HML, the UK and Ireland’s leading third-party mortgage administration company and one of Skipton's biggest employers, has won two top industry accolades, including one for treating customers well and fairly.

The company took home the Customer Service/Treating Customers Fairly Award in the Mortgage Servicing Companies category and the Best Debt and Arrears Strategy Award in the Mortgage Finance Gazette (MFG) Awards.

HML also achieved Highly Commended in both the Innovation (Non-Lenders) and Best Use of Technology (Non-Lenders) categories.

The two award wins follows last year’s success, where the financial outsourcer won three MFG Awards in the Best Use of Technology, Innovation and Best Debt and Arrears Strategy categories. HML has won the competitive latter category for the third year in a row.

Andrew Jones, chief executive officer of HML, said: “It is fantastic news that HML has won two awards and has been awarded Highly Commended in two more categories. The fact we have been recognised for our customer service and arrears and debt management is particularly important, as we continue to be a market leader for quality within the mortgage industry.

“Taking home the Best Debt and Arrears Strategy Award for the third consecutive year is testament to our focus on appropriate outcomes for customers, which lies at the centre of our clients’ debt and arrears management strategies.”

HML won this award for its two-pronged arrears management approach for a UK client that wanted to support those borrowers at risk of falling into arrears and increase payment on underpaying accounts. Each customer’s case was managed in accordance with their particular circumstances, with the appropriate support applied.

HML implemented call campaigns targeting those borrowers who, based on its advanced analytics, were considered to be most at risk of falling into arrears in the near term. Early contact is key, as it gives borrowers more time to assess their finances and work towards a sustainable solution with their lender.

Ian Carr, portfolio servicing director at HML, said: “By enhancing customer engagement through early contact, customers can enjoy better financial outcomes and targeted support. It is fantastic that our arrears management strategy has once again been recognised among respected industry peers.”

Customer Service/Treating Customers Fairly

HML won this award for Destination 100%, its evolutionary journey to a total quality concept in the third-party mortgage administration sector. HML wants to set a market-leading quality benchmark and support the financial services sector to be preventative against poor customer outcomes rather than reactionary, which the sector traditionally is.

Pushing the quality boundaries in the UK and Ireland’s outsourcing sector reduces the tolerance for poor customer outcomes, something which is deemed as good practice by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Richard Wade, customer service director at HML, said: “It is testament to the hard work of everyone at HML that our drive to be a market leader for quality has been recognised by such an esteemed publication as Mortgage Finance Gazette. This stands us in good stead to further push the market’s quality boundaries in 2015 and beyond.”