“Half my evenings go on asking clients for the same three payslips.”
AI for mortgage brokers, from fact-find to completion. Less chasing, more advice.
Documents requested, cases tracked and clients kept informed by a system, so your days go on advice and your evenings on your family.
I'm Daniel Andrews. My day job is running a law firm in East Sussex. I help mortgage and protection advisers in Hastings, Bexhill and Eastbourne move the paperwork off their evenings, including those working under a network's rules.
A typical evening, after a day of client meetings
- 6pmTyping up today's fact-findsIncome, commitments and credit history, from your notebook
- 7pmChasing payslips and bank statementsThree cases, each missing something different
- 8pmKeying a case into a lender portalThe details you typed at six, all over again
- 9pmRinging round for updatesValuation booked? Offer out? Has the solicitor replied?
- 10pmBed, and a deal end date you nearly missedA client's fixed rate finishes in six weeks
Every case stalls on one missing document
And the chasing usually falls to you, after hours.
“The case is ready to submit. I'm just waiting on one bank statement.”
“Clients want to meet after work, so my own family gets what's left of the evening.”
“I'm paid when it completes, so every stuck case is money on hold.”
“The file checker wants my reasons written up properly, and I'm doing it at eleven at night.”
Your pipeline shouldn't live in your head
You became a broker to help people buy homes, and to run your own diary. In practice the diary runs you. Meetings happen when clients are free, often after work, and the paperwork starts once they've gone.
If a case only moves when you push it, you've built a job, not a business. A week off means cases stall and clients start to worry.
There's a better way to run it, and it's the system I put my own firm on: see where the time goes, put the repeat work on systems, and spend the hours you win back on the business. For a broker, that means document requests, case stages and client updates on one system you can see at a glance, and your case process written down for an administrator to pick up. It's how I help professional firms step back from the admin.
What should AI for mortgage brokers do in a small firm?
It should do the typing and chasing around your advice. That means drafting the fact-find from your meeting notes, sending a document list for each case and chasing what's missing, tracking each case through lender, valuer and solicitor, and reminding clients before their deal ends. You still give the advice and check every draft.
| Job | How it often works now | Set up properly |
|---|---|---|
| New enquiries | Missed while you're in a meeting. | An instant reply with a booking link and a short form. |
| Fact-finds | Typed up hours after the meeting. | A draft built from your notes, checked by you before it goes on file. |
| Payslips and bank statements | Chased by text, one client at a time. | A document list per case, secure upload, and reminders that stop as each item arrives. |
| Case tracking | Phone calls to the lender, valuer and solicitor. | A stage for every case, and a client update each time it moves. |
| Product transfers and remortgages | Deal end dates in a spreadsheet, if anywhere. | A reminder well before each deal ends, with a booking link. |
| Protection | Raised at the end of a long meeting, if there's time. | A task on each case to book the protection conversation, so it isn't squeezed out. |
What records does a mortgage broker have to keep?
Under the FCA's MCOB 4.7A, a firm giving mortgage advice must record the customer information it gathered, including needs and circumstances, and why it concluded the advice was suitable. Those records must be kept for at least three years from the date the advice was given.
FCA guidance in MCOB 4.7A says a firm should take reasonable steps to get all the information from the customer that's likely to be relevant. That's your fact-find. On the lending side, MCOB 11.6 requires lenders to obtain evidence of the income a customer declares, and rules out self-certified income. Hence the payslips, bank statements and accounts.
The FCA's rule changes of 22 July 2025 set out to make it easier to remortgage with a new lender. So a reminder before the deal ends matters, whether it leads to a product transfer or a move.
Over all of this sits the Consumer Duty, in force for open products since 31 July 2023. Its core principle is that a firm must act to deliver good outcomes for retail customers.
- A draft fact-find and suitability notes from your meeting, marked as drafts until you sign them off.
- A deal end date recorded on each completed case, with the reminder set there and then.
Networks, AI and client data
If you're an appointed representative, the FCA's register lists you with your principal, which agrees what you can do and is responsible for that business. Your network may well set the CRM and sourcing system you use, so we'd automate the steps around them. Arrange home insurance, or refer clients for pensions advice? My pages for insurance brokers and financial advisers cover that work.
The ICO's guidance says any new use of a client's personal data must be brought to their attention before it begins. The FCA's stated approach is to rely on its existing rules, such as the Consumer Duty, rather than write new ones for AI. For the detail on UK GDPR, read the ICO's AI and data protection guidance, which is being updated following the Data (Use and Access) Act.
