Paradigm Mortgage Services has agreed a new equity release referral service for its members with Age Partnership.

Paradigm member firm advisers are now able to register as introducers with Age Partnership in order to introduce clients who require specialist advice in this area.

Age Partnership offers a range of later life advice services to individuals aged 55 and over, who own their home, and are looking at their retirement finance options.

In becoming an Age Partnership introducer, Paradigm advisers who may not offer later life/equity release advice themselves will be able to work with a specialist to deliver this service. Their offering includes a no-cross sale guarantee and access to a whole of market panel and exclusive products, plus advisers can receive market-leading introducer commissions paid within seven days of a case completing.

Age Partnership says the average commission received by an introducing adviser in 2017 was £1,429 per referral.

Having registered as an introducer, identified clients for whom the service is appropriate and secured their consent, all advisers have to do is send the client’s details through to Age Partnership.

John Coffield, head of Paradigm Mortgage Services, said: “The need for quality later life and equity release advice has never been greater, as older clients require a range of service particularly in terms of utilising the value of their properties in order to satisfy pre- and post-retirement demands. Just recently we’ve heard that equity release lending broke the £3bn a year barrier and the expectation has to be that this sector will continue to grow rapidly in the years ahead.

“Not all advisers have the necessary authorisation or experience in the later life market to offer advice, however I suspect all advisers will be seeing a growing number of clients who need it. This is why we have formed this referral agreement with Age Partnership – proven specialists in this area – to allow Paradigm member firms to allow Paradigm member firms greater choice when they introduce clients to experts in their field.

“Not only does it deliver the necessary advice to clients but it can act as a significant income-generator whilst at the same time adding a considerable string to the adviser’s bow. We are sure this will be a popular service for many Paradigm firms and are looking forward to working with the team at Age Partnership to ensure clients have the best advice possible in this area.” 

Adam Carnall, head of partnerships at Age Partnership, added: “We are delighted to be working with Paradigm members and offering their clients access to independent and impartial whole of market equity release advice.

“The later life lending market is enjoying rapid growth and raising awareness of the solutions available through the advisory community is one of the fundamental aims of our partnership proposition.”