Mortgage Choice expands advice offering into insurance

Mortgage Choice has expanded to become a broad financial services provider by setting up a referral relationship with Allianz to provide general insurance. 

Under the referral relationship Mortgage Choice will refer its customers to Allianz for home building, contents, motor vehicle and landlord insurance and will not provide insurance advice. 

Mortgage Choice general manager of product and distribution Andrew Russell said that Allianz would deal with all insurance-related questions. Brokers would refer customers either by calling Allianz and passing on their details, or by giving customers a dedicated number at Allianz for Mortgage Choice clients, or by accessing online quotes via the broking firm’s website. 

Russell says the online option is the first part of the group’s move into providing services online and comes as Mortgage Choice continues its plan to offer financial planning advice. 

In October last year the group was granted its advice licence. It opened franchised planning practices in December in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane where it is testing it systems ahead of a wider roll-out in July this year. The group is also looking at a menu of financial services, each provided with a set price.  

Russell said the Allianz referral relationship and was part of Mortgage Choice’s ongoing push into wider financial advice, pointing to the rollout of its full financial planning operations in the new financial year. 

“Our over-arching aim has always been to provide the best possible service for our customers, whether that be in mortgage broking, financial planning and now insurance,” Russell said.