Paradigm Mortgage Services has announced the first winners of its recently launched Lender and Provider Awards.

The awards are voted for by the mortgage services proposition’s directly authorised Partner members each month and the results over the last three months since launch in February have been collated to create the first winners, who are as follows:

· Best Residential Lender – NatWest Intermediary Solutions.
· Best Buy-to-let Lender – BM Solutions.
· Best Specialist Lender – Precise Mortgages.
· Best Equity Release Lender – Just Retirement.
· Best Overall Lender – Virgin Money.
· Best Life Protection Provider – Friends Life.
· Best General Insurance Provider – Legal & General.
· Best Critical Illness Provider – Friends Life.
· Best Income Protection Provider – Exeter Family Friendly.

Partner members vote monthly for their top three lenders and providers in each category, enabling Paradigm to provide an ongoing snapshot of advisers’ views regarding the consistency of lender and provider service excellence.

Bob Hunt, chief executive of Paradigm Mortgage Services, said: “We would like to offer very warm congratulations to the first winners of the Paradigm Lender and Provider Awards – given these are voted for by our Partner member firms it is a true reflection of the quality of their products and services in what is a particularly competitive environment. Our winners have therefore delivered an excellent performance in support of these firms, which is even more commendable for our lender winners as this has been achieved in a period of considerable regulatory change.

“Paradigm’s focus is always on quality and offering something unique in the marketplace. These awards are not just delivering a ‘pat on the back’ to our winners but providing an opportunity for them to spend valuable time with key business writers within Paradigm’s Premier Club members who operate in the various sector spaces. Voting continues throughout the year and our hope is that we see all our lender and provider partners upping their game in order to secure these highly coveted awards in future months.”