A bit of a crisis

alunp

Just seeking a bit of advice....

My roof has just broke on me leaking in the rain.

The bill is £1,700 and I'm not covered on my policy it seems (old age rather than other damage they say).

My budget is as tight as it gets so what I really need is to be able to get hold of 1700 quid pretty quickly without adding huge amounts to my monthly outgoings.

I was thinking an advance from my mortgage company may be the best option.

They've offered 5.99% variable rate to be added to the mortgage which will cost me an extra 12 quid a month I reckon.

The thing is, they've said i have to pay an EXTRA 150 quid as an "arrangement fee". This is not for surveys - a survey is not required - so god knows what its for. But that's their charge so I'll have to lend 1,850.

Before I go through with that I wondered if anyone had any alternative ideas?

I know I could try a low rate credit card but to be honest I don't think I could afford to pay it back given that the minimum payment would be about 45 quid.

Any ideas gang?

Ta

Al

mummytofour

I would go with the morgage and when you are a little richer, maybe over pay back some or all of the money??

jobbingmusician

I can see the logic of putting this on a mortgage, as it's a long-term investment rather than a short term one. However, the £150 fee makes my blood boil! I think it would cost you about the same to move your mortgage to another provider, so now is the time to be a rate tart and investigate whether you can move your mortgage (with the extra roof cost on top and whatever else you have to fork out) to one with a better rate. Sometimes, mortgage companies actually waive their arrangement and legal fees to encourage people to move to them. In your position I would read Martin's latest article on mortgages and see if I could improve on my current deal (and serve them right!)

And by the way, tell your current provider you are doing this - they may come back to you with a better offer!

alunp

I'm locked in with them til 2014 :doh:

jobbingmusician

Oh dear - in that case I guess you have to celebrate your relatively low variable rate and go for it.

alunp

i think i'll go with mummy's idea. the mortgage switch would have been good JM if i wasn't such a divvie.