Since June 2006, SHIP has stated that its members would reject from August business submitted by advisers who had not achieved either the CF7 qualification from the Chartered Institute of Insurance (CII) or the Certificate in Lifetime Mortgages from the Ifs School of Finance.
But Jon King, chief executive of SHIP, said last week that providers would accept cases from unqualified advisers if they were being supervised by a broker who had taken the exams. Defending SHIP's position, King said: "Somebody can sign off another broker's advice, and this has always been the case."
However, Stuart Wilson, senior partner at Equity Advice, insisted SHIP had deviated from its original stance. He commented: "Jon King needs to show true leadership and stick to what he said in the beginning. If they are not going to be strong on their position, they might as well not have bothered."
Suggesting the apparent change of heart could be motivated by concerns among providers that they could lose business if they had to reject cases from unqualified advisers, Wilson said the situation gave further credence to calls for an advisers' trade body for equity release. He added: "SHIP has tried to say previously that it would embrace the intermediary channel, but this is a clear representation of why it cannot have a foot in both camps."
Peter Wright, an adviser at CBK IFA, said it had not been publicised that advisers could work under supervision and commented: "It makes a mockery of the exam – one person in a firm could take it and then supervise up to ten people."
The Ifs School of finance and the CII both stated they were unaware of SHIP's new position.
Sixty Plus comment: SHIP appeared to be taking a firm stance ahead of the FSA's position as regulator. This backward step is surprising and disappointing. This looks to me like product providers worrying about cutting off distribution.
