You should take time to understand your client’s needs and how any potential vulnerabilities might impact them. This is critical to understanding how best Foundation Home Loans can support your client both through the process of applying for a mortgage, and on an ongoing basis as a mortgage customer.

You should ensure that your client is fully aware of and consents to the disclosure of their vulnerability for the purposes of providing them with ongoing support.

A client’s vulnerability will not be taken into consideration for the purposes of assessing their affordability, however there may be circumstances that impact the application overall. For example, if a customer’s vulnerability impacts their mental capacity we may need to take additional measures to ensure they understand the mortgage documentation.

You should aim to let us know of any vulnerabilities you or your client think we may be able to provide support for as soon as possible. This will help us to ensure that we offer the appropriate support to them quickly and effectively.

Having received consent from them, you can inform us of any vulnerabilities your client may be facing, including how they are impacted by that vulnerability and any specific support they might require:

1. When submitting an application, you can flag a client to us as vulnerable under the Applicant section of the Broker Portal. You can then add a Portal Note to provide us with specific details about a client’s vulnerability and any support they might require.
2. If you identify vulnerability after the application has been submitted, you can add a note to the Broker Portal. Our Team will then ensure the application is then appropriately flagged.

If a client’s circumstances change during the application you can update the Portal Note on their application. After completion, a customer can let us know if their circumstances have changed using any of the methods on our contact us webpage.

Any information provided to Foundation Home Loans will be used strictly for the purposes of helping to ensure that your client receives the appropriate support for their circumstances throughout the lifetime of their relationship with us. 

In line with our Privacy Notice we will:

• Keep client data safe and private
• Process data lawfully; and
• Not sell personal data

We may retain data for up to 6 years to respond to questions or complaints, show that we have treated customers fairly and to maintain records according to rules that apply to us. After this period, it will be destroyed in line with our Privacy Notice.

You can find additional information around how we support vulnerable customers here. If you have any further questions or require further guidance, please contact your Regional Account Manager.