Please note: I've summarised the FCA's and the ICO's own pages here as general information. It isn't intended as legal, regulatory or compliance advice. Your network, principal or compliance adviser can say what applies to your firm.
Which case is stuck right now, and what is it waiting for? Let's start there.
Book a free 30-minute callWhat I'd set up first for a mortgage broker
These four go after the waiting, which costs you and the client.
A document list that chases itself
Each case type gets its own list, from payslips to a gifted deposit letter. Clients upload securely, and reminders stop as each item lands.
Case stages clients can see
Application, valuation, offer, exchange and completion. A short update goes to the client at each stage, so fewer calls come to you.
Fact-finds drafted after the meeting
With the client told first, AI turns your meeting notes into a draft fact-find. You check it before anything goes into a lender portal.
Deal-end reminders set at completion
When a case completes, the new deal's end date goes in the diary, with a client reminder well before it.
How do I choose a mortgage broker CRM in the UK?
Check first whether your network chooses it for you. With a free choice, look for a CRM that holds the fact-find, document requests and case stages in one place, sends client updates, records deal end dates, links to your sourcing system, and lets you export everything if you ever move.
- Document checklists by case type, with secure client uploads.
- A data processing agreement, clear UK GDPR terms and a full export.
Before buying separate AI for mortgage brokers in the UK, see what your CRM can already do. As examples, not recommendations, Twenty7tec, Mortgage Brain and 360 Lifecycle all make software for UK mortgage brokers, including CRMs. No supplier pays me a commission or referral fee.
Why a law firm Managing Partner?
I've been the bottleneck in my own firm, too. I worked 60 to 70 hours a week for years, often until 2 in the morning. Stepping back and putting the firm on systems fixed that, and it's now four to five times the size it was when I started. I'm a father of two and a football coach, so I know how easily work swallows family time.
Mortgage cases and legal files share the same headaches: several parties, late documents and an anxious client. I'm a practising solicitor, and Managing Partner of a two-office law firm in East Sussex with around 30 people. None of this is legal advice, though: the consultancy isn't a law firm, and the SRA doesn't regulate it.
I built it in my own firm first, including task hand-offs where work moves between colleagues with one-click approval, not buried emails. I haven't worked with a mortgage broker as a client yet, because the consultancy is new. BNI has been part of my week for 20 years, so if a fellow member passed you this page, that's why. Here's more about me and why I started this.
Other professions I help
Accountants and bookkeepers
Records chased on a timetable, MTD quarters on one screen and new clients onboarded in one link, so deadline season stops taking your evenings.
For accountants and bookkeepersInsuranceInsurance brokers
Renewals prepared weeks ahead, commercial clients chased for their figures, and claims updates sent before anyone has to ring you.
For insurance brokersFinancial adviceFinancial advisers
Meeting notes and suitability report drafts ready to check, annual reviews booked in good time, and cash flow data in before the meeting.
For financial advisersPropertyEstate and letting agents
Offers put in writing, chains chased, vendor updates drafted and lettings dates tracked, so the agency keeps moving after the last viewing.
For estate and letting agentsDesign and surveyArchitects and surveyors
Fee proposals, revision registers, planning dates and site-photo reports handled by systems you check, so the practice isn't run from the kitchen table.
For architects and surveyorsSafetyHealth and safety consultants
Site notes turned into draft reports, client actions chased and review dates booked, while every assessment still waits for your signature.
For health and safety consultantsQuestions from mortgage brokers
Can AI write my suitability letter?
It can draft one from your fact-find and notes, in your own template. You're still responsible for the advice, so read it, correct it and sign it off. Your network may have its own rules on templates and file checks.
Is it safe to collect bank statements through an automated system?
It can be, with care: a secure upload rather than email attachments, a business account with a data processing agreement, and tight access. Tell clients how their documents are handled.
Can AI help with the protection conversation?
It can make sure the conversation happens. A task on each case prompts you to book it, and AI can draft a follow-up note of what you discussed. The advice, and whether any policy suits the client, stays with you.
What's the difference between a CRM and a sourcing system?
A sourcing system searches lenders' products and criteria. A CRM holds your clients, fact-finds, documents and case stages. The two should talk to each other, so nobody types the same details twice.
Let the cases keep moving while you're at home
Book a free 30-minute call. Pick one live case, tell me what it's waiting for, and I'll show you what a system could have chased. No jargon and no hard sell.