Virgin One Account Interest Rate Rise

Cassandra_W

oioisavaloy wrote: »

Everyone that has stated it, are correct, it is no longer a "virgin product" just the "one account" but they still appear to have the logo rights look at the letter they have just sent us all!

Since going blind with anger and starting this thread I have been into the local RBS and vented my spleen at them.....They did not know there had been an increase!


After producing the letter, all they could say was we can beat that interest rate, book an appointment with our financial adviser - *@#* O%f – I would rather not was my thought.
The absolute Gaul off this bank makes me want to spit blood and we all collectively own most of it, I don’t give a dam about their rates going up, do something that bucks the trend and HELP people in this downturn instead off passing on increases.


I have made progress today and got a reasonable fixed price quote with another lender, so it is good riddance to what was a fantastic product, well run at first and totally ruined by the ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND – Shame on you all….


oioi

You must be pleased Stephen Hester didn't take his bonus though?

jas2020

oioisavaloy wrote: »

Everyone that has stated it, are correct, it is no longer a "virgin product" just the "one account" but they still appear to have the logo rights look at the letter they have just sent us all!

Since going blind with anger and starting this thread I have been into the local RBS and vented my spleen at them.....They did not know there had been an increase!


After producing the letter, all they could say was we can beat that interest rate, book an appointment with our financial adviser - *@#* O%f – I would rather not was my thought.
The absolute Gaul off this bank makes me want to spit blood and we all collectively own most of it, I don’t give a dam about their rates going up, do something that bucks the trend and HELP people in this downturn instead off passing on increases.


I have made progress today and got a reasonable fixed price quote with another lender, so it is good riddance to what was a fantastic product, well run at first and totally ruined by the ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND – Shame on you all….


oioi

Agree with the comments made here, i was absolutely disgusted by this letter when it arrived.

As we all own it collectively, can we not lobby our MPs or something about this fiasco?

Cassandra_W

jas2020 wrote: »

Agree with the comments made here, i was absolutely disgusted by this letter when it arrived.

As we all own it collectively, can we not lobby our MPs or something about this fiasco?

Lobby MPs?:rotfl:

The government own over 80% of RBS but the banking industry as a whole own 100% of the government.

People now signing up to lots of debt because that's what bankers want you to do, need to think back to 2008 when interest rates were slashed 1.5% in a day.

What goes down can go up!

It's almost like after all what the banker's have done people think they are some sort of charity. They will do whatever they can to make more money. They have got the government to support our house price bubble and once they have enough debtors on board they are going to squeeze them via higher mortgage rates.

kippygirl

There's an important issue here which is that EARLY Virgin One customers were given promises and guarantees that the mortgage interest rate would always follow Bank of England rate. Up to about 2002, Virgin One had a massive marketing campaign based around this - full-page press adverts, radio interviews and letters to customers.

If you were one of the early account holders and relied on these promises then you have a legal case against RBS for the ongoing overcharging - they have now widened the gap with B of E rate by [see edit below].

A number of account holders made complaints to the FOS which were initially successful but then all seemed to be turned down. A group of us were unwilling to accept the situation and are taking legal action which I am coordinating. Solicitors have been instructed and various steps have already been taken and are currently underway. If you took out your mortgage before 2002 and relied on these promises, you may want to join in with the planned group action on a no-win-no-fee basis. PM me for details.

EDIT: the increased gap is now actually 2.3% ie. £2300 overcharge pa for every £100K of borrowing. Breakdown is as follows:

0.25% cut not passed on in April 2008
0.25% increase (no base rate change) July 2008
0.5% not passed on after Nov 08 1.5% base rate cut
0.3% not passed on as part of the Jan 09 0.5% base rate cut
0.5% not passed on as part of the Feb 09 0.5% base rate cut
0.25% not passed on as part of the March 09 0.5% base rate cut
Now, a further 0.25%

Thanks to the account holder who collated this for me.

kippygirl

musicegbdf wrote: »

Well here we go again. I took them to the Financial Omundsman about this a couple of years ago and won my case. I was repaid over £2,000 in interest plus £750 in compensation.

It was a mystery to us all how the FOS could reach so many different conclusions on identical cases. The first batch of cases succeeded in full, i.e. they are now paying 2.3% less interest than the rest of us. Then they did a strange half-way house with cases like yours, i.e. repayment for a set period only. Then they started rejecting all subsequent cases outright. This is why legal action has now become necessary.

mrbigd

Cassandra_W wrote: »

People now signing up to lots of debt because that's what bankers want you to do, need to think back to 2008 when interest rates were slashed 1.5% in a day.

What goes down can go up!

And on that day in 2008 RBS did not pass on this to One Account customers!

In fact I think if I remember righthly out of 2.25% reduction in a short period, RBS only passed on 1% to One Account customers!

beefster

So what is the best alternative....

chambta

With no ERCs many OA holders will be in a strong position to look elsewhere. Perfect opportunity to move elsewhere for many.

Thrugelmir

beefster wrote: »

So what is the best alternative....

I thought the whole purpose of the One Account was to keep all one's money under one umbrella. In the current financial climate a savings rate of 3.75% isn't to be sniffed at.

HappyMJ

chambta wrote: »

With no ERCs many OA holders will be in a strong position to look elsewhere. Perfect opportunity to move elsewhere for many.

Love to...but I self certified when I took out my Virgin One Account and I cannot see any other self-certify mortgages available on the market anywhere. My actual income would not allow me to borrow anywhere near the facility limit. Virgin One still allows me to self certify my income when I request a facility change (within the risks the underwriter decides on on the day of request). What other Current Account Mortgages are there? I am also on some income based benefits due to low profit such as council tax benefit. If I remortgaged to an offset account and kept access to that cash in a linked savings account the money would have to be declared as cash and I would lose the council tax benefit. At the moment it's just a big overdraft that is available for me to use. So I am stuck with the Virgin One Account so I've got to like it...I have no other choice. So...4%? Is it reasonable...No it isn't but it'll have to do. I'll console myself with the fact it is now the same as the RBS SVR.