The Intermediary – May 2025 - Flipbook - Page 22
Q&A
Equifinance
The Intermediary speaks with Laura Thomas, regional sales
manager for the North at Equifinance, about communication,
market demand, and regional second charge trends
Please can you introduce yourself
What are your typical second
for the readers?
charge loan terms? Are there any
I have 30 years in financial services – often not
believed, but I started at the Bank of Scotland at
the grand age of 15! I have seen the many ups and
downs of the lending and broking rollercoaster
over these years, having worked in the commercial,
secured and unsecured sectors. However, secured
lending has always been my favourite!
Having started with Equifinance in 2019, the
business has grown and drastically in the past six
years. Proudly an independent lender, Equifinance
has gone from being a small lender in the secured
lending sector to a prominent player.
It has been an exciting and rewarding journey
that shows no signs of slowing down!
Can you walk us through the
typical application process,
highlighting any unique aspects?
Equifinance has always worked on a business-tobusiness (B2B) model, so all business is introduced
via our broker partners. This allows the broker to
do what they do best and allows us focus on the
underwriting and servicing, which we do best.
Equifinance is proud to have always been well
known for its flexibility, ‘can-do’ approach and
applying common sense to lending decisions. We
have a name in the market for applying a ‘manual’
underwriting approach, taking into consideration
client’s circumstances, as we are well aware one
size does not fit all.
Some may find this approach old fashioned, as it
is far from a digital perspective; however, we see
this as going the extra mile to understand clients’
circumstances. This sets us apart from other
lenders in the market, it is often one of the biggest
positives our brokers provide feedback to us on.
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The Intermediary | May 2025
notable exclusions or restrictions?
As the name suggests, Equifinance can only apply
second charge on an owner-occupied residential
property. Our loan must follow a regulated first
charge lender and any other charge on the land
registry must be cleared, with the exception of
boilers or solar panels. Equifinance can consider
differing income and employment types, various
credit profiles and offer an array of loan amounts,
loan-to-values (LTVs) and rates to cover as many
client circumstances as possible.
How does Equifinance ensure
smooth case progression and
relevant products?
We are well-known for our service level
agreements (SLAs), as they have always been our
biggest unique selling point (USP) over the years,
when perhaps our rates were not as competitive as
they are now. We have been careful to never allow
this USP to slip as we’ve grown.
Lenders are trusted by brokers to take their
cases from submission to completion as smoothly
and efficiently as they can. We believe it is our
responsibility to provide the best possible service
and communication throughout the process so
that brokers can provide customers an efficient
and smooth journey with constant updates.
Equifinance is constantly appraising and
reviewing its second charge offering. Internally,
product development is a team effort with risk,
finance, underwriting and sales all involved in the
creation and updating of products.
Essential to this work is the feedback our
brokers partners provide, so that we not only
