NACFB - On the Panel

Quality surveyor management is the logical choice

We’re living in uncertain – some might say volatile – times. Individuals and businesses are feeling the crunch brought about by the cost-of-living crisis. Even the UK’s commercial lending industry is tightening its belt. Much is being done to make systems and services that little bit more cost-effective. Here at Method, we’re doing all we can to support that endeavour to ensure that lenders keep lending and brokers continue to facilitate the introductions.

If you’ve not come across us before, we like to think of ourselves as industry leaders in valuation and development monitoring panel management and procurement. We already work with many of the NACFB’s Patron lenders and Member brokers.

For lenders, we ensure that valuations are procured from the most appropriate and best qualified providers. This helps to align lenders’ valuation requirements with lending policies and minimise the risk to their loan book. For brokers, Method provides a fast and reliable way to obtain the valuation they need to support their clients’ loan applications.

The value of valuations

Of course, the role of the surveyor is the most important part of any valuation journey. It’s their expertise that the lender relies on to make sound lending decisions and it’s their reputation and Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII) that’s on the line. It’s because of this that we believe the surveyor should be the significant financial beneficiary in the valuation transaction – not the panel manager. That’s not to say we don’t charge fees, we do, but quite rightly it’s only a small proportion of the total valuation cost. If you’re currently using a panel manager that charges a significant proportion, you should ask why.

We support a growing panel of around 200 valuation practices, ranging from large national surveying companies to smaller regional and local firms. For them, the cost of providing valuations has never been higher. As brokers will recognise, PII premiums continue to rise, along with wages, rents, operating costs, even petrol; it’s no surprise that valuations aren’t getting cheaper.

Transparency and fixed fees are important

Method’s pricing strategy is simple. We don’t take a cut of the surveyor’s fee and can give certainty at the outset of the final fee to our lender and broker clients and their borrowers.

Our fees are fixed. By this we mean that the amount Method receives for processing an instruction isn’t linked to the property value, how urgent an instruction is, or the amount that the valuer receives. It’s totally transparent and fairly represents the work needed to process the application.

Keeping costs low

We use technology to support and enhance our personally delivered customer service. Wherever technology can do something more efficiently and quickly, with fewer errors, we take that route.

Our technology means that, not only are our instructions processed accurately with minimum errors, but we have fewer mouths to feed so our costs can be kept to a minimum. We haven’t got dozens of staff to handle instructions because we don’t need them, it’s a business designed to be highly efficient for the benefit of its stakeholders.

We’re a volume business. We make money on the instructions we process and the additional services that lenders choose to take from us to improve their processes.

Supporting lenders

Using the Method system lenders can rest assured that only the providers which meet their criteria are given the opportunity to quote or undertake a valuation or carry out independent monitoring services. Available to use as a full panel management service, or simply when extra coverage is needed, our cloud-based technology is not only cost effective but also reduces the costs for borrowers.

Supporting brokers

At Method we know that speed, efficiency and accuracy are essential when progressing loan applications. Our service seamlessly connects brokers to surveyors that meet the lenders’ requirements. It takes the hassle out of requesting quotes, instructing surveyors, and receiving valuation reports. And our packager portal allows brokers to get valuations on the lender’s behalf to save time, while ensuring that the valuer instructed meets the necessary criteria.

Occasionally, we are asked why we don’t pay some of Method’s fees in commission to the brokers we value so much. The answer is that we deliberately keep the fees we add to a transaction to a minimum for the benefit of the borrower.

Quite simply, our fees are already amongst the lowest in the market so if we were to pay commission it would be passed to the borrower. We don’t think that’s right or fair. We do however offer great service at a price we’re happy to justify and of that we are incredibly proud.

NACFB magazine