A survey commissioned by Pepper Money has found that telephone access to underwriters is more important to mortgage administrators now than it was a year ago.

The specialist lender has commissioned an annual survey of mortgage administrators as part of its commitment to recognising the crucial role of the unsung heroes of the industry.

According to the survey, 22% of mortgage administrators say that access to a lender’s underwriting team is important to help them overcome any obstacles in an application, which is up from 18% last year.

60% of administrators say their preferred method of contact with a lender is by telephone, compared to 55% last year.

And the role played by sourcing systems has fallen in the last year, with just 33% of administrators saying that they refer to a sourcing system, compared to 36% last year.

Paul Adams, sales director at Pepper Money, said: “Brokers may provide the ultimate advice, but it’s often the case that the experience a customer receives is driven by the work of mortgage administrators right from the beginning of the process at the start of a fact find, through to researching the most appropriate options, submitting the application, progressing it to offer and seeing it through to completion when the funds are released.

“The latest mortgage administrator survey, commissioned by Pepper Money, shows the increasing importance of being able to speak directly to an underwriter on the phone to ensure the smooth processing of an application. This probably reflects the growing complexity of customer circumstances for which a simple conversation with an underwriter can be the quickest and easiest way to get the case across the line.

“At Pepper, our underwriters answer our broker enquiry calls and make a call themselves at the outset of every application. This process gives everyone certainty at the outset and helps us to consistently deliver the outstanding levels of service that were recently recognised by the Smart Money People survey.”