You always know when a relationship is real. It’s not about the ‘nice’ words or well-crafted messaging, it’s when someone listens, takes what you’ve said seriously, and actively tries to solve the problem raised. That’s the foundation of trust. And for us, it’s exactly how we approach our relationships with brokers.
Broker relationships aren’t a footnote in our strategy, they are the strategy. They guide our decisions, shape our service, and determine how we evolve. In a market that demands both clarity and flexibility, we’ve made it our priority to listen with intent, act with purpose, and ensure brokers feel heard.
More than a box-ticking exercise
As brokers, you are frequently asked to share your opinions on lender products and service – but what happens to this information you provide? Is it worth your time to provide your feedback?
There’s a crucial difference between gathering broker insight and genuinely engaging with it. At Hinckley & Rugby, we’ve moved well beyond surveys and passive data collection. Our monthly ‘Voice of the Broker’ roundtables, led jointly by our intermediary sales and product teams, bring real conversations to the table. These sessions are not marketing exercises. They’re open, candid forums where brokers share what’s working, what isn’t, and what they need to better serve their clients.
What we’ve found is that it’s often the informal feedback, so the throwaway comment on a packaging call or the frustrated observation in a follow-up email that carries the greatest weight. These insights rarely show up in quantitative reports, but they reflect the day-to-day reality of placing cases. By creating space for these conversations, and following up on them, we can uncover the friction points that might otherwise go unchallenged.
Listening that leads to action
One example of this feedback loop in action is our recent decision to remove the £199 application fee across our residential product range. Brokers repeatedly told us it was creating unnecessary resistance, especially when clients were still shopping around or hadn’t received an Agreement in Principle. For some borrowers, that upfront cost was a blocker, even if the overall proposition was competitive.
So, we listened and we acted. The fee is now gone, replaced with a consistent and transparent pricing structure: an £800 completion fee on all residential products, and a £250 cashback
incentive on purchases. Customers will pay a valuation fee only if an Automated Valuation Model (AVM) isn’t available.
It’s a clearer, cleaner proposition for everyone involved. True cost matters, especially for larger loans or longer-term fixes, where any fee and percentage-based fees in particular can weigh heavily if wrapped into the loan. By removing friction at the start of the journey and offering value at completion, we’ve aimed to strike the right balance between commercial value and broker usability.
Culture change, not just product tweaks
These decisions are never made in isolation. Our product team is part of the dialogue, so not just hearing feedback second-hand, but sitting in on broker calls, joining roundtables, and understanding the nuance behind the numbers. That cultural shift of integrating feedback into the decision-making process, rather than treating it as external input has been transformative.
It means product changes are grounded in real-world impact. Service improvements are not just measured by service level agreements but also by broker satisfaction. We’re also constantly challenging ourselves to do better by responding to the very people who place cases with us.
For example, recent broker conversations have led to improvements in document packaging requirements, clearer communication around lending criteria, and faster response times during the application process. These might seem like operational tweaks, but the impact has been significant. This is reducing admin burden, cutting down on rework, and creating a smoother path from enquiry to offer.
Building trust
We think there’s also enormous value in speaking with brokers who don’t regularly place business with us. We want to understand why they haven’t, whether it’s perceived policy complexity, lack of awareness, or simply past experience. That helps us identify where our proposition needs to sharpen.
And often, the most powerful ideas come from frustrations. For example, a case that didn’t quite fit, or a product that didn’t flex to meet the borrower’s needs. These aren’t failures to ignore, but signals to learn from. As one broker recently said at a roundtable: “We don’t want you to be perfect. We want you to listen when something’s not right – and show you’re serious about fixing it.”
It’s this feedback-led approach that underpins our intermediary strategy. Whether it’s refining criteria, simplifying service journeys, or launching new propositions, we’re committed to doing it through the broker lens. That means asking better questions, challenging our own assumptions, and keeping the dialogue going long after a case completes.
Ultimately, I think broker relationships are about more than service; they’re about shared ambition. When a broker places a case with us, they’re trusting us to deliver both for them and the client. That trust is earned and the only way to keep it is by listening, learning, and proving time and again that your voice matters. Because in sharing your views, you’re not just helping a responsive lender, like Hinckley & Rugby, to improve its proposition – ultimately you’re helping to create a lending landscape that better supports your clients
Looking ahead
The pace of change in the mortgage market isn’t slowing and neither is our commitment to brokers. Our lending approach will continue to evolve, shaped by the insights and experiences of the intermediary community we serve. Because when you have real conversations, build real trust, and act with real intent, the relationship becomes more than transactional. It becomes a partnership. And this approach benefits everyone involved.
Laura Sneddon is head of sales and distribution at Hinckley & Rugby for Intermediaries
