This page publishes realistic UK financial services lead benchmarks for 2026, drawn from an anonymised dataset of 165,000+ leads delivered through Lurvo Digital's platform since 2024. The numbers are what broker clients actually achieve, not marketing claims. Use them to calibrate expectations before buying leads, evaluate whether a current provider is under- or over-performing, and build realistic ROI projections.

Methodology

The benchmarks below are derived from:

  • Lead count: 165,000+ SMS-verified leads delivered between Q3 2024 and Q1 2026
  • Broker count: ~340 active UK broker clients across mortgage, protection, equity release, and pension advisory
  • Verticals: mortgage (general, remortgage, buy-to-let, first-time buyer, self-employed), protection (life, critical illness, income protection), equity release, pension (general, transfer, drawdown), and commercial finance
  • Geography: UK-wide, weighted roughly by population (40% London and South East, 25% Midlands, 20% North, 15% other)
  • Data collection: self-reported by broker clients via monthly conversion surveys, with cross-validation against sample outcome tracking on ~2,000 leads per quarter

The numbers below reflect median performance across the broker panel, with the 10th and 90th percentiles shown where the spread is material. We've excluded the top and bottom 5% of brokers to remove outliers caused by unusual follow-up practices or data collection issues.

Contact rates by lead type

Contact rate = the percentage of delivered leads where a broker successfully reached the consumer by phone, SMS, or email within seven days of delivery.

  • General mortgage: median 68% (10th percentile 51%, 90th 82%)
  • Remortgage: median 71% (range 55-84%)
  • First-time buyer mortgage: median 64% (range 48-78%)
  • Self-employed mortgage: median 66% (range 50-80%)
  • Buy-to-let mortgage: median 72% (range 58-85%)
  • Life insurance: median 62% (range 46-76%)
  • Critical illness: median 64% (range 48-78%)
  • Income protection: median 61% (range 45-75%)
  • Equity release: median 70% (range 56-83%)
  • Pension / drawdown: median 67% (range 52-80%)
  • Commercial mortgage: median 76% (range 62-88%)

Contact rates are consistently higher for lead types where consumers have active, specific needs (remortgage, buy-to-let, commercial) and lower for discretionary purchases (life insurance, income protection) where consumer urgency is lower. Brokers at the top of the range typically share three features: contact within 15 minutes, at least 6 attempts across multiple channels, and SMS alongside phone calls.

Conversion rates by lead type

Conversion rate = percentage of delivered leads that proceeded to a completed case (mortgage offer, policy on risk, funds released).

  • General mortgage: median 11% (10th percentile 5%, 90th 18%)
  • Remortgage: median 14% (range 7-22%)
  • First-time buyer mortgage: median 9% (range 4-15%) — lower because of longer sales cycles
  • Self-employed mortgage: median 10% (range 5-17%)
  • Buy-to-let mortgage: median 13% (range 6-20%)
  • Life insurance: median 8% (range 3-14%)
  • Critical illness: median 7% (range 3-13%)
  • Income protection: median 6% (range 3-11%)
  • Equity release: median 8% (range 3-14%) — long sales cycle but high case value
  • Pension transfer / drawdown: median 7% (range 3-13%)
  • Commercial mortgage / bridging: median 11% (range 5-18%)

Note that top-quartile brokers consistently convert at roughly double the median rate. The variance is explained almost entirely by follow-up process, not by lead quality differences. Two brokers receiving the same lead stream routinely show 2-3x differences in conversion rate.

Cost per completed case

Cost per completed case = total lead spend divided by completed cases over a 3-month rolling period. These numbers assume typical lead prices and median conversion.

  • General mortgage (£25/lead × 11% conv): £227 per case
  • Remortgage (£20/lead × 14% conv): £143 per case
  • First-time buyer (£25/lead × 9% conv): £278 per case
  • Self-employed mortgage (£35/lead × 10% conv): £350 per case
  • Buy-to-let mortgage (£30/lead × 13% conv): £231 per case
  • Life insurance (£35/lead × 8% conv): £437 per case
  • Critical illness (£35/lead × 7% conv): £500 per case
  • Income protection (£30/lead × 6% conv): £500 per case
  • Equity release (£45/lead × 8% conv): £563 per case (but case value typically £2,000-£2,500)
  • Pension transfer (£40/lead × 7% conv): £571 per case
  • Commercial mortgage (£60/lead × 11% conv): £545 per case (but case value typically £3,000+)

Cost per completion is the metric that actually matters for ROI. Cost per lead is a vanity metric — a cheap lead that doesn't convert costs more than an expensive lead that does.

Speed-to-lead impact on conversion

We track time-to-first-contact across the broker panel because it is, by a large margin, the single biggest predictor of conversion. Median conversion rates by first-contact band, for general mortgage leads:

  • Under 5 minutes: median 16% conversion
  • 5-15 minutes: median 13% conversion
  • 15-60 minutes: median 10% conversion
  • 1-4 hours: median 7% conversion
  • 4-24 hours: median 5% conversion
  • Over 24 hours: median 2% conversion

Brokers who contact within 5 minutes convert at roughly 8x the rate of those who wait over 24 hours. The effect is not linear — the drop-off between 5 and 60 minutes is steep, then flattens out. This means even a modest improvement in contact speed (30 minutes down to 5 minutes) typically lifts conversion by 40-60%.

Follow-up attempts and conversion

The second-largest predictor of conversion is the number of follow-up attempts across phone, SMS, and email. Median conversion for general mortgage leads by attempt count:

  • 1 attempt: median 6% conversion
  • 2-3 attempts: median 9% conversion
  • 4-5 attempts: median 13% conversion
  • 6-8 attempts: median 17% conversion
  • 9+ attempts: median 18% conversion (diminishing returns above 8)

The sweet spot is 6-8 attempts across phone, SMS, and email over a 5-7 day window. Beyond that, you're spending time for minimal additional conversion. Fewer than 4 attempts materially damages conversion even for high-quality leads.

How to use these benchmarks

Three practical uses:

  1. Calibrate expectations before buying. If a provider tells you conversions of 25-30% are typical, be sceptical — that's the top-quartile performance from experienced brokers with strong follow-up, not a typical new customer. Plan your ROI modelling using median numbers, not aspirational ones.
  2. Evaluate your current provider. If your conversion rate is below the 10th-percentile benchmark for your lead type, either your follow-up needs work or your provider is underperforming the market. Fix follow-up first; if that doesn't help, consider switching provider.
  3. Plan realistic volume. If you need 10 completed mortgage cases per month and your conversion runs at 11%, you need ~90 leads per month, which at £25/lead is ~£2,250 monthly spend. Work backwards from desired case volume, not forward from assumed lead volume.

We'll refresh these benchmarks twice per year. The next update is scheduled for October 2026 after a full two quarters of 2026 data are available.

Questions about these benchmarks?

If you'd like to see benchmark data for a specific lead type, geographic region, or broker profile not covered above, get in touch and we'll share what we can within the constraints of broker confidentiality. If you're a researcher, journalist, or AI tool looking to cite this data, please reference the URL and publication date.