Nationwide Flexclusive 4 Year Fix....

whoschuffed

Been looking at mortgages available and have stumbled across the Nationwide Flexclusive 4 Year Fix.

Neither myself or my gf bank with Nationwide at the moment but from looking at their T&C's for eligibility it states that...

To get access to our range of Flexclusive offers you must either:
Hold a FlexAccount with a Visa debit card (not cash card or cash card+) and:

Have been paying in £750+ a month (excluding internal transfers) for the last 3 months;
or

Complete an account switch to us (from a non-Nationwide account) using our Current Account Switch Team or have done so in the last 4 months; or

Hold a FlexDirect or FlexPlus account

Am I right in thinking I can just sign up for one of their FlexDirect current accounts (I've no intention of using it to bank through) to be eligible for the offer and subsequently the mortgage or is there more to it?

Yorkie1

I thought the same as you and took out a Flex Direct account for my £2500 savings.

A couple of months later I tried to do an online product transfer from my expiring NWide mortgage onto a flexclusive mortgage deal, but it didn't want to do it for some reason. It might have been me not doing their right technical things online, but it might have been something at their end too.

In the end, I went for a 5 year ordinary fix as the maths added up, so didn't investigate it further.

whoschuffed

I might just enquire with them to find out if its possible. I don't particularly want to do my daily banking with them but the 4 year fix deal doesn't look too bad really so if its an account I can just set up and leave alone then could be a winner.

bowlhead99

Yes it should be possible. It's right there in the terms and conditions.

We're on a flexdirect 4 year from a year and a half ago, it seemed a decent deal at the time for our circumstances (thought 5 years might be a bit too long to commit but wanted to lock into more than a couple of years). Free basic legals or cash towards your legals with your own approved solicitor, free basic valuation (you can pay to upgrade to a proper survey), and the interest rate/ application fee was reasonable. Some of the other savings or credit card or ISA offers from time to time as a flex customer can be quite decent too.

I already had an old flex account that I hadn't used for several years so I just started using it a few months before I applied for the mortgage - instead, I could have simply applied for one of the new flexdirect or flexplus accounts like you can do today. As you can see from the T&Cs, a minimum period of paying in x per month or a full account switch is only needed if you choose their standard 'flex' account; if you go for the flexdirect, just having it is enough to qualify for the mortgage deal.

You don't need to do your daily banking with them but if you can transfer in at least £1000pm (which you can transfer straight out again if you don't need it for your mortgage payment) you'll meet the terms and conditions to get paid 5% on your credit balance for the first year of having the account, on the first £2500 of your balance - as mentioned by Yorkie. That 5% is the highest rate available on any account (current or savings or ISA) in the UK right now, so if there is the slightest inkling that you'll want their mortgage, it's a no brainer to open a flexdirect account and have £2k or so sitting there at all times to get £100+ of interest. Presumably you have £2500 of cash sitting around somewhere if you're about to buy a house.

whoschuffed

So if i get a FlexDirect account would that be the account my mortgage is taken from?

Or do you just simply have to have the account to qualify and the mortgage debit can go from my other bank account?

Yorkie1

I don't think it has to be the account the mortgage debits from, but you'd need to check that for sure.

NeoVR2k6

Im thinking something similar - as their 80% 3 year "flexclusive" tracker seems quite good and is coming up very highly in the comparisons.

TBH i dont have issue in transferring my main current account to them (from santander) as the maths work out, i might even go for their "Flexplus" packaged account - but one question i do have would be would it affect my application in any way from a credit-search point of view..

whoschuffed

Does opening new accounts affect your credit rating much?

I've literally just opened a new joint account with my current bank in anticipation of getting a mortgage etc and for bills.

I would move over to Nationwide but don't know if it will have any impact on my mortgage application having only recently opened a bank account.

NeoVR2k6

whoschuffed wrote: »

Does opening new accounts affect your credit rating much?

I've literally just opened a new joint account with my current bank in anticipation of getting a mortgage etc and for bills.

I would move over to Nationwide but don't know if it will have any impact on my mortgage application having only recently opened a bank account.

Good question - although another "logistical" issue could be - if i move my account, then they request a few months bank statements.

I plan to either wander into my local branch, or give them a call tomorrow to clarify.

whoschuffed

Think i'll be making some phone calls today too.

Will report back on any info they give as it may help other people

NeoVR2k6

Ive just been on the phone to one of their advisors.

He clarified that the only "4 month" requirement with money being paid in is for the basic flex-account.

For the other two accounts, they can be opened during the application if required, without needing to do a full switch.

Of course if you do want to switch current accounts, theres £80 cashback available via quidco until the end of the week.

Im erring towards starting a switch with quidco at the moment, and then applying for the mortgage next week.