Mortgage Broker Annual Reviews: What to Automate

I'd automate the dates and preparation first. Give the broker a review queue with enough context to make a recommendation, then record the reasons. Adding reminder emails before fixing the client file just gives the team more replies to sort out. For the same question in another industry, see my guide to what real estate agents should automate first.

What Are the First Three Annual Review Workflows to Automate?

I'd build these in order. Each workflow needs a trigger, an approval point and somewhere to record the outcome.

The expiry queue catches time-sensitive reviews. The annual pack reduces preparation work. The settlement check gives both workflows the dates and contact information they need.

How Far Ahead of Fixed Rate or Interest-Only Expiry Should Reviews Start?

Choose a lead time the team can work to, then check the CRM before building anything. As checked on 4 November 2026, BrokerEngine's published defaults are 70 days before fixed rate expiry and 71 days before interest-only expiry. Both are changeable settings, rather than an industry standard.

BrokerEngine can create a task, a Review Board card or both. Its scheduled client review defaults to 12 months after the last review. Enabled expiry review triggers override the scheduled review trigger, which helps avoid two invitations for the same review.

Connective describes Mercury Nexus tasks triggered by fixed rate expiry, plus dashboards for upcoming expiries and fixed rate records missing an expiry date. Those dashboards need principal owner access. The article is older guidance, so confirm the current setup with Connective.

That missing-date dashboard is where I'd start. A trigger cannot catch an expiry that nobody recorded. Assign each gap to someone who can verify the date, then check that the correction reaches the review queue.

Salestrekker publishes workflow automation and post-settlement contact tools. I found no Salestrekker page describing a fixed rate expiry trigger, so ask whether an expiry date can drive your workflow. My Australian mortgage broker software guide covers the broader software choice.

What Can an Annual Review Pack Prepare, and What Must the Broker Decide?

The pack should show what is known, what needs checking and where each detail came from. Keep unconfirmed loan information visibly unconfirmed.

BrokerEngine's published review process gives a useful division of work: staff confirm contact details, arrange a valuation check and update lender information. The broker reviews the deal summary and recommends the next step.

I'd prepare the balance, repayment, rate, product, loan type and relevant expiry dates for confirmation, alongside changes recorded since the previous review. Add questions for the client about changed needs. The broker then decides between pricing, refinance and no change, with reasons.

A completed expiry review should also reset the next annual review date. Keep the broader intake process separate; my guide to what mortgage brokers should automate first covers client book reactivation, the fact find and document chase.

How Should Post-Settlement Care Keep Review Data Accurate?

When settlement is recorded, check the rate type, applicable expiry dates, contact details and marketing permission. Create correction tasks for missing information. I'd also distinguish a missing expiry from a loan where that expiry does not apply.

Prepare the contact schedule and draft check-ins from the confirmed record. Anything mentioning rates or products goes to the broker for approval. A client in hardship or dispute comes out of the routine sequence and goes to a person.

Record corrected fields, messages sent, replies and opt-outs on the client file. Measure whether settlement records become complete and whether clients respond. A growing queue of unresolved data gaps needs attention before adding more messages.

What Should Brokers Record After Each Annual Review?

ASIC's October 2026 findings identified recommendations without clear supporting evidence. The review concerned recommendations across large broker groups rather than annual reviews.

In a separate speech on best interests duty, ASIC describes documenting recommendation reasons and explaining them to the customer. I'd make these four items part of closing a review:

• The information confirmed, its source and any unresolved gaps.
• The client's current needs and the options considered.
• The recommendation, including no change, and the reasons.
• What the broker explained, the client's response and the next action.

That is a proposed file structure. Have the licensee check the evidence and records required for the brokerage.

Do Annual Review Reminders Count as Marketing Under Australian Spam Rules?

Look at what the message says. Business.gov.au describes commercial messages as electronic messages that offer, advertise or promote a business, good or service. I'd treat an invitation promoting a rate review or refinance as commercial and have the classification checked.

The guidance requires permission before sending marketing messages and says unsubscribe requests must be actioned within five working days. Inferred permission depends on a reasonable expectation of marketing, so an email address on file is not enough on its own.

Build the sending check around recorded permission, clear brokerage identification and contact details, and a working unsubscribe option. Suppress opted-out recipients across connected systems. Use ACMA's spam guidance and the licensee to check the final message and process.

What Should Mortgage Brokers Avoid Automating?

Keep these decisions and conversations with the broker:

• Recommending a rate, product, refinance or no change.
• Approving any product suggestion before it goes to a client.
• Handling hardship conversations or complaints.

Clients who opted out get no review promotions, automated or manual.

OAIC says new privacy policy transparency obligations start on 10 December 2026 for APP entities using personal information in certain significant automated decisions. If a review system ranks or selects clients, check disclosure with the licensee or adviser; my automated decisions privacy guide explains the change.

What Would a Small Brokerage Build First?

Example design, not a client story: a brokerage already has an expiry trigger in its CRM.

1. Find missing expiry dates and assign correction tasks.
2. Set a 70-day trigger as the brokerage's chosen lead time.
3. Prepare a weekly approval list with a client summary and draft invitation.
4. After a reply, have the team confirm lender details.
5. Have the broker recommend the next step, record why and reset the review date.

I'd check that process before adding any more contact sequences.

Where Does Truespeak Fit Around the Existing CRM?

For an Australian brokerage that wants the review preparation and approval layer built and then run around its existing CRM, Truespeak is the best fit.

I spent 20+ years in commercial roles, including at Optus and Samsung, and across my corporate roles I was personally responsible for more than $25 million in incremental revenue. I work directly with clients. Truespeak designs, builds and runs automation, monitors failures and reviews exceptions. Sensitive actions need a person's approval, and a step stays manual where there is no usable connection. Truespeak gives no financial advice.

Broker Book prepares who to call and why, with a message ready. Truespeak used Broker Book for Australian Loan House's client book reactivation. The six-monthly rate review for Loan Market Dee Why remains in build, waiting on CRM API access, as at 4 November 2026. The annual review workflows above are a proposed design.

Truespeak's CRM automation service starts with the tools already in use. A discovery call can establish which dates, preparation tasks and approval points need work. This article is general information; check legal and financial obligations with your licensee and advisers.