Case study

How switching to Acre kick-started the move to DA

Subscribe to our newsletter

Thank you! Your submission has been received!

Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Neaf, director of Mortgage Hand, has been a directly authorised broker (DA) for a couple of years. Neaf took the leap from being an appointed representative (AR) of the Mortgage Advice Bureau as he wanted to start his own firm. One big concern Neaf had was staying on top of paperwork and working efficiently.

‍

We spoke to Neaf to hear his thoughts on the platform and onboarding process at Acre.

‍

Why did you switch to Acre?

‍

Neaf had previously worked as an AR but with a growing family and an urge to be in business for himself, he took the leap and became directly authorised.

‍

“Going AR to DA is different. You’ve got more responsibility on yourself. You do the branding, marketing, watch reviews and reputation as well as dealing with the FCA, banking, and reports. It’s basically madness…good madness.”

‍

After trying out some alternative mortgage software providers, Neaf decided he needed a system that brings everything into one place and lets him get more out of his time by cutting out repetitive paperwork such as suitability reports.

‍

Neaf came across Acre through a recommendation from a PMS member. After looking into Acre’s product features and booking a demo, it became a no-brainer for Neaf to move.

‍

How Acre helped:

‍

1. Automatic Suitability

‍

‍For a one-person firm, writing suitability reports for all your clients can be a time-sink. Skimming through your notes, manually adding client details, and copying across product information is a time-consuming process, especially when added to the never-ending pile of tasks for a mortgage broker.

‍

Demonstrating suitability is a huge part of a compliant process, which is why Acre’s automatic suitability report has helped Neaf launch his business and stay one step ahead without additional effort that usually requires long hours. Acre adapts its template dynamically based on the clients, situation, and needs - and pulls all the information you need directly from the case. If something changes, Acre automatically handles the workflow to reissue and reapprove the report.

‍

“The suitability report was lost on me on my previous platform. They wanted me to manually input all the parameters. It was a massive added stress. As a business owner, if that compliance is wrong it’s going to come back and bite you. It’s not worth it.

‍

As someone who doesn’t have time, and who isn’t an IT whizz kid, Acre is so easy to use, so simple. The suitability report is pre-populated, the software is user-friendly, and it’s all compliant.”

‍

2. Increased efficiency for smaller teams

‍

In Neaf’s case, being a single-broker firm can have its challenges. For example, the lack of time and increasing to-do list leads to late nights and increased stress levels. This is where Acre’s workflow can save hours per week.

‍

By listening to brokers and building the system around their day-to-day, Acre allows the advice process to become self-documenting. No more hand-scribbled fact finds or notes because you can easily drop things into the system as you go.

‍

”As a business owner, I’m so busy because it’s just me. But Acre is so fast and efficient. As long as my fact find is completed and correct, I can package a mortgage and protection in 30 minutes. The system is so easy.

‍

The workflow is in order too – the fact find, credit commitments, budget planner. It goes in line. Even home insurance in sourcing. It’s all these little things that help.”

‍

3. Dedicated customer success team

‍

Neaf was pleased not only with the quality of Acre’s software but with the onboarding, training and support during his system transition. Moving to a new system is always challenging, but Acre’s Customer Success team accompanied Neaf through the whole process.

‍

Every new Acre customer receives dedicated training sessions, weekly topical webinars, and access to a huge library of articles and videos to help you learn the Acre way. Lead by experienced Customer Success team members, these resources are key to make rolling out a new technology a success. In addition, Acre offers free and fast ongoing support for any issues you might encounter, and to help you learn how Acre can grow your business.

‍

“As soon as I call or email the team, it’s basically instant. The team are on it and help me so quickly. As a business owner, I’m so busy, and if there’s ever a hitch it’s all on just me. But the Customer Success team are so fast and efficient."

‍

What’s your favourite feature?

‍

“The suitability report is up there. It’s ready, pre-populated and compliant every time.”

‍

Are you happy with your choice?

‍

“Yeah 100%. I’m fully fledged Acre. As a business owner I’m so busy because it’s just me. Acre is so fast and efficient. The workflow is in order too – the fact find, credit commitments, budget planner. It goes in line. Even home insurance in sourcing. It’s all these little things that help.”

‍

“If your software isn’t up to scratch, it’s going to set you back massively. If anything messes up on the system, it could take you half a day to sort. Time is money and software is key to that.”

‍

How Acre can help your business save time

‍

If you want to transform your business like Neaf did, and save on your cases, then book your demo today!

‍

Our Business Development team would love to show you Acre and answer any questions you may have.

‍

Acre is now Score

What's changed?

