ERS says it was the first broker to introduce an online calculator and now has nine free to use calculators covering the later life lending sector. Three new calculators have now been introduced:
- Drawdown lifetime mortgage
- RIO (retirement interest-only) mortgage
- Income lifetime mortgage
ERS also offers three additional calculators allowing users to analyse various situations to help decide their best course of action. These are:
- A switch plan calculator, which determines if moving to a new plan is financially beneficial,
- A voluntary repayment calculator, to help the user understand the benefit of making overpayments
- An equity remaining calculator, to help customers understand the estate they will leave when their plan in repaid.
Digital interaction
Mark Gregory, founder & CEO of Equity Release Supermarket, commented: “The past couple of months have brought about significant changes to how we live and work, in particular encouraging people to embrace online activity and interact digitally.
“We have long been pioneers of technology within the industry, so are already geared up to bring our customers greater choice and flexibility online. We’ve just launched our new video chat solution, providing customers with that highly sought-after face-to-face interaction, and now our expanded range of online calculators add to our suite of digital tools.
“We now offer a calculator for each type of lifetime mortgage as well as for home reversion plans and for RIO (retirement interest-only) mortgages. Having a calculator that is specific to each option is vital as each equity release plan or mortgage has unique features that impact the final calculations of a customer’s loan.”
Customers can browse options
Equity Release Supermarket’s free-to-use tools for customers bring equity release plans to life. By converting a broad concept into solid numbers, customers can easily browse their options, tailoring their choices to more accurately match their personal circumstances.
The quick and easy to use calculators enable customers to develop an understanding of how much they could actually release and whether this will fulfil their financial goals.
Whilst other brokers typically provide one calculator, typically for a lump sum lifetime mortgage, ERS says none provide the extensive tools to appropriately represent the diversity of the equity release market or broader options available for later life lending.
Mark added: “Central to our success has been openness and transparency. We passionately believe that customers should have as much information and access to tools that can help them to research and gain confidence.
“That accompanied with our first-class, whole of market advice and service is what makes Equity Release Supermarket stand apart. But we don’t rest on our laurels and are constantly looking at the next innovation.”
“This is a pivotal time for the industry and opportunity for us all to embrace technology to improve our offering and attract new customer bases. I look forward to what’s to come.”
