MSE News: Beware mortgage lenders' hard-sell rate trap

[Deleted User]

I received the same letter and didn't consider it to be a hard sell at all. The form of words was pretty much the same as previous letters that I've had from NW informing me that a deal was soon to end.
Like others here, I would be interested in fixing but there is something of a dilemma here which has not occurred previously...
My mortgage is now only £35K. If I choose to move to a new NW deal then I won't be able to move onto the BMR afterwards. I would have to again move to another NW deal or move by default onto the SMR. Unlike the BMR which is capped at 2% above base rate, there is no such cap on the SMR. I am inclined at the moment to take a longer term view and stick with the BMR in the belief that I could end up paying less in the long run.

Gorgeous_George

My offset lifetime tracker is +0.74% with Britannia so 1.24% at the moment. I rang Britannia to see if they could offer me a decent fixed rate but they would only offer the same as advertised on their website i.e., no discount to tempt me away.

So, offset savings moved to a 4.3% paying account and I'm happy waiting for rates to rise. If some reports (and my own assessment) are anything to go by I may well be mortgage free when rates start to rise.

GG

wigwam

I'm not at all mortgage savvy but before my 3 year fixed rate at 4.95% came to an end in September my lender wrote to me offering a fixed rate deal for 1,2 or 3 years for between 3.5 and 4.5%
These seemed like great rates however at the end of these fixed periods the rate reverts to SVR - currently 6.0%. I chose not to fix as I am now on a tracker at 1% above the base rate. I called but they could not offer a five year fix.
Whilst I am a bit scared I am hoping to ride out any interest rate rises ( base has to be almost 4% before i'm paying my previous payments). I certainly did not want to revert to the SVR so I'm sure this offer of a fix was only designed to get me off my tracker rate.
In the meantime I'm putting savings against my credit card repayments at 21% APR

rangersammy

2 months ago I asked a mortgage advisor to get me a new deal as my tracker rate was running out with the nationwide. We had one arranged and I had to pay £340 surveyors fee. 3 weeks before the end of my tracker rate finished the nationwide sent the letter to say I( would go onto the bmr, which was 0.49 below the new rate I had been offered by the advisor. He suggested I stayed with the mortgage but I am £340 out of pocket as a result. Would have been nice if the Nationwide had originally told be what I would go onto then that would have given me guidelines for a new mortgage deal or stay where I was.
Moral of this, always ask your present lender what they will be putting you on before you start changing!!! They wouldn't give my adviser this information apparently

I am going to ask the then proposed lender what the surveyers report was as I would like to see something for my £340, unless they would like to give some back:mad:

VIGILANT22

rangersammy wrote: »

2 months ago I asked a mortgage advisor to get me a new deal as my tracker rate was running out with the nationwide. We had one arranged and I had to pay £340 surveyors fee. 3 weeks before the end of my tracker rate finished the nationwide sent the letter to say I( would go onto the bmr, which was 0.49 below the new rate I had been offered by the advisor. He suggested I stayed with the mortgage but I am £340 out of pocket as a result. Would have been nice if the Nationwide had originally told be what I would go onto then that would have given me guidelines for a new mortgage deal or stay where I was.
Moral of this, always ask your present lender what they will be putting you on before you start changing!!! They wouldn't give my adviser this information apparently

I am going to ask the then proposed lender what the surveyers report was as I would like to see something for my £340, unless they would like to give some back:mad:

This is not correct all the advisor had to do was look at your paperwork from last time you mortgaged with nationwide..

Wakey2008

The article by Guy Anker is utter rubbish and seriously lacking in both finacial and journalist knowledge.

This is not hard sell at all.

This appears to be yet another bs piece of sensationalism from a guy who clearly doesn't know what he is on about.

Rob71

I'm not sure the woman in the article was "!!!!!!" like someone has already said, and maybe the article is a little too sensationalist, but there is a problem here and it's a lack of consumer education...

Most people know they can get a better insurance deal if they shop around - they generally look at their renewal quote and then try and beat it.

There are TV ads reinforcing this idea on almost every night.

But still, some people will "stick with what they know", and worse still some people look at the headline figure rather than working out that the monthly payments (if they go that route) make them worse off.

Considering a mortgage is the biggest debt anybody is likely to have at any given time, you'd think more people would look around - but they don't. They don't even know what questions to ask!

I know people who don't even understand how a mortgage works - I'm married to one of them!! :mad:

Like I said, it's an education "thang" - people on here should stop thinking that everyone else in the wider public is equipped with their knowledge... That can't be the case, else this site wouldn't exist!

Joe_Bloggs

Quite often the only thing wrong with an MSE article is the over hyped headline.
A more factual headline would not generate as many views/replies in my opinion.
I await a similar letter from the Nationwide.
J_B.