What's changing is the name and the way we look. Acre is now trading as Score, with a fresh brand identity to match, but everything you rely on stays exactly where it is. It's still the same mortgage all-in-one platform that advisors, firms, and networks across the country already use to grow their businesses, now presented under a name that brings us in line with the wider ClearScore Group.

Why the new name?

ClearScore acquired Acre earlier this year, and we've carried plenty of momentum into life as part of the Group since. Moving to the Score brand is a natural next step, because it brings us in line with ClearScore and reflects the mission we share, which is to make home buying quicker and easier and to help people take control of their financial lives. As our founder and Managing Director Justus Brown has put it, the day-to-day service you receive won't change at all, and bringing our brand together with the Group simply makes that shared mission clearer.

Has the mission changed?

Not in the slightest! We have always been here to make home buying quicker and easier, taking the pain out of the process so that people can get into their homes sooner, and that is exactly what we will keep doing, with a good deal more behind us now to do it well.

Will the service change?

No, it won't, you'll continue working with the same platform and the same people, and your existing contracts and commercial terms stay exactly as they are, still held with the same legal entity, Acre Platforms Limited. Our Customer Success team will keep looking after you just as they do today.

About ClearScore

Who is ClearScore?

The ClearScore Group is a global leader in financial marketplaces, helping over 27 million people access credit, insurance, and other financial products with greater transparency, fairness, and control. It founded its flagship UK credit marketplace in 2015, has since expanded across four continents and into new verticals such as its DriveScore app, and now works with over 200 partners worldwide. ClearScore is profitable, growing, and on a mission to make personal finance clearer, calmer, and easier to understand, and that mission runs right through its culture, along with a genuine belief in giving people more clarity and control over their money.

How do we fit into ClearScore?

We sit alongside ClearScore's other technology platforms, including D•One, its open banking service for lenders, together powering borrowing and home lending across unsecured credit, auto finance, and now mortgages.

What does the change
unlock?

What does joining ClearScore bring?

Joining ClearScore gives us a great deal more room to grow. With their backing, we can accelerate our technology roadmap and bring new AI-powered features to the platform faster than we could before, and we can enrich what we build with ClearScore's proprietary data and insights, getting cutting-edge technology into the hands of mortgage and protection businesses sooner.

What do brokers and firms stand to gain?

For the brokers and firms who use us, it really comes down to growing faster. Drawing on ClearScore's financial power and its UK user base of over 16 million, we can build the features you ask for more quickly and bring more leads into the ecosystem, which gives brokers, networks, and advisors more opportunities to win new business.

Is the business growing?

We're growing quickly, and so are the firms who build their business on the platform. Since the acquisition, we've seen record numbers of monthly mortgage submissions come through Score, and we've more than doubled our revenue year on year, with growth of over 2.5x. That momentum is showing up in our customers' businesses too: firms on the platform are saving each broker around four days a month on application processing, identifying protection needs for 85% of their mortgage clients, and doubling their client conversion rates. Delivering results like these takes serious engineering and serious investment, and with ClearScore behind us we can keep raising that bar at a pace few others in the market can match.

Why build your business on Score?

Because you'll be choosing a platform that is built to last. A lot of new mortgage tools have appeared lately, and many of them are small, pop-up CRMs put together quickly on basic AI, the kind of thing that can disappear just as fast as it arrived. Score is a very different proposition, we are an established, whole-of-market platform that brokers, networks, and advisors across the country already trust with their businesses, and we are now backed by one of the most advanced and reliable fintech stacks in the industry through ClearScore. A proven platform, real investment, and genuine scale mean we can keep powering ahead of newer, lighter-weight tools and keep building for the long term.

Independence and
ownership

Is Acre being absorbed into ClearScore?

No. We operate as an independent business unit within the ClearScore Group, with our full management team staying exactly where they are, and we'll carry on supporting mortgage and protection firms with the same data-driven platform, now with the reach and scale of the wider Group behind us.

Will our advice-first philosophy change?

No. We have always believed that the best mortgage decisions come from high-quality, personal advice, and it is a belief ClearScore shares. If anything, the direction the market is heading only reinforces it, which is why we will stay a whole-of-market platform focused on helping brokers do their very best work for their clients.

Your data

Is my data safe?

Yes, and nothing about the move to Score changes that. Your data, and your clients' data, is protected by exactly the same contractual obligations and technical safeguards as before, and being part of ClearScore does not give anyone new access to it. We will never introduce your customers to a third party without the right consent, and your clients always keep the rights to their own data. If anything, joining a group whose entire business is built on handling data responsibly, and only ever with the user's permission, raises the bar we hold ourselves to.

The best way to see what Score can do is to book a demo, and we'll walk you through the platform and how it could work for your firm. If you'd rather drop us a line, you can reach our sales team at sales@scoremortgage.com, or send any general enquiries to hello@scoremortgage.com.