Communication

In an accountant-client relationship successful communication is crucial to getting things done. By agreeing how often you communicate with your client can help you build a long-lasting relationship and play a key role in the success of your firm.

Be sure to keep to an agreed timetable for communication, either by phone or online. Always show that you are proactive and eager to talk about your progress and any bumps coming down the road.

By showing your clients you’re forward thinking and always available, they’re more likely to stick with your firm and refer you to other businesses.

Research has found that finding a client costs five times more than to retain your current customer and makes it much easier to upsell a service to an existing client.

Quick Replies

When a client emails, it’s important to reply within 24 hours. Even better within the hour. It is much more effective to acknowledge the email, knowing you need more time to find the answer to the enquiry. A quick response shows your client you’re on top of your email.

When people are looking for a quick response, your website can be a powerful tool. Investing in a chatbot that can answer customer enquiries when landing on your website 24 hours a day, saving the company time and money.

Create Valuable Content

Create content to share your expertise with your clients. This could be by creating an eBook, newsletter, posting on social media or blogging on your website. Generating valuable content that can be shared with, and by your clients, will improve brand awareness.

Sharing your expert opinion to a wider audience can also improve your company's visibility. Being a source for a website like HARO (Help A Reporter Out) can help you find more clients. When you are mentioned as a source, a link back to your website will also help your company be discovered.

Hold an Event

A Content Marketing Institute survey said in-person events worked better than any other type of marketing. This is of course not possible at the moment due to lockdown; however, a webinar can be a powerful marketing tool.

Many of us are becoming comfortable using Zoom or Skype to communicate. This can present opportunities to speak with clients and get your message across in a less formal way.

Forward Thinking

Mistakes will always happen, so always be clear and transparent. Studies show that up to 70% of unhappy customers become loyal customers if a mistake is fixed and exceeds their expectations.

To avoid mistakes, it’s better at the start to be realistic with your client and under promise so you can over deliver.

Much of our success at Orchard Funding Ltd has been through client recommendations, which is a testament to our expertise in the professional fee funding market. Chris, our professional fee funding expert is always available to speak to clients and walk them through setting up an account.

Investing in your child's future

Private education is a long-term investment in your child's future. Investing time and money in their education now will pay dividends for years to come. But when it comes to paying school fees, most parents are looking at large lump sums that can be difficult to manage on top of other household bills.

What is the difference between a public school and private school?

It's not just about the price. There are many advantages to choosing a private school over a public one, including more individualised attention from teachers, smaller class sizes that allow for greater student-teacher interaction, and specialised academics that focus on each child's strengths.

1. Private schools are often more academically rigorous than public schools 

2. Students at private schools are less likely to be distracted by outside influences 

3. Private school students have a better chance of getting into top colleges and universities 

4. Private school tuition is typically higher than public school tuition, but the investment can pay off in the long run

How much does private education cost?

In recent years school fees have been increasing year on year, and according to the Independent Schools Council (ICS) 2020 survey, the average quoted charge of independent school tuition fees in the UK is roughly £11,763 for boarding, £6,636 for boarding day pupils, and £4,980 per term for day schools.

With this in mind finding a better way to pay for school fees can be found with Orchard Funding. Our monthly plan offers peace of mind - our fees are fixed for the entire school year.

We will provide you with a clear indication when you apply however the majority of our parents are charged an interest rate of 3.90% per annum. This is an Annual Percentage Rate of 7.36%.

How can Orchard help your school?

We offer our customers the opportunity to spread the cost of school fees rather than paying all at once - this way parents don't have anything else taking up their already stretched budget!

Since Orchard Funding Ltd entered the school fee funding market in 2017, choice has been at the centre of their proposition.

• Choice of offering fee funding direct to the public or through a school partner.
• Choice of secured or non-secured funding.
• Choice to receive funds early or later to help drive down price.
• Choice of working capital or asset funding.

With our simple and flexible range of products, we can help parents stay in the sector especially if their financial circumstances have changed. This means schools don’t always have to dip into their bursary fund to hold onto students.

With our monthly payment plan we offer peace-of mind that fees will be fixed throughout a school year so there’s no need worry about unexpected changes in circumstances or budgeting errors which could lead you into difficulties.

