Case management
complete guide.

1. Enquiry: first contact captured, consent recorded.
2. Qualification: affordability indicator, fit for firm.
3. Fact-find: full financial picture, vulnerable-customer check.
4. Recommendation: product research, suitability statement.
5. DIP: decision in principle with chosen lender.
6. Valuation: property valuation instructed.
7. Application: full application submitted, documents chased.
8. Offer: mortgage offer received, reviewed with client.
9. Exchange: contracts exchanged.
10. Completion: funds released, case completed.
11. Post-completion: review diary, next-best-action.

Stages 1, 3, 4, 8 are adviser work — they require regulated judgement. Stages 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11 can be admin-led with adviser sign-off. A well-designed firm splits the workload along these lines; a badly-designed firm has the adviser doing all 11 stages alone.

• Stage 3: incomplete fact-find, vulnerable-customer check missed.
• Stage 4: suitability rationale too thin to survive a file review.
• Stage 7: document chase drops, case stalls silently.
• Stage 10: completion call missed, client left without post-completion advice.

Consumer Duty evidence fires at stages 1, 3, 4, 7, and 10. AML screening fires at stage 3. SMCR evidence (who did what) is captured at every stage. Your CRM either captures this automatically or your compliance function chases it manually — there is no third option.