Do brokers have access to deals that we can't find for ourselves?

betmunch

fillyjonk wrote: »

(and no I would not be spending money on poor value insurance etc-I get my insurance using moneysavingsupermarket or similar and a cashback site where possible)

I'm afraid you have just contradicted yourself there. Buying your insurance off MSM will get you the cheapest quote for insurance with as much stripped out of it as possible, which will make it the cheapest quote.

By knowing everything about all the providers policies and T&C's will be what gets you the best value.

I would not be happy if I paid £30 a month and got a £50 kick back if I went to claim on a policy in a few years only to find out in the small print that it wont pay out. And that goes for B&C, Life, Critical illness cover, PHI, ASU, the lot.

If you believe in the value of insurance, DO NOT do it in such a way as to cut corners, most brokers wouldnt even charge you for an insurance review so all your giving up is the Cashback, but in return you are getting proper advice with a comeback and complaint procedure if it doesnt do what you expect.

kingstreet

mandbaby wrote: »

For Kingstreet - am I right in thinking that the Natwest Deal is one that is only available to brokers? I only ask because we had seen that very rate by Yorkshire and are due to go into their branch tomorrow to secure it - but then you pointed out the Natwest deal, but I can't find that on their website - or at least, certainly not without a fee.

The NatWest and Yorkshire deals are both only available directly. They were the best deals in the market, so I used them to illustrate the point, which was more about upfront fees than it was about broker deals to be honest.

Are you remortgaging at 40% LTV? If not, it may not show up for your requirements?

fillyjonk - sorry, sometimes you write a post on here for the benefit of those who will read it later, rather than for the OP. I wasn't suggesting you would buy insurance products, but many do and it was them I was speaking to.

kingstreet

property.advert wrote: »

What tosh these comparisons are which include periods after the fixed rate ends. Whilst you should look at what happens and which rate you will change to, you cannot project that logic forward for decades.

What people do fail to realise is that high fees skew costs over the product life far more on a small advance than a large mortgage.

Exactly. On small advance short-term products they're especially bad. I was surprised I got as big a difference on my example using a five year fix.

I agree with your point about reversion rates. Who knows what rates might be doing in five years time?