Ascent bucking trend parent Irwin Mitchell says
LAW firm Irwin Mitchell says its Ascent business, which provides debt collection services for major banks in the mortgage market, is seeing strong demand for its services.
Ascent, which is based in Manchester and Sheffield, said its growth is contrary to the general market place. The Association of Arrears Mediators recently reported that its members had experienced a sharp fall in activity during the first six months of 2012.
AAM members reported a 25% drop in pre-litigation mortgage arrears visits and an 18% fall with pre-eviction visits during the first six months of the year compared to the same period in 2011.
During the same period, Ascent, which last year posted a turnover of £3m, saw a 41.8% and a 70% increase in the number of pre-litigation and pre-eviction visits which it was instructed to carry out.
Ascent chief executive Niall Gilhooley, said: “Although it would be true to say there is a general improvement in lenders’ mortgage portfolios and that the demand for these services will reduce in the future, we are certainly not seeing a fall in the number of instructions from institutions.
“On the contrary, institutions increasingly see our early intervention as the best way to improve the performance of their portfolios.
“We are confident about the future and believe we are in very good shape. As portfolios improve, the effectiveness of these visits and their value and therefore the performance of suppliers will be subject to closer scrutiny and challenge. Along with increasing regulatory compliance pressure, we are confident that this will play to our strengths.”
He believes in three years Ascent has taken a 15% share in the home visits sector and can become market leader.
Home visits are carried out on behalf of most mortgage lenders after a household has defaulted on their mortgage. During the visit, counsellors discuss the outstanding arrears and aim to develop a sustainable and affordable payment plan for clearing the debt.
