bungrefurbs mortgage free journey

bungrefurb

Hi SoandSo

I guess my obsession to clear mortgage is clouding my judgment somewhat. Upon reflection your right.......my initial thought was we could divert the money into mortgage but not so sure now

SOandSO

I am really enjoying the challenge of sorting out my finances - strange to think six months ago it was a heavy burden I didn't want to think about. Like you I have been reviewing outgoings.

I do have a friend who didn't have crit ill on partner, partner became v ill and friend had to take a lot of time off work. Fortunately partner recovered (wrong word technically) but the illness was one that would have been covered and mortgage would have been paid off.

There are other posts that talk of it being a marathon not a sprint.

This post is a bit depressing for your diary - sorry

bungrefurb

not depressing at all, its food for thought!

bungrefurb

I think on the balance its better to keep paying it until the goal is met. Better that than be in a situation where we are kicking ourselves because we cancelled the policy. Thanks for your input SoandSo.

SOandSO

Hello.

I hope you're not feeling too poorly.:grouphug:This is the best hug I can manage with my current abilities - will try harder.

bungrefurb

Is it just me or is Abbey Santander very slow at responding to requests? I called them last week to confirm how much we could pay to reach our limit of 10% for the year. The figure i have does not match the figure the lady was giving me. I asked her to put it in writing so that i had a paper trail aswell...............am still waiting.

Does anyone know if Abbey have online mortgages?

ajmoney

Welcome and good luck with you MF journey. I am concentrating on reducing mine so I have more equity to throw as a deposit on a new house but it always inspires me when I read about people going the whole way. Keep up the good work.

bungrefurb

thanks ajmoney. i think in honesty it is more about having equity in the house should we choose to move....but that won't be for 6 or so years down the line. if we aim for being mortgage free in 5 years then we have a year or so to build up a little nest egg.......as they say every little helps.

i'm extremely frustrated with Abbey at present, we can pay a maximum of 10% of balance without incurring penalties. over the last 10days or so i have had 4 different figures ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. todays conversation being that we were approx. £100 over the 10%. i have asked them to send us their calculations.

and apparently the type of mortgage we have cannot be accessed online!!!!!!

bungrefurb

Evening all...........the Abbey saga continues......they have given us a figure of £2810.90 to maximise the 10% overpayment. A long way off £725. At this moment in time we do not have that kind of cash to throw at the mortgage. I have been in the process of writing a letter of complaint to Abbey.........their figures have changed atleast half a dozen times.

Back in August we asked for the 10% figure which we paid........only to be told that we can pay another £2810.90, absolutely fuming with them. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to proceed.

I hope my ramblings are making sense I am a sleep deprived mother of two who has commited the sin of drinking a glass of wine tonight.......could do with more but am aware my daughter will wake for a feed or two in the early hours.

Any suggestions gratefully received.

financialbliss

bungrefurb wrote: »

Hi all

Just want to pick your brains please re critical illness cover. We are paying £103 each month for level term cover. This was taken out a few years ago and runs for a further 16 years.It was taken out when we got our first house. We now have 9 years left on the mortgage ( trying to reduce it!!). What are your thoughts re keeping this policy?

Hi bungrefurb,
I looked at critical illness cover for our current mortgage as our current mortgage was arranged when Mrs Blis was pregnant, ie we knew we had responsibilities to keep a roof over our heads as we were starting a family.

However, we decided against critical illness cover - both reasonably young and healthy at present and opted for life cover instead. Having analysed the small print, we felt that the cover wasn't worth the premium - clauses in the policy, but can no longer remember the exact details.

For us, we're funding two separate life insurance policies for a total of £16.50 per month or £198 per year, which we took out over £20 years. As this is a comparably small sum, I very much doubt we will cancel this once we become mortgage free.

By contrast, you're paying £103 a month or £1,236 a year, but for critical illness cover, but don't compare my figures with yours as they are not comparable cover policies.

Presumably you identified critical illness cover as a requirement. Is that still the case now? Have you checked how long your policy would pay out for and have you considered cancelling this policy and getting a life insurance policy instead?

The accountant in me does 5 years x £103, ie £6,180 - not an insignificant sum, so I understand your comment in post #22.

If the shoe was on the other foot and I had to make a decision? I'm not sure. Wasn't much help was I ?

Note: What works for us may not be the right thing for you. Do not rush into any major policy changes and check and re-check the small print first.

FB.