advice required 31 August 2004 at 6:39PM edited 30 November -1 at 1:00AM in Mortgages & Endowments 5 replies 2K views

celticsprite

hi,

b/f has a 3 yr capped rate with northern rock, he is 2 yrs in. fancies remortgaging, but I imagine he is tied to the northern rock.(?)

he phoned and they are willing to increase his mortgage without another survey, or even someone checking the house, as the reckon house prices have risen.

he needs the extra cash as he is useless at money and is paying a fortune out on cards and loans. have turned him into a bit of a card tart, but really he needs more than this. (about £20k)

so, my question is... if the building soc are willing to increase the amount he owes, would you think that they are going to do so at a reasonable rate? is it worth shopping around?is it possible? maybe for a homeowner loan? the money should help reduce his monthly costs as it should pay off his debt. however, how does he curtail his spending?

I'm sick of being the "voice of reason" and trying to wake him up to the reality of his situation! he had over £100 charges applied to bank account recently, cause he didnt keep an eye on it. (he had money in one of his other accounts ~ another thing, how many current bank accounts does a person need?)

hoping someone can help!

thanks in advance

cs

yonk

Alvin Hall did some useful articles on this in the Scotsman. He had a friend with spending issues and he talks about how difficult it is to give advice in this situation.

Whilst you can point him in the right direction, yes, shop round for further advances and re-mortgages, tackling the underlying issue is much harder as you will neither want to nag or leave him sink further into debt. But it really is a case of leading a horse to water...

If you look at https://www.scotsman.com and search for Alvin Hall, there are two or three articles - the main suggestion is a spending diary which can serve as a wake up call and really show someone what they are spending.

Mortgageman

if the building soc are willing to increase the amount he owes, would you think that they are going to do so at a reasonable rate?

Depends what you mean by "reasonable" - it probably will not be very competitive, but will be cheaper then Credit Cards.

is it worth shopping around

Yes

is it possible

Yes

how does he curtail his spending

That's the big problem - there is no point in consolidating debt if it just means spending more on cards etc. the diary is a good idea. there are a number of things in this article too.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1089226742,17582,

martinhp

Northern Rock will offer the same rate, that your b/f is currently paying, on a further advance. So I am sure it would be very hard to beat. Unless he keeps his credit cards on interest free.

celticsprite

thanks for the replies folks, it looks like he'll stick with the northern rock and try elsewhere when there's no redemption to be paid

will definitely give l&c a call next year, as they gave me the free money diet book, and seem to have a very good reputation. (and the mse'rs aren't the easiest bunch to please... we require good service and a good deal )

thanks to yonk as well, I've joined the scotsman website and can email him the alvin hall stuff (and keep up with the news back home too!) he's agreed to manage money better, and hopefully things will ease off a little...

thanks again

cs

yonk

Thanks!

Money is one of those sticky topics that can sink a marriage/relationship, it's really a good idea to have broached the subject whilst you're both financially independent. Can cause major grief.