Who is the Equity Release Council and what do they do?
Originally launched in 1991, the Equity Release Council (ERC) is an organisation that is supported by the leading providers of equity release within the UK. It was created to promote safe equity release products and to safeguard the interests of homeowners.
The ERC works with the UK government to help make equity release a mainstream product, working to change the overall consumer outlook on the equity release market and driving membership of the ERC, which is open to advisers, valuers, and any industry professional that has an interest in the equity release market.
Always act with the best interests of their clients being paramount, treating customers fairly in all their actions.
This Statement of Principles offers you and your clients peace of mind, and means your clients can use equity release products in confidence, knowing that they will be able to remain in their home for the rest of their lives, or until they enter long-term care.
You have the right to move to another property subject to the new property being acceptable to your product provider.
The product must have a "no negative equity guarantee". This means that when your property is sold, and agents' and solicitors' fees have been paid, even if the amount left is not enough to repay the outstanding loan to your provider, neither you nor your estate will be liable to pay any more.
Members are only allowed to tell their clients that a product meets these product standards if it meets all of them. If clients are offered or are considering a product that does not meet all of the standards, the product literature must explain which standards are not met, and give an illustration of the types of risk that this might pose for them.
All Equity Release Council members who provide equity release products give consumers a no negative equity guarantee, meaning that no matter what happens to the housing market, they will never owe more than the value of their home when it is sold following death or entering long-term care.