It's never too late! We can start spreading those payments right now - just give us call on 07854 380900 or email  chris.meyer@orchardfunding.co.uk for more information about our plans.

*Credit is subject to status. Terms and conditions apply. Credit agreements are available to over 18s only.

A staycation boom is expected this summer after the government warned against travelling abroad for holidays.

According to the BBC The Caravan and Motorhome Club are predicting a “cork popping from a bottle” situation in the coming months.

With hopefully the end of lockdown in the UK on the horizon and the COVID-19 uncertainty in many other countries, families will be looking to book their holidays in the UK this year.

Brexit is also another factor that could sway people into having a staycation. New rules mean that UK citizens will only be allowed to stay in an EU country for 90 out of 180 days. 

For people looking to buy a holiday or retirement home abroad in countries like Spain and France, these restrictions will force some to look closer to home.

For many, looking to book a staycation for the first time, this could create an opportunity for holiday park owners to sell the advantages of owning a static caravan or lodge in the UK.

Owning your own holiday home comes with many advantages. No more spending hours on the internet to book a holiday or queues at busy airports.

With the modern interiors and mod-cons, today’s static homes are a million miles away from the cold drab interiors our grandparents would holiday in. Central heating, flat screen TV’s and modern kitchens are standard on most homes.

Being part of the community is another aspect of owning a holiday park home, combined with the facilities and entertainment many holiday parks offer. There could not be a better time for holiday park owners to promote the joys of holidaying in the UK.

The costs of owning a park home including pitch/site fees cover the cost of making water and electricity available to your holiday home. These fees can vary depending on the location and can cost several thousands of pounds.

The cost of purchasing a holiday home or paying for site fees can be spread easily into monthly payments. If you’re a holiday park owner looking to offer your customers funding, then contact Orchard Funding for more information.

•  01582 346291
•  info@orchardfunding.co.uk
•  www.orchardfunding.co.uk

Paul Byett of Hacker Young Chartered Accountants talks about the benefits of working with Orchard Funding Ltd.

What problems, if any, were you trying to resolve by switching to Orchard Funding?

Our previous fee funding provider seemed to change policies frequently which just meant that the funding to the Practice became slower.

How did you hear about us, and what made us stand out from your existing provider?

We met Orchard at a conference and they appeared to be fresh, keen and totally professional. 

What was the driving force behind you taking steps to join Orchard Funding?

The real difference was the faster receipt of funding.

If you were to tell another Accountant about us, what feature or benefit of our service would you recommend and why?

The key to any fee funding system is the IT platform and ease of use.  We never have a problem with Orchard, and at the same time we have specific account contacts with whom we build a rapport.

Now that you have worked with us as a partner, what has the experience been like and what has really stood out?

The smooth operation is the main positive – we do not seem to have rejections or anomalies as we can speak to real named contacts in the event of an issue.

Has anything about us surprised you?

It takes a lot to surprise me, but the swift movement to electronic signature acceptance was impressive in the circumstances.

Finally, based on your experience would you recommend us to other businesses out there?

Yes – our main driver is to wrap a number of annual services into one agreement rather than constantly battling with agreeing new fees for new services, and then having credit control issues to collect such fees.

Paul Byett LLB (HONS) FCA

Managing Partner

The FCA’s latest actions following the release of its Motor Finance Commissions report could result in a loss of approximately £125m for brokers in the car dealership sector, according to the regulator’s predictions.

The proposed ban is likely to come into force mid-2020 and will see add-on car commissions for brokers stopped.

Ravi Takhar, chief executive and co-founder at Bexhill UK, previously revealed to Insurance Times, he is concerned about the inevitable oncoming read across into other areas of credit broking, such as premium finance.

“The FCA is saying quite clearly that brokers adding commissions of an unreasonable nature to their net rates or their lenders should be banned,” he warns.

So how concerned should insurance brokers be about the read across into their premium financing?

Owen Thomas, chief sales officer at Premium Credit, told Insurance Times that the firm is continuing to consider implications following publication of the FCA report.

“We believe our partners provide an important service for customers and we continue to work closely with them to ensure good customer outcomes,” he said.

