One Acount Mortgages

emjaytee

Hi first of all apologies if this looks all wrong. First time user and all that y'know. Anyway,could someone shed a little light on the "One Acount" mortgages. I've just checked out their web site oneaccount.com and gone onto their mortgage shrinker. I know they say if it looks too good to be true then it probably is, but surely with information on the web and in this sueing culture that we live in, if it is too good to be true then they are taking a huge chance. Can anyone shed any light on this company, pros and cons because it looks like its a pretty good deal. Too good infact. Thanks.

Yoshii

hi i have been with one a/c for 5 years now and it does take alttlke getting used to because it tells you how much you owe and it is always a big overdraft figure.but you can save money on your mortgage as you can put in extra money in to the a/c when you want and therefore saving interest and take it out when you want.BUT cos you can write out big checks too easily you could spend more than you realise.

what i mean to say is that you need to be discilplined with a one a/c.

yoshii

emjaytee

thanks for that. I'll give it some serious thought. I'm not the most disciplinned of people but it could the way forward. Thanks again.

wymondham

I've spoken with a rep at One Account today and he said that the wording on the site is not exactly clear, so you need to speak with them before making any decisions as the info I got back today was not as the site suggests.... It's all so different to a standard mortgage that understanding it clearly takes some time...

MortgageMamma

The one account, for somebody unqualified takes some thinking about. In principal its easy to understand, but you need someone to crunch the numbers to see if you would benefit more from the one account/a.n.other offset or bank account mortgage, or if you would just be better with a flexible mortgage making overpayments.

Coupon-mad

I have just had another look at this thread after trying to reply to you when you first posted, emjaytee (but the website crashed/froze!).

I am not sure if they are exactly the same but, as MortgageMamma says, you should look at other products. As far as I can tell, offset mortgages work in the same way as OneAccount, it's not a unique product.

I had a normal mortgage with HSBC but changed to an offset mortgage with First Direct (part of HSBC) earlier this year. I used to be a mortgage manager in the years before this type of mortgage came out, so I had a look around what was now available and decided this was best for us. We have just received a small inheritance which has been offset (as planned) until we move (maybe next year).

As you are new to MSE (unless you've been lurking for ages), you could spend some time searching old threads and articles here. Near the top of this page, choose 'search Chat forum' (for chat like this) or 'search Main site' (for articles by Martin) for keywords like 'OneAccount' (also try with a gap between the words, no capital letters, etc...!). Happy browsing!

bunking_off

If you do a search on the sites, you'll find about a dozen threads on the One Account. Opinions differ wildly, from One Account evangelists through people who'll fiercely criticise it as being overpriced. Personally, I've had one for 6 years, and will have paid my (originally) 25 year mortgage off in about 4 more years...so I'm a big fan. However, it's only any use if you exploit the flexibility...if you run it like a conventional mortgage, you're better off with a discounted rate conventional mortgage.

MM's correct that you should get someone to run the figures. A lot depends upon how much money you tend to have spare at the end of the month. If you have a reasonable excess, then the One Account will make a big difference as this excess will inherently pay your mortgage down. Critics of the OA will say that there are flexible products out there, charging lower interest rates, which allow you to take any spare money you have and make lump sum payments to overpay your mortgage - achieving the same as the OA with a lower interest rate. The difference, however, is that with these you need to think about doing that - with the One Account it "just happens" in that the account operates as a massive overdraft.

The one area I do potentially differ a little from MM is that I don't see the One Account as being purely a choice that can be quantified to be analysed. The nearest analogy I can think of is that you can buy a hard disk DVD recorder for a better price than you can Sky+ - however the latter revolutionises how you watch TV because the schedule becomes yours rather than the TV programmers' choice. The One Account is more than a mortgage...it does tend to revolutionise how you think about your finances (e.g. what's the point in having a savings account paying lower interest than your debt; who says that you should pay the same amount to your mortgage every month, indeed that you should pay it by a certain date?).

However - and this is a big however - if you don't embrace this and run it like a normal mortgage, you're throwing money down the drain. Similarly, if you don't have the discipline, you could get into awful trouble with the OA because with no strict repayment regime, there's no-one to keep you on the straight and narrow/away from the expensive cars.

Hope this helps!

jamesd

The One Account current account mortgage is good if you want total flexibility more than the lowest interest rate. Imagine a mortgage where you can pay nothing for nine months without the lender becoming unhappy at you, or pay five times in one month if you have the money coming in.

The next step down in flexibility is an offset mortgage. Cheaper interest rates, many suppliers and you can use the savings account portion to get most of the same flexibility once you've built up the savings account offset fund, since you can use the savings to pay the monthly mortgage accounts by withdrawing it to the account you're paying the mortgage from if necessary.

Next step down in flexibility is flexible mortgages allowing arbitrary overpayments and withdrawing of overpaid money. Lower interest rate again, less flexibility because you now have to manage savings unlinked from the mortgage and they will get a lower effective rate, something particularly significant for higher rate tax payers. But you can offset that disadvantage by making regular overpayments instead of building up a savings account balance. However, this is less flexible because you have to contact the mortgage lender to withdraw the money.

All three of these approaches let you offset your mortgage with extra income with varying degrees of ease. Up to you to look at the costs and balance of features and make your choice.

emjaytee

Thanks guys. You've definately given me something to think about and all the other options. Thanks a million.

Mrs_pbradley936

No experience with this particular firm but I am a huge fan of offset mortgages.

kalfy1

Hi There

I actually work for the One Account. I have to agree with what a few people have said. It does take a bit of getting used to ...... and YOU DO HAVE TO BE DISCIPLINED.

I am not the best of people with my own money, so I went for a discounted coventional mortgage. But I know of many people who only want to pay their mortgage off in the quickest way possible, and have been able to do so with the One account and not been penalised for doing so. IF THIS IS WHAT YOU ARE AFTER, THEN IT IS ONE OF THE BEST.

You are best off talking to a mortgage advisor though, and or The One account sales team to see if this product suits you.

All the best.