a lot of time and a lot of care.”

LENDERS NEED TO COMMUNICATE

In terms of issues facing the market currently, Whittlesea believes lenders should improve their communication.

“They need to be managing their notice periods better – for rate changes, product changes, criteria changes – but also be much more realistic with themselves about how much business they can take on, pricing themselves appropriately so that they’re not getting themselves in a pickle from a processing point of view,” he said. “Work with us.”

BROKERS ARE VALUABLE

Whittlesea remains upbeat, identifying an opportunity for brokers’ reputations to be reappraised.

“Advice firms have got a real opportunity to be professional – to be financial advisers rather than just brokers – and make a difference and see a change in that perception of mortgage advice. You’ve got to be really open to looking at the widest possible range of lenders.”

The uncertainty over recent months has been overwhelming for some. Whittlesea has known advisers to quit.

“If you’re struggling – either just with all the stress of everything that’s going on with mortgage rates and lenders pulling rates and everything else and the clients getting upset – or because you’re not an expert in a particular type of mortgage,” he reasoned, “ask the mortgage adviser down the road, take them for a coffee, have a chat with them. Use them as a support mechanism.”

He concluded, “I make sure I am active. I try to make sure I’m getting outside, whether that’s walking my dog, going out on my bike, seeing my daughter, going out for a meal, or just getting away from it all. It’s brilliant. M I