Over three quarters (76%) of financial advisers believe consumers have a limited understanding of the later life market, new research from Air Mortgage Club has indicated.

The findings also revealed that 43% of respondents said the same was true of advisers.

Air Mortgage Club’s study, conducted among more than 400 advisers, gathered views of a range of stakeholders to understand how to make the later life lending market more accessible for both advisers and consumers.  

The research revealed that with a lack of knowledge comes misconceptions about the product choices available, with 71% of respondents believing consumers attach a negative image to equity release, while 68% feel most consumers see later life lending products as “a last resort”.

As a result, 56% of advisers said the most challenging part of the process with clients was “customer reassurance and managing misconceptions”, scoring above “meeting regulatory and compliance requirements” (54%), “managing vulnerable customers” (49%), and “customer acquisition” (43%).
 
However, the later life services platform suggested there is good news in terms of the value customers place on certain equity release product features, which is the result of a concerted education campaign over many years.

“Tackling misconceptions and misinformation has been a constant struggle – one which the Equity Release Council in particular has fought for many, many years,” Air Group CEO, Stuart Wilson, commented. “However, it’s clear that from both a consumer and to a lesser extent adviser viewpoint, this is a ‘battle’ that remains ongoing.

“If anything, with the growth in the number of later life lending options available, it’s one that requires even greater resources. There is a tendency to see later life lending only through the prism of equity release, when of course there are many more options available outside of just lifetime mortgages, plus the features of equity release products themselves offer much more flexibility than ever before.

“In a way we need to re-educate ourselves and consumers to look at later life lending holistically and to continue to tackle the mindset of those who believe the products available are limited or still those of yester-year.”

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