Arrears, Post-Completion and Protection
What happens after completion and when things go wrong: the fair treatment of borrowers in arrears under MCOB 13, the insurance a lender requires, protection products, and the adviser's anti-fraud and anti-money-laundering duties.
Arrears handling, insurance and integrity
MCOB 13 requires lenders to treat customers in payment difficulty fairly, make reasonable efforts to agree a resolution, and treat repossession as a last resort. Lenders require buildings insurance for at least the reinstatement value to protect their security. Protection products such as decreasing term assurance can repay a falling repayment-mortgage balance on death. Advisers must guard against mortgage fraud: under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 and the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 they must not facilitate falsified applications and must consider a suspicious activity report to the National Crime Agency without tipping off the client.