Standard Life Bank Mortgages

Teachertim

Hi, I have a Standard Life Professional Mortgage, fixed at 5.3% which ends in August. They have recently reduced their SVR to 5.4% so not too worried about what will happen when the fix ends, although I would like to them to be as reasonable about passing on rate cuts as the likes of HBOS and Nationwide !

Does anyone know if they are offering people with fixed rates ending any sort of deals ? There is no chance of us remortgaging as we took out a 100% mortgage and have only knocked about 8k off the capital sum borrowed.

Thanks

Isleman

Teachertim wrote: »

They have recently reduced their SVR to 5.4%

On their website is stated "Standard Variable Rate will reduce from 5.79% to 5.54% with effect from 5 February 2009. "
I am not sure where you got the 5.4% from.

I will end my fixed rate end march and they don't seem to offer any deals. I will rather go on a variable rate and pay £99 to enable the offset feature and pay as much as I can. I will advise you to do the same and as soon as the fixed rates deals get better , grab one.Don't expect good rates at your LTV.
However I can't see any urge to get a fixed rate for at least another year , unless an economic miracle will change everything and the rates will go up.

ricky_south

I went into my standard life product for its offset facility. I tell you from first hand it not a proper offset. if you have a mortgage of £200,000 and monthly repayments of £750 and then place £100,000 in the offset account you still pay £750 per month. the intrest you earn then goes towards repaying the £250,000 effectivly reducing your 25 year term. this does not reduce your monthly repayments.
This is the only way their offset functions as i have complained many time with not change.
they miss sell this product with even their video on they website misleading customers.
they started raise their svr early in 2007 without a change to the bank of england base rate, then did not pass on any reduction to the base rate.
the last 4% reduction in boe base rate has now only been partly lowered.
I am out the first chance i get with my finger up at them.
thank you for reading my rant. its been building up in me for a while

ricky

Isleman

ricky_south wrote: »

I went into my standard life product for its offset facility. I tell you from first hand it not a proper offset. if you have a mortgage of £200,000 and monthly repayments of £750 and then place £100,000 in the offset account you still pay £750 per month. the intrest you earn then goes towards repaying the £250,000 effectivly reducing your 25 year term. this does not reduce your monthly repayments.
This is the only way their offset functions as i have complained many time with not change.
they miss sell this product with even their video on they website misleading customers.
they started raise their svr early in 2007 without a change to the bank of england base rate, then did not pass on any reduction to the base rate.
the last 4% reduction in boe base rate has now only been partly lowered.
I am out the first chance i get with my finger up at them.
thank you for reading my rant. its been building up in me for a while

ricky

Ricki thank you very much about about the offset info.
I can't believe what your saying. So basically this offset is a rip off. I need to call them before to check .
If this the way their offset works this means they are truly scumbags.
It seems I need to leave them but I can't do it now as my LTV is 85% and after a reevaluation probably it will go more than 90% . As you said I can't wait for the first chance to get rid of this bas!!!!!s.

dunstonh

although I would like to them to be as reasonable about passing on rate cuts as the likes of HBOS and Nationwide !

Std Life use a different method to finance their mortgages. SO, you shouldnt expect the same. Its the same method that was the reason it was cheap when you took it out. Its just not ideal at the moment.

opinions4u

ricky_south wrote: »

I went into my standard life product for its offset facility. I tell you from first hand it not a proper offset. if you have a mortgage of £200,000 and monthly repayments of £750 and then place £100,000 in the offset account you still pay £750 per month. the intrest you earn then goes towards repaying the £250,000 effectivly reducing your 25 year term. this does not reduce your monthly repayments.

No, but it will significantly reduce your term and the amount of interest you pay over that term.

This is the only way their offset functions as i have complained many time with not change.

Did they market to you as being anything different?

they started raise their svr early in 2007 without a change to the bank of england base rate, then did not pass on any reduction to the base rate.

Is it marketed as a BofE tracker product? If not, then why should they track?

the last 4% reduction in boe base rate has now only been partly lowered.

