Darren Pratley, former general manager at TNP, director of Auckland Home Loans and owner of The Home Loan Group, said the delineation between mortgage and insurance adviser was becoming much less sharp.
“Everyone is looking at what is going on, the relationship between the products,” he said. “Advisers are having to be multifaceted.”
Advisers needed to be conscious of insurance, particularly as house prices increased in places such as Auckland. If someone was taking out a $500,000 mortgage, there was some sense of responsibility for the mortgage advisers to ensure they had adequate protection, Pratley said. “As the market is evolving and changing and especially the heat tin the market at the moment, in Auckland you’re taking out very hefty mortgages.”
Some mortgage advisers had offered insurance by setting up allegiances with insurance advisers.
But Pratley said a number of them were now becoming very competent in their own right when it came to insurance.
“I don’t think that’s an area they shouldn’t be going into. But I think they should spend time and get the right skills and knowledge before they get out there and do it.”
