I'm an independent mortgage broker and can tell you that if they are directly authorised by the FSA then they have to offer you the option to either pay them a fee (can be upto 2% of loan amount which is a hell of a lot if you ask me) and then they refund any money they get from the lender back to you or you let them keep any money from the lender (normally between 0.3% & 0.4% of the loan amount unless its a sub prime mortgage) and then they may charge you a small fee.
FYI I charge upto £200 if some one wants to go down the 2nd route and then only if the money i'm getting from the lender falls below what i need to earn to make a living i.e. if i'm getting £300 for the lender then i may charge you £200 but if i'm getting £500 then i prob wouldn't charge you anything.
It also depends on how complex the case is and how much time i would need to spend on it but there are no hard and fast rules as to how much we can/should charge. Some advisors charge it as an admin fee others as an advice fee…… TBH if you are dealing with one who's out for themselves then it can be a bloody nightmare.
If you want me to help out then my e-mail is in my profile so please feel free to contact me 😉
