Standard Life Whas going about the last rate cut and this one??

chrismcam

womble23 wrote: »

Most people with SL will have signed a contract, read a KFI etc, more than likely they'd been guided to SL by a Financial Advisor, and at a time when their rates were quite favourable. And equally when looking at a mortgage based on a variable rate, they'd have been lead to believe/assumed that all mortgage providers would move up and down by similar (if not the same amount) with any base rate change.

And while the rate reduction is a commercial decision, Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling were being quoted as asking for banks/building societies to treat customers fairly and reduce their rates. Unfortunately leaving for most people is not a simple matter, given that they'd tend to have significant costs associated with any early redemption fee.

I've not reviewed my contract yet, but has anyone reviewed their contracts to see what formal link it has to LIBOR?

Also, has SL's KFI had any of the 'weaknesses' that some of the other banks have had?

Do you even know what Treating Customers Fairly means?
It means that banks must treat all their customers identically (i.e don't waive a fee for one customer but not the other etc.).

Standard Life are doing this - everyone gets a 0.8% cut!

If someone has been led to believe something which simply isn't true by an IFA then surely their issue is with them? Not the bank!

The credit crunch has hit everyone hard - banks included. Standard Life is merely trying to manage it's mortgage and savings business as best it can in difficult times. Much larger banks have already had to go cap in hand for taxpayers money to bail them out - and I think it's these banks to whom the Chancellor refers. Would everyone like Standard Life to drop their rates to unaffordable levels and then hit the wall a la Northern Rock? Then your savings might be lost!

dunstonh

1. They are greedy b*****s.
2. They are in big s**t
Either one is not good for us . I hope you agree.

2 is closer to the mark. However, I dont think they are at the level of failing. They just dont have the money to absorb the loss of passing the rate on.

Just for the record, I am no fan of Std Life. Its been over 5 years since I last used them as their products are nothing special and generally not competitive. They have no product that stands out in any area that cannot be easily beaten by other providers.

I just feel that in this case they are getting stick when really they shouldnt be.

Nobody expects charity from them but to be fair and follow the mainstream.

If their lending was BoE base rate linked then fair enough.

What you will probably find is that if LIBOR stays down over the quarter then a further drop will come. Its not in sync with the base rate. It was cheaper over the last few years, its more expensive at the moment and looking forward it could remain more expensive or become cheaper again.

However a mortgage can change or mess up a whole family life .This why I think the mortgage lenders have a higher responsibility than the unsecured loan lenders. The mortgage lenders can't play with peoples life.

Lots of things can mess up a whole family life. Also, we do have to remember that even at their current rate, they are far cheaper than the long term average mortgage rate. Anything under 7.5% is cheaper so, if affordability is an issue, then that points to a wider problem at home rather than an issue with Standard Life.

That said, these "new" lenders without the backing of deposits should have been under greater scrutiny due to the increased risk that was taken. That is very much a hindsight thing though.

womble23

Has anyone tried accessing their mortgage online through the SL website recently, I keep geting an we are experiencing technical difficulties message (had it for 3 days) after initially proving username/password details - when speaking to their support they knew nothing about a problem and said I should empty the cache, cookies etc but to no avail.

Kavanne

Just got onto mine fine.

poundstretcher1234

wrigglers_Dad wrote: »

Only 85 signatures on the number10 website petition. That's not going to blow warm air on the door knocker, let alone blow the damb thing down!

Come on ... if you're bothered at least sign the onlne petition. It only takes a minute.

Fair enough - but where IS the petition? I can'r find it via the Number 10 searches.

A URL would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Isleman

poundstretcher1234 wrote: »

Fair enough - but where IS the petition? I can'r find it via the Number 10 searches.

A URL would be appreciated.

Thanks!

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/mortgages-co-uk/

Isleman

dunstonh wrote: »

Lots of things can mess up a whole family life. Also, we do have to remember that even at their current rate, they are far cheaper than the long term average mortgage rate. Anything under 7.5% is cheaper so, if affordability is an issue, then that points to a wider problem at home rather than an issue with Standard Life.

That said, these "new" lenders without the backing of deposits should have been under greater scrutiny due to the increased risk that was taken. That is very much a hindsight thing though.

Indeed there are lots of things that can mess up the family life , mortgage being one of them . Unfortunately in these situation the mortgage is not at all under our control.
I am Ok taking a long commitment and lots of people fully understands the implications of that but I am not Ok when I see myself in a minority where I need to pay much more than the majority and I don’t like it when they hide behind explanations.
I am 100% agree with you that these new lenders should be scrutinized more carefully and thinking of the whole financial shamble now is the time for the government to step in and regulate more what it still seems like a wild west.

gray64

Yes, I too am fuming about this - now they have announced a miserly .8% reduction, SL's svr mortgage at 5.79% is now one of the highest if not the highest in the market. But what can we do - switching to another lender I suspect would be very difficult in the current climate and those lenders who have cut their rates by the full 2.5% (eg Nationwide, LloydsTSB etc with a SVR of 4%) are no longer offering normal SVR mortgages - just fixed rate deals starting off at similar rates as SL.

Looks as if we may be stuck with it - could write to Gordon Brown I suppose, after all he has saved the world maybe he'll save us as well. In my case the saving would be about £200 a month!!

dunstonh

switching to another lender I suspect would be very difficult in the current climate

Not at all. If your lending criteria is "traditional" then the banks are more than happy to lend. Its when you are pushing the limits that they have scaled back on.

JohnnyM_2

dunstonh wrote: »

Complain about what?

You can complain about anything. maybe you dont like their logo. Of course, it doesnt mean they have to do anything though and the FOS will not support your case as they have no remit in the area of commercial decisions.

Alright !!!!!! theres no need to get snotty with people on here in your replies.

I asked who we could complain to, and I asked if we had a right to complain. i.e. is their decision something we have to accept and is there nothing that the financial authorities can do to influence Standard Life to rethink. Clearly it is something we have to accept.