In a bit of a mess

MrsAlford

Hi All,


Please bare with me as I'm new to all this!


OK so I've never been good with numbers. I find anything to do with mathematics really quite confusing. Hence why I'm now in a bit of a mess. One that I know I will get out of, but I'm just not too sure how.


I've lived in my house (mortgaged) for 6 years and have never changed providers for any of my bills! (So bad of me, I know) From mortgage to gas and electricity its all the same and I've come to realise that I could probably save myself some £££ if I had a look around. However, my insurances, mortgage etc were set up by an advisor and so I don't actually know what I need to look for.
Over the years, I have literally opened mail to see what the payment would be and then filed it. Today, whilst finally taking the plunge to sort my filing out, I've realised that I have been paying for 2 lots of buildings and contents insurance! Is there anyway I can claim some of the money back?
I've also had a quick look on comparison sites and it seems I've been paying far too much for these insurances too.
I also have a credit card with a massive interest rate. A friend has recently spoken about moving the debt to another card with a smaller APR??????
I'm hoping that once I get my head around things, I'll be OK.
Any advice would be great.


Thanks in advance,


A very embarrassed novice x

alyxzandra

MrsAlford wrote: »

Hi All,


Please bare with me as I'm new to all this!


OK so I've never been good with numbers. I find anything to do with mathematics really quite confusing. Hence why I'm now in a bit of a mess. One that I know I will get out of, but I'm just not too sure how.


I've lived in my house (mortgaged) for 6 years and have never changed providers for any of my bills! (So bad of me, I know) From mortgage to gas and electricity its all the same and I've come to realise that I could probably save myself some £££ if I had a look around. However, my insurances, mortgage etc were set up by an advisor and so I don't actually know what I need to look for.
Over the years, I have literally opened mail to see what the payment would be and then filed it. Today, whilst finally taking the plunge to sort my filing out, I've realised that I have been paying for 2 lots of buildings and contents insurance! Is there anyway I can claim some of the money back?
I've also had a quick look on comparison sites and it seems I've been paying far too much for these insurances too.
I also have a credit card with a massive interest rate. A friend has recently spoken about moving the debt to another card with a smaller APR??????
I'm hoping that once I get my head around things, I'll be OK.
Any advice would be great.


Thanks in advance,


A very embarrassed novice x

I do not think you could claim any of the money back. However, what you can do is use those comparison sites to see if you can get a cheaper insurance and if you do, cancel the other two and sign up for the new one. As for your credit card, you can look around for a credit card that has a 0% apR (annual percentage rate). The 0% means you are paying no interest and thus, you are paying off the actual amount of money you owe rather than just the interest and a smaller percentage of the debt. This will save you money in the long run. As for your mortgage, you can go to an advisor again and ask if there is something cheaper around. Good luck.

FireWyrm

alyxzandra wrote: »

As for your credit card, you can look around for a credit card that has a 0% apR (annual percentage rate). The 0% means you are paying no interest and thus, you are paying off the actual amount of money you owe rather than just the interest and a smaller percentage of the debt. This will save you money in the long run.

While this is true on the face of it, it is not the whole story. Most CCs will offer a 0% interest on balance transfers but the transfer fee can be eyewatering. You need to pay attention to that and work out whether the fee of say 4% is less than a card carrying some interest, but no fee.

Changing mortgages is easy. It is a case of looking around for an attractive rate and then applying for it. Depending on your Loan To Value ratio, there are a number of providers offering competative morgages for the time being. Be aware though that interest rates will eventually rise (despite fairyland belief to the contrary) and that any mortgage you apply for will be stress tested using the government 'mortgage market review' mechanism which is effectively a means test. They want to know if you can still afford the same mortgage at higher interest rates and I believe that they calculate up to something like 7%. As part of this review, they will ask you for detailed information regarding your spending habits, so it is probably a good idea to get some sort of budget set up for yourself so you can answer those questions with confidence. Avoiding the 'computer says no' situation is all about proving income, expense and affordability. You cant do that without relevant and coherent information.