Santander end of fixed term

rr755507

kingstreet wrote: »

Santander charges a £225 "account fee" on the KFI I have in front of me. It may give options on paying it during the term, but you pay it at the end of the term, or when you repay the mortgage, if you don't pay it sooner.

A deeds release or discharge fee, by any other name...

Yes, £225 is on mine aswell.

CMV46

I also have a 2 year fixed with Santander coming to an end on 1st March. I have had my mortgage (joint with my husband) since we bought the house in 2006. Never had a problem getting a good rate from them. I just called them to find out what they have to offer and was told that they can only offer me a 2 year deal at 4.94%. I asked them for a 5 year deal and was told that they offer deals based on credit ratings. I (not my husband) had a hiccup a few years ago when I lost my job and I had went to a debt charity to assist with paying off my debt. They arranged the deals for me and I paid off everything. This was in 2008. I have never had a CCJ or been bankrupt. We have a 123 account with them and 2 credit cards with limits £5 and £10k and 3 ISAs. I was rather surprised at the response. Can anyone give me some insight into this response? I am now determined to find another provider and close all my accounts with them. I am shocked at this treatment of a long standing and good customer. :mad:

gardenlady_2

I think that probably your arrangement with your creditors in 2008 is showing on your credit rating- did you ever get any defaults?
I agree that it is unfair that they wont give you a decent rate because of past problems- and I suspect that we will be in the same situation as you in 5 years time, as by then my partner will have defaults showing on his credit rating.

mrpsmith

gardenlady wrote: »

We were offered really awful follow on rates for after our fixed rate with Santander finishes next month- 4.59%. We were really concerned, as it would be difficult for us to move to another lender.

I opened a Santander 123 account and hey presto... Suddenly they could offer us a 5 year fix at 3.19%!!! They also offered a 2 year fix for 2.99%. The woman on the phone admitted that the reason we were offered the good rate was because I had opened the 123 account, but said that they weren't allowed to advertise it. I find thet wierd, as other banks advertise better rates for their current account holders.

May I ask what your LTV is. We are in a very similar position to you and I was also offered 4.59% a couple of months ago. Out LTV is about 75%.

CMV46

I have not had any defaults and I also had an arrangement through CCCS but I repaid all my debts and have no defaults. I do not understand why we did not experience this 2 years ago when we we given the current mortgage. My LTV 60% and we are both in well paid permanent jobs. We had no problem getting a loan for our cars or our credit cards from them. We pay off our credit cards in full every month. We have always try to pay extra on the mortgage because we are trying to pay it off in the next 5 years.
I have gone to London and Country Brokers to see if they can help. i am so frustrated with this struggle to get a remortgage. Does any one know if there is a charge when the mortgage goes to the SVR and what the process is? Does it just change to the SVR - what happens if I have not found another mortgage by then?

Thrugelmir

CMV46 wrote: »

I do not understand why we did not experience this 2 years ago when we we given the current mortgage.

The world has changed. Very much so in past year. Conditions are going to tighten even further yet.

Hardly surprising given the state of the economy. Disposable incomes are being squeezed. Interest rates at some point will rise. So lenders are beginning to adjust for the future.

Ronaldo_Mconaldo

We are with Santander for our mortgage, the wife and I also have a current account each with them, i've got an ISA with them, we've got a joint account with them too. We've fully pinned our colours to the mast of the good ship Santander.

Anyway we took out a five year fixed rate in May 2008 at 5.83% on borrowings of 120k for a house at £150k over 30 years. The fixed rate is up in the summer and we should have paid off about £35k of the mortgage by then through overpayments and capital payments.

I reckon we'll get shafted by the bank when we come to remortgage when we've been throwing money at the mortgage to get it paid down, knocked 10years off through overpayments. To be honest, anything under 5% would be good for me after the rate we've been on. I'll have to check the literature to see if i'll have to pay £225 at the end of the term too, is this a fee to switch away from Sanatander or do you have to pay it automatically when the fixed deal finishes?

kingstreet

The fee is payable when you leave Santander, either at the end of the mortgage term (not the product term) or when you repay the mortgage at any other time, any other way.

They call it an account fee, but it's an exit fee, like that charged by any other lender.

It's worth noting, Santander's attitude to adverse credit, affordability and interest-only has changed dramatically in the last twelve months. They are now using customer retention products to effectively tell some borrowers they would like them to repay and leave...

CMV46

I have learnt a valuable lesson about being loyal to a bank. Clearly they have no concerns for the wellbeing of the customer. I naively thought that being a good customer, having savings and good payment history with regard to the credit cards and loans would stand me good stead but I was clearly wrong. I am now determined to break all my ties with Santander over the next 12 months, starting with my current account. Thanks to everyone for the responses. It helps to know that I am not the only one who has had this experience. Being new to forums I was not sure how it works but I have been pleasantly surprised. Thanks

Pont

When my fix was coming to an end with Santander I called to see what they could offer me for a new 5 year fix. They were awful! I couldn't get any straight answers so decided to move mortgage provider. I eventually found one which worked for me and although I had to pay a hefty £995 to change, I knocked 4 years of my existing term whilst keeping my payments the same (just under).

There is, as others have posted, an 'account' fee of £225 to move from Santander. Also bear in mind you are charged daily interest (mine was around £10) for the time since your last payment until the date your new mortgage goes through - I didn't account for this!