Equity Release Group has teamed up with Responsible Lending, provider of Royal London Equity Release products, to give its advisers access to the range.
Equity Release Group’s customers, partners and advisers will have access to all three of the recently launched products in the Royal London Equity Release range, comprising ‘principal’, ‘standard’ and ‘premier’ options.
Its standard and premier products offer live, flexible pricing through an application programming interface (API) feed and have no application or valuation fees. The products also include downsizing protection and flexible voluntary payments up to 10% of the total loan value each year.
Royal London Equity Release launched its lifetime mortgage range exclusively through Responsible Lending last year.
Mark Gregory (pictured), founder and CEO at Equity Release Group, said: “Partnering with Responsible Lending is a fantastic affiliation and opportunity for both parties as it enables Responsible Lending to increase their distribution through Equity Release Supermarket and our partners such as MSM, whilst providing us with three product additions to benefit our customers.
“Given that Responsible Lending will be embarking on our partnership program, they will also gain valuable access to SmartER – the UK’s only equity release comparison tool – providing a digitally comparative suite to consumers. This not only provides greater consumer choice, independence and transparency, but direct customer and adviser engagement.”
He added: “The market has been crying out for a broader product mix, and now with the addition of the Royal London Equity Release products, alongside the breadth and depth of our consumer base, we expect to see increased distribution and growth within the market.”
Chris Flowers, intermediary sales director at Responsible Lending, said: “We are delighted to have partnered with Equity Release Group to roll out three new products to the wider broker community and their customers.
“The expansion of our range via Equity Release Group’s unique technology landscape will allow for far greater flexibility and choice, which consumers continue to require and demand.
“Equity release remains an important later life finance option, and through this affiliation we believe we are improving the options, possibilities and meeting the specific needs of homeowners looking to unlock their property wealth across the UK.”
More accessibility to equity release
Equity Release Group’s SmartER technology has now been made available to advice firms, to allow advisers to integrate the technology into their platform and help clients receive personalised equity release results.
Gregory said the group’s aim was to “push for greater accessibility and make it easier for people to explore all their equity release options”.
He added: “Our technology offers people choice, underpinned by centralised data and a scalable platform.
“This partnership will allow for a broader product range and greater transparency for consumers in terms of comparing the market, the rates, the features and much more.”
This announcement also follows Equity Release Group’s partnership with price comparison service MoneySuperMarket (MSM) to enable users of the platform compare lifetime mortgage deals.
Shekina is the deputy editor at Mortgage Solutions and commercial editor at Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions. She has nearly eight years of experience in the B2B publishing market, having previously covered the hospitality, retail, pet, accounting and jewellery sectors.
Shekina has worked for Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions for almost five years. Here, she covers the market’s breaking news stories, engages with professionals in the sector, and oversees any commercially agreed content in partnership with mortgage-related companies.
This includes presenting webinars and hosting roundtable discussions on developing themes in the mortgage sector.
She is an NCTJ-trained journalist and was nominated for the Headline Money Awards Mortgage Journalist of the Year in 2021.
In her spare time, Shekina likes to read, travel, listen to music and socialise with friends.
She currently reports on current events in the mortgage market and liaises with financial clients to produce sponsored content.
Follow her on Twitter at @ShekinaMS
