Our advisers

One qualified adviser, named on your file.

Mortgage advice in the UK is a regulated activity carried out by individuals who have to be qualified to do it. This page sets out what that qualification means, and what the person holding your case is responsible for.

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An adviser mid-conversation at a desk, a laptop and notepad open in front of her.

Qualification

Advising on a mortgage is not something anyone may do.

Giving advice on a regulated mortgage contract requires an appropriate qualification recognised by the Financial Conduct Authority — in practice a Level 3 mortgage advice qualification, of which CeMAP is the most widely held. It is examined, and it has to be held before advice is given rather than worked towards afterwards.

Beyond the qualification, an adviser has to be assessed as competent by the firm they work for and then remain so, through continuing professional development and ongoing supervision. The firm itself must be authorised, or act as an appointed representative of a firm that is.

That structure is the reason it is always reasonable to ask an adviser two questions: what they are qualified to advise on, and which authorised firm they are advising under. Both answers are also checkable, free, on the Financial Services Register.

Ask any adviser which firm they act for, and check that firm on the Financial Services Register before you share documents with them.

An adviser who recommends a specific product is giving advice, and advice carries a right of complaint that information alone does not.

Overhead view of two people either side of a wooden table, one working at a laptop beside loose papers and a pen.

Responsibility

What the adviser on your file does.

Establishes the facts

Income in all its forms, outgoings, credit commitments, deposit and its source, plans for the next few years. The last of these decides the length of the initial period, and it is the one most often skipped.

Searches and shortlists

Across residential lenders, filtering first on criteria your case actually meets and then ranking what remains on total cost across the initial period.

Recommends, and explains why

One product, with the reasoning, the alternatives that were close, and what would change the answer. A recommendation without the runners-up is not much of a recommendation.

Submits and holds the case

The application goes in complete. The adviser then deals with the underwriter's questions, the valuer's findings and the conveyancer's queries directly, rather than relaying them to you.

Reports position, not reassurance

Where the case actually is at each stage, including when it is stuck and what it is stuck on. A weekly nothing-to-report is more useful than a monthly optimism.

Stays to completion

Through offer, exchange and completion — including the fortnight before completion, which is when most of the last-minute questions appear.

The team

Who you would be working with.

A Star Mortgage Services is a two-adviser firm, and both advisers are also its directors. That is the whole team — there is no tier below it for your case to be passed down to.

Dhian Sodha — Mortgage Broker and Director

Advises on residential and buy-to-let mortgages across purchases, moves and remortgages, and holds cases from the first conversation through to completion.

As a director of the firm, he is also accountable for how it advises — which means a question about the recommendation and a question about the firm reach the same person.

Reshma Sodha — Mortgage Broker and Director

Advises on residential and buy-to-let mortgages across purchases, moves and remortgages, and holds cases from the first conversation through to completion.

As a director of the firm, she is also accountable for how it advises — which means a question about the recommendation and a question about the firm reach the same person.

What either of them will confirm at the outset

The adviser taking your case will confirm their name, the qualification they advise under and the firm they act for at the start of the first conversation, and all three appear on every document you are sent.

Both advise under A Star Mortgage Services Ltd, which is on the Financial Services Register under reference 948502. The register is free to search, and checking an adviser's firm before you send documents is worth the two minutes it takes.

How a case is allocated

By the shape of the case rather than by rota. A self-employed director's application, a portfolio landlord and a first purchase are not the same problem, and they do not benefit from the same experience.

With two advisers, the practical effect is that whichever of them takes your call keeps it. A case does not change hands partway through unless you ask for it to.

Keep reading

What you getClarity, speed, cost and people — the four things that change how the process feels, described in full rather than as headlines.

CareersThe roles we recruit for, the qualifications each one needs, and how to register an interest.

How to complainHow to raise a complaint, the timescales we work to under the FCA's rules, and your right to refer the matter onward.

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage. Figures shown on this site are illustrative estimates and do not constitute advice or an offer of credit.

Next step

Speak to the person who will hold the case.

The first conversation is with the adviser who would run your application, not with a call centre passing you on afterwards.

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No credit check
No cost
No commitment