Not just motor finance
EY partner Sajedah Karim explained that the FCA’s crackdown on car finance commissions will have a wider impact.

She warned: “The proposals may require business models to be reviewed and alternative commission structures or ways of replacing lost revenue to be considered, as well as systems to be enhanced, and contracts and staff remuneration arrangements to be renegotiated as the next steps.”

Any “additional proposals around commission disclosure, clarifying existing rules will impact brokers across the consumer credit market,” she added, stressing that it is “not just within the motor finance sector”.

No inherent problem
James Fairclough, chief executive at AA Cars, said that although the FCA has concluded “quite rightly that there us no inherent problem with car finance products themselves” however “customers are poorly served if they are not shown the options best suited to them”.

The key to solving the problem of credit lending - across all areas including premium finance - is better transparency.

“Transparency and clarity are essential for the car finance industry to serve customers properly, and the FCA’s proposal would make it easier for car buyers to compare different deals and shop around,” he said.

Fairclough believes that finance providers have done an excellent job of offering customers a wide and flexible range of products designed to make buying and running a car easier.

He said that too often customers are not presented with the full range of options, meaning that they may miss out on good deals or pay more than they should.

But Fairclough said that the FCA proposal “should improve consumer choice and transparency”. Although he admits: “Customers should still thoroughly research before selecting a deal."

Original article was posted on Insurance Times. You can read it here.

Industry is worried the regulator is gearing up to attack premium finance, a vital source of revenue for brokers and insurers

The FCA has warned it is ready to intervene on premium financing - but only if it finds harm to the customer.

Amid its latest crackdown on credit lending, this time in car finance, the FCA said: “We are aware that DiC and similar commission models exist in other markets (for example, asset finance and premium finance).

”We do not currently have evidence to justify consulting on banning particular commission models in those consumer credit markets.

”However, if we identify evidence of harm in other markets, we will consider further interventions.”

Bexhill is warning brokers should act now on premium financing.

Bexhil co-founder Ravi Takhar said: ”The FCA is saying quite clearly that brokers adding commissions of an unreasonable nature to their net rates or their lenders should be banned.”

Original article was posted on Insurance Times. You can read it here.

A number of brokers have recently received notification from a lender in the premium finance market, that their rates are rising.  

The rate rises come following news of increasing costs and pressures on brokers from rising IPT, the impact of the Ogden rate cut and other crippling economic pressures.

The premium finance provider Bexhill UK, has confirmed it has no current plans to increase rates or fees. Ravi Takhar, Chief Executive Officer of Bexhill UK comments: “Brokers are being squeezed from every angle and news of these rate rises is bound to concern and anger some brokers, particularly when the reasons given for the rate rises are due to technology spend by the lender.  For brokers that have seen no evidence of these benefits, this rate rise is a bitter pill to swallow.”

An example rate rise of 0.35% on a Personal Lines book of £2m will now cost broker’s in-excess of £7k, which is a considerable amount. This cost has to be either absorbed or passed onto the customer on top of rising costs in premiums and IPT.

An Insurance Broker, who wants to remain anonymous, said: “Customers are already being faced with serious premium hikes so a hike in the finance rates when Bank Base Rate remains unchanged won’t go down well and is going to be a difficult message to deliver. What makes me angry though is the lack of credible justification given for the increase.  It is the finance company’s prerogative to increase rates, but I for one will be looking elsewhere in future for a better rate from a finance provider that can give me and my customers more certainty and control”. 

Embrace change and prosper!

The FCA is taking a very dim view of car finance brokers adding a gross rate to a finance company’s net rate.  This is because the borrower could be getting a different rate from the same lender when it goes to two different car finance brokers.  With the FCA’s attention firmly on commission disclosure under the long-awaited Insurance Distribution Directive, it’s not a stretch to see how the same scenario would apply to insurance brokers.

Responses to the FCA’s consultation document on the Directive must be submitted by 6th June. Whilst mandatory commission disclosure is not currently being called for, a new rule will require parties “to act honestly, fairly and professionally in the best interests of their customers” and intermediaries will also have to explain the “nature and basis” of their remuneration.

