In trusted hands

When did you last actively refer a client to a trusted IFA connection? Despite solicitors seeming to be under unrelenting pressure from all sides, many appear to be overlooking some easy wins for themselves and their practice.

If we look at just one area, conveyancing for example, there are a couple of areas where solicitors could be adding value to their clients, building important professional connections and increasing their own (or at least the practice's) fee income.

Wills

A change of home, mortgage and possibly family circumstances is often the perfect catalyst for your clients to require a review of their will. Naturally, you or your private family colleagues would be perfectly positioned to provide this.

Buy-to-let

Increasingly when people buy a new house, they want to keep their old property and rent it out. This creates an opportunity to advise on the tenancy agreements.

It is also an opportunity to refer to a specialist mortgage broker or IFA, to ensure your clients don't inadvertently commit mortgage fraud by failing to switch from a residential mortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage.

Life cover

Moving home almost invariably involves clients taking on a mortgage. However despite this liability, a staggering 50 per cent of people with a mortgage (Scottish Widows survey 05/2014) don't have any associated life cover.

This means that arguably, 50 per cent of your conveyancing clients could benefit from an introduction to a trusted IFA.

No doubt that an IFA would recommend that you, or your private family, place your client's new life assurance under trust, to avoid probate and possibly inheritance tax.

Figures from the Office of National statistics revealed in 2013, that 1,388 people die in Britain every day. That is a large number of grieving families who would be grateful that their solicitor and IFA, have worked together to ensure that they are fully protected.

Naturally these people will return to you to sort out the probate work that their loved one's untimely death will necessitate.

IFAs are always welcome to receiving quality referrals and will be wanting to return the favour. Good IFAs are always striving to provide our clients with the complete service.

This requires a collective based approach and having a trusted solicitor (and accountant) are key to this. This focus on a team approach will result in the IFA generating return referrals.

All in all, looking for opportunities to add value to all of your clients, and creating quality referrals to IFAs and your colleagues, is a win for all; the client, the solicitor, the practice and the IFA.

But as J.P.Morgan's 'Professional Connections' survey revealed, it's one that many solicitors are still overlooking, as 30 per cent of solicitors don't refer clients to an IFA.

So ask yourself, when did you last actively refer a client directly to a trusted IFA connection?

Scott Gallacher is a director at Rowley Turton

He writes the regular IFA comment in Private Client Adviser