Too many advisers are opting for lifetime mortgages before considering the client’s circumstances, argues Peter Welch, head of sales and distribution at Bridgewater Equity Release

One of the things that I’m acutely aware of working for a home reversion provider is to ensure advisers only recommend our product when it’s the appropriate choice for the client. For a reversion provider the ’emotional contract’ with the end customer is very different compared to that of a mortgage lender. Elderly customers trust us to take legal ownership of their house while they retain privacy and dignity, and remain living in their home. So the last thing a home reversion provider wants are customers who come to the realisation that another product would have better suited their needs.

This long preface is to ensure readers understand my starting position. Home reversions are not suitable for all customers but they are suitable for a lot more than the current market share would lead you to believe.

I’m getting increasingly frustrated by many advisers when making their recommendation discounting home reversions at the earliest opportunity and opting almost exclusively for the ‘easy sale’ of a lifetime mortgage.

I suppose this becomes magnified when the customers are choosing equity release products to repay debt. The analogy that springs to mind is one of an overweight patient seeking dieting advice from their GP. The GP tells the patient, “You’re eating too many doughnuts. You need to stop immediately. So I recommend you eat more chocolate cake instead.””