Most lenders have not passed on the full reduction in BofE base rate over recent months to their mortgage SVR.

I am out the first chance i get with my finger up at them.
thank you for reading my rant. its been building up in me for a while

Which is your choice. If you feel you have been mis-sold a mortgage based on false advertising you should pursue a complaint and, if necessary, take it to the Ombudsman.

Personally the idea of knocking years off the term of my mortgage appeals greatly and will save me money over my lifetime.

Isleman

dunstonh wrote: »

Std Life use a different method to finance their mortgages. SO, you shouldnt expect the same. Its the same method that was the reason it was cheap when you took it out. Its just not ideal at the moment.

I am sorry but when I took the mortgage with them they had pretty much the same rate like everybody else . If something than is down to the financial adviser who should point me at that time to this things .

dunstonh

Isleman wrote: »

I am sorry but when I took the mortgage with them they had pretty much the same rate like everybody else . If something than is down to the financial adviser who should point me at that time to this things .

You wouldnt have given two hoots at the time. No-one could have predicted this happen and LIBOR rates were generally cheaper than BoE rates when the deal would have started.

ricky_south

Quote
No, but it will significantly reduce your term and the amount of interest you pay over that term.

response; I renovate and invest in property for a living. i do not want to reduce my loan. I want to borrow as much as i can due to being able make more % return than that of which the loan charges me. I want to offset that loan during quite spells (like now) to lower my monthly outgoing.
look on sl website and watch their video on offsetting. its an outrage the can say it works this way when it does not.


Quote:

Is it marketed as a BofE tracker product? If not, then why should they track?

no its not it svr. lesson learnt for me. i feel like a fool.
I want to leave now due to this but can't due to a lock in.
they should track to save their rep. it will bite them in the !!! if not as nobody will want a mortgage with them. yet i agree it is their right to run their company into the ground if they wish.

Quote:
Most lenders have not passed on the full reduction in BofE base rate over recent months to their mortgage SVR.

no but sl are the have the worst svr on the market now.

Quote:
If you feel you have been mis-sold a mortgage based on false advertising you should pursue a complaint and, if necessary, take it to the Ombudsman.

first thing i done.

Personally the idea of knocking years off the term of my mortgage appeals greatly and will save me money over my lifetime.

their is a time for repaying as for borrowing. as for me repayment is for retiring. for now the money used for repayment can earn me more than it can save me.

thank you for your comments though.

ricky

dunstonh

they should track to save their rep. it will bite them in the !!! if not as nobody will want a mortgage with them. yet i agree it is their right to run their company into the ground if they wish.

It wont have any impact on SL. They have been increasingly moving over to corporate and institutional products for many years now. Mortgages were a tiny part of their business.

no but sl are the have the worst svr on the market now.

No they dont. There are a lot worse. However, it is in line with a mortgage arm with little or no funding.

first thing i done.

You cannot complain to the FOS directly. They will just return your complaint to Std Life. Std Life have no liability for you buying a product that their own team were not involved in. So, it will be rejected.

If you complain about the rate to the FOS it will also be rejected as the FOS have no juridstiction with regards to commercial decisions.

ricky_south

I went to standard life directly so their team was involved. it is just a shame for me that they did not understand their own product let alone explain it correctly.
standard life have a responsibility to sell their products correctly.
with their offset they fail well short of the mark.

does this video on offsetting explain it correctly?
http://www.freestylemortgages.com/3.6.html

I recognize they can call they product what ever they like. they could call a savings account a mortgage if they like but i doubt we will see that as that would not encourage people to save with them despite it still being a savings account.

In fairness to standard life there is not much info on offsetting about and the different types of products and how they function differently. it easy to assume they function all the same. It also sets a great opportunity for greedy banks to take advantage of the unaware public.

all that being said it would be acceptable if they let me leave but they won't without a heavy redemption. you would think a fair person would understand the confusion about the product and let someone who was unhappy leave.

ricky