Equity release lender, More 2 Life, has launched an online lending criteria tool to help advisers determine the likelihood of a successful application for equity release.

By entering basic information about a homeowner and their property, such as the type and value of the property, advisers will be able to see which of More 2 Life’s five product ranges would be best suited for their client before they begin the application process.

Stuart Wilson, corporate marketing director at More 2 Life, said: “At More 2 Life, we know that lending criteria can vary considerably between different lenders, funders and products, making it challenging for advisers to navigate the market.

“Applying for equity release on behalf of a client and having this rejected at a late stage due to a lending criteria issue can be costly and time-consuming for advisers and disappointing for their customers.

“It’s for this reason that we’ve created our pioneering lending criteria tool – to make the equity release journey more efficient for everyone and take the administrative burden off advisers.”

For any cases where there is an unclear outcome using the tool, advisers will be able to refer the case to More 2 Life’s underwriting team who will help to resolve any queries and consider these harder to place cases in more detail. In 2019, this team managed to get a positive outcome with a loan offer in around 80% of cases that did not meet initial lending criteria checks.

Wilson added: “We are confident that this platform will significantly improve application times for advisers and remove any setbacks they may have otherwise encountered due to underwriting issues. We already get over 90% of applications to offer in under 14 working days and today’s launch reinforces More 2 Life’s commitment to making an adviser’s experience as smooth and hassle-free as possible – we hope to see more of the market follow suit in the future.”