Asset management specialists Spicerhaart Corporate Sales have teamed up with fact-finding firm Excel and UK law firm TLT to create a interest-only solution for lenders with interest-only customers that are either coming to maturity with no plan in place or are already there.

The firms said both the customer and the lender will be engaged throughout the journey to resolution, whether that is repayment, conversion, re-mortgage, the sale of the property, or where there is no other solution, litigation.

FCA regulated financial services company Excel specialise in face to face engagement and fact-finding with customers to understand individual circumstances, whilst Spicerhaart Corporate Sales, which has assisted borrowers with expired interest-only loans for some time, can assist the customer from a property related perspective.

Dave Miller, client account manager at Spicerhaart Corporate Sales, said: “Over the past few years lenders have successfully implemented a wide range of strategies to contact their interest only customers. However, a proportion of those who are often the most vulnerable of customers, are still failing to engage, while many others are now past their term expiry date with no formal agreement in place for resolution.”

Laurence Venn, CEO at Excel, said: “Our new proposition addresses the difficulty lenders face in resolving every case and is aimed at avoiding drift, which so often can occur in these difficult situations.”

Graham Walters, who is a partner at TLT, added: “We aim to provide absolute resolution both for the customer and the lender based on the customer’s individual circumstances. This is an issue that needs to be dealt with and we believe that our approach can assist to achieve this.”

Miller said: “With arrears and repossessions at a historic low, it is evident that lenders are seeing greater success now than ever before in terms of engaging interest-only customers. But there are still many customers either unable or unwilling to engage which presents a real challenge for lenders.

“That is why we have created this proposition; we are able to combine all the expertise needed to be able to find the best solution for both lenders and their customers.”