Advantage Financial Solutions Ltd

Advantage FS: independent mortgage advice from Bristol

Advantage Financial Solutions Ltd, trading as Advantage FS, is a mortgage and protection brokerage headquartered in the Bridgeyate area of Bristol. The firm presents itself as an independent broker and states that it is directly authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Its team describes decades of combined experience in mortgage and protection advice.

Although the business is rooted in the Bristol and Bath area, it reports that most of its advisory work is carried out by telephone, which allows it to serve clients throughout England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as British expatriates in a range of countries.

Mortgage solutions across the full range of borrowers

The brokerage covers the main residential lending scenarios: first-time buyers, home movers, remortgaging and the option of a new rate with the same lender. It also arranges buy-to-let finance and mortgages for self-employed people and company directors. Beyond the standard cases, the firm lists a series of specialist categories:

• Expert expat mortgages and lending for foreign nationals
• Later life and over-50s lending
• Guarantor mortgages and joint borrower, sole proprietor arrangements
• Mortgages for barristers and for dentists
• Cases involving complex income or adverse credit
• Borrowers who have been told they cannot obtain a mortgage

According to the company, it works with access to more than 100 lenders and used over 80 of them in a single year to place client cases. It contrasts this with advisers limited to a smaller panel.

Fees and the no-offer, no-fee approach

Advantage FS states that its advice is free of charge and that it only charges a fee once a mortgage offer has been produced. The firm describes this as a "No Mortgage, No Fee" promise and indicates a typical fee of £450, paid when the offer is issued. It also explains that its fee structure is tiered and tailored to each case, and that it includes direct-only deals in its research so that clients are told about cheaper products it is aware of, even when those are not available through brokers.

Protection and insurance lines

Alongside mortgages, the brokerage arranges protection and general insurance products. The published range includes life insurance, critical illness cover, income protection and family income benefit, with specific attention to clients who have struggled to obtain life cover and to motorcyclists. On the general insurance side it lists buildings insurance, contents insurance and landlord insurance.

How the advice is delivered

Clients are given access to a secure online portal for messages and documents, and the firm says it adapts the format of its service to each customer, whether in person, by telephone or by email. It also publishes online calculators for monthly mortgage payments and stamp duty, and maintains a set of frequently asked questions covering first-time buyers, non-UK nationals, business directors and life insurance.

The company describes its approach as non-pushy and "anti-sales", with an emphasis on managing client expectations through the application process. It states that it has arranged thousands of mortgages for customers seeking conventional service, such as home movers, first-time buyers and those remortgaging, and that it has a detailed knowledge of the Bristol property market, including construction types, home ownership schemes and legal clauses.

Recognition and partnerships

Advantage FS reports that it is the top Google-rated mortgage broker in the south west of England and within the top 5% in the UK, and its own presentation refers to more five-star reviews than any other independent broker in Bristol. It also states that Uswitch and Money.co.uk use it to provide specialist mortgage advice to their audiences.

Regulatory information

The firm is registered in England and Wales under company number 12291836, with its registered office at The Carriage Works, London Road, Bridgeyate, Bristol, BS30 5NA. It notes that not all mortgages are available through brokers and that some buy-to-let mortgages fall outside Financial Conduct Authority regulation.