Paradigm Mortgage Services has revealed the third-yearly winners and runners-up from its Lender and Provider Awards.

The awards were voted for by the mortgage services proposition’s directly authorised member firms each month and the results collated over the course of 2016 to decide the winners.

The overall winners and runners-up for 2016 are as follows:

• Best Overall Lender – Winner: Nationwide for Intermediaries; Runner-up: Halifax.
• Best Residential Lender – Winner: NatWest; Runner-up: Virgin Money.
• Best Buy-to-let Lender – Winner: BM Solutions; Runner-up: Godiva.
• Best Specialist Lender – Winner: Precise Mortgages; Runner-up: Kensington.
• Best Equity Release Lender – Winner: Hodge Lifetime; Runner-up: Just Retirement.
• Best Life Protection Provider – Winner: Legal & General; Runner-up: AIG.
• Best General Insurance Provider – Winner: Uinsure; Runner-up: Legal & General.
• Best Critical Illness Provider – Winner: AVIVA; Runner-up: Vitality.
• Best Income Protection Provider – Winner: AIG; Runner-up: LV=.

Paradigm personnel also voted for their Strategic Partner of the Year awards, a special category for businesses which are judged to have excelled in their support of the Paradigm Group. These Strategic Partner awards are split between both the mortgage and protection side of the business. The winners are:

• Strategic Lender Partner of the Year – Virgin Money.
• Strategic Provider Partner of the Year – Unum.

Each month, Paradigm’s partner members are encouraged to vote for their top three lenders and providers in each category, enabling Paradigm to provide an ongoing snapshot of advisers’ views throughout the course of the year. This annual process ensures those lenders and providers who consistently deliver service excellence are appropriately recognised.

“Firstly, we’d like to offer big congratulations to all our winners, and runners-up, from our 2016 Lender and Provider Awards,” said Bob Hunt, chief executive of Paradigm Mortgage Services.

“Over the course of the year we ask our member firms to vote for their top three every month, and from this we’re able to collate our overall winners, which have been announced today.

“2016 was a roller-coaster of a year and throughout that time it was vitally important that our member firms received stability and quality from our lenders and providers. Undoubtedly, the names that we have announced today provided consistency and a standard of service which did not falter over the last 12 months, and any business who receives such an accolade can be extremely proud of their efforts.

“Throughout 2017 we will continue to secure feedback from our member firms on those that are going beyond the call of duty and those were work is required; it helps inform us about how those adviser/provider relationships are truly working and means we can continue to strive for the best for our advisers. We would like to thank all those member firms who voted throughout the year and once again, congratulate those that have taken home the honours today.”

Phil Rickards, head of BM Solutions, the winners of Best Buy-to-let Lender, added: “We’re delighted to get the Paradigm award given it’s not just an annual snapshot of how advisers view a provider, but based on a consistency of regular monthly voting.”