Independent James are striving to be recognised for being a socially responsible adviser.
We believe in doing our bit towards making the UK and the world a more sustainable and inclusive place to live. How we do business and our social and environmental impact is important, but it is more than just having a badge or logo beside our company name. Our accreditations are about ‘walking the walk’ as we are a living wage employer and are working towards being a carbon zero business. We also take our responsibility as a financial company seriously and we are committed to protecting your data, and keeping any information you entrust with us secure.
Progress can be seen as a luxury for many businesses right now and we appreciate that being able to limit our impact on the environment and work with our local community is a privilege. We also believe in helping and other companies, and individuals, in their efforts into making real, lasting change.
All our advisers have the CeMAP - the Certificate in Mortgage Advice and Practice - as a minimum. This is the industry-standard qualification for any business offering mortgage advice. Most of our advisers hold higher accreditations including chartered status. This is a postgraduate level qualification which is also awarded to those who have demonstrated a level of excellence in their career. These are awarded by the London Institute of Banking & Finance which is an internationally- recognised awarding body for professional qualifications in banking and finance.
So that we can offer the most comprehensive whole of market mortgage advice service, we are an organisation committed to the continuing professional development (CPD) of our staff.
We also take our responsibility as a financial adviser with access to important and sensitive information seriously, so all of us have regular advanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks.
In the UK all financial advisers are authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) which is the UK’s main regulator of mortgages. This means Independent James has to meet certain standards and follow FCA rules, many of which have been set down by the government. These rules make sure all consumers are treated fairly, they have adequate protection, and that the products and services offered by companies are suitable.
You can check the Financial Services Register (FS Register) to make sure a firm or individual is authorised, the register will also tell you the activities the firm has permission for.
We believe we can help the environment and be a force for climate change. To do this Independent James has signed up to Carbon Neutral Britain, an organisation which calculates our carbon emissions. It uses the ISO 14064 and GHG Emissions Protocol Accounting Standard which are used by businesses around the world to calculate their carbon emissions.
We are not just carbon neutral, we have also signed up to a Carbon Reduction Plan (CRP) with the aim of achieving net zero carbon emissions. We also do this through Carbon Neutral Britain and investing in projects run by the Woodland Trust.
Independent James is a Living Wage Employer. Making sure our directly-employed staff are paid enough to live on it is the right and responsible thing to do and goes further than the government minimum, i.e. the National Minimum Wage. Independent James is listed on the Living Wage Foundation website and employer map and the current Living Wage rates are £9.90 per hour and £11.05 in London.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) was set up by the government to help manage data held by organisations and helps enforce parts of the Data Protection Act 2018.
You might have heard of the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR which sets out how your personal information is used by organisations, businesses or the government. Independent James has by law to use all our clients data fairly, lawfully and transparently.
We also have to keep it up to date, but we have an obligation to make sure we keep your data secure. As a financial services company we know how important this is and we make it clear our clients also have the right to be informed about their data is being used.
Please do get in touch if you have any further questions on these matters.