Most brokers currently add a gross commission rate onto the premium finance company’s net rate as standard practice, and rates differ between brokers. Given the recent experience in the motor intermediary finance market, would the FCA deem this unfair for the consumer?  What might the changes be and if gross rate commissions are banned what impact will it have on brokers?  Given that it isn’t uncommon for 50% of brokers’ pre-tax profits to come from finance arrangements today, such a ban on commissions earned from premium finance arrangements alone could pose a serious threat to brokers’ income. 

The pressures on brokers are mounting – both from rising costs and increased regulation.  Rising IPT and FSCS levies, the Discount Rate, the threat to the broker market from Fintech and aggregators…it all eats away at brokers’ profitability, and there’s only so much that commissions can be tweaked to compensate.

If the FCA bans or restricts gross rate commissions on finance arrangements, brokers will need to claw back that income elsewhere; to look creatively at bespoke finance agreements and bringing the function in-house and cut out the middle man!  This might sound like a leap but bringing premium finance in-house will give brokers back control over how the finance is structured and give them a bigger slice of the pie

The FCA is quite rightly keen that brokers justify the commission they make on finance.  Providing their own premium finance facilities will mean brokers have access to all the MI and justification they need to charge appropriate fees and interest for providing their facility. Brokers can therefore protect their income from premium finance business.  This is just one way that additional income could be legitimately and transparently earned.

Bexhill believes in transparency and fair commission but the problem comes with those few brokers who take advantage of the system.  The FCA will quite rightly put a stop to eye watering over inflated commissions, but for the majority of brokers who will lose income from quite legitimate gross commissions charged, be reassured - there are other ways to earn that income – whether that’s through value added products or in better, smarter ways of working with ancillary services, including premium finance. 

The changes being introduced by the FCA on commissions are just one of the many challenges that brokers are facing today. We are entering a brave new world and brokers are having to adapt and evolve in so many ways to stay relevant, so embrace change and prosper.

Premium Finance Funding Offers An Opportunity

A question on the lips of a number of insurance brokers is whether they should self-fund their premium finance rather than rely on third-party providers.

We have been advising insurance brokers on premium finance self-funding since 2002 and with our support more than 100 UK insurance brokers now own and operate their own premium finance business. Some of the largest insurance brokers in the UK have been self-funding their clients for years.

In today’s market everybody seems to be lending: peer-to-peer lenders allow grandmothers in Bolton to lend to secretaries in London. The question is why aren’t more brokers lending to their clients?

We have proven data that shows that any insurance broker that sets up its own in-house premium finance company can become self-funding within one to five years. Self-funding means having all the cash required to finance all your clients without relying on a third-party funding provider.

There are several reasons why brokers might consider setting up an in-house premium finance facility.

First, the FCA is becoming increasingly focused and concerned about the commissions brokers are making from the add-on premium finance product.

Some brokers only make a modest commission, but we understand that even rates of 1% are being questioned by the FCA. But other brokers earn a far greater commission, which in many cases dwarf the net rate provided by third-party funders. These commissions are not sustainable. By contrast, a lending rate charged by a finance company is not a commission and therefore as long as it is below the High Cost Credit Rate (currently 100% APR), it is deemed to be more of an appropriate reward for the risk taken.

Secondly, brokers are more concerned with maintaining control of the customer journey. Using a third-party finance provider is a break in the journey outside the broker’s control. Many brokers want to retain this control and ensure high quality service to their clients by controlling financing and charges for mid-term adjustments, failed direct debits and arrears letters.

Thirdly, brokers wish to maximise the return on any cash equity they have accumulated.

Brokers need to weigh the benefits of simply broking their finance business to a third-party lender and lending to their own clients. There are benefits to each model, but as the banks continue to offer little or no return for deposits, brokers like everybody else in the market are looking for better returns on their hard-earned cash.

Ravi Takhar founded Bexhill UK in 2002 and has more than 25 years’ experience in the acquisition, growth, financing and disposal of financial businesses. Prior to creating the group, Takhar was head of financial services investment at Japanese investment bank Nikko, from 1998 to 2002.

Bexhill UK’s Alan Atkins argues that cheaper is not always better when it comes to premium finance.