Is Scottish Widows a good lender?

houmie

Hello,

I'm in the process of remortgaging for the first time.

My broker has found be a deal for 1.19% 2-years fixed with Scottish Widows (£749 fees).

I have found that Yorkshire Building Society is offering 0.99% 2-years fixed (£1,495), which can only be applied for directly.

I would borrow around 400K, so the rate makes a difference over two years.

Now I'm torn between which one to pick. The broker claims Scottish Widow is quite a special lender for remortgaging as ...

1) Next time when I need to remortgage again, they always offer great products, which eliminates the need for switching the mortgage to a different lender altogether.

2) They offer an Offset-fixed-Mortgage account, where I could hold my emergency fund in there instead to offset the mortgage interest. I'm paying 45% income tax, so earning interest is almost pointless outside the offset account.

What do you think?

Many Thanks,

amnblog

Dont lose sight of the benefits of the offset feature. Have your Broker give you a copy of the offset guide booklet.

AnotherJoe

I had an offset mortgage for probably near on 20 years and it was great, as i was earning five plus % tax free, however in today’s (and the foreseeable future) environment those benefits are gone, and your emergency expenses at one or two percent will be pretty small beer. Or they should be, if they are so large that the interest is a large amount then you have too much cash.

On the mortgages, the lower rate YBS will save you about £1100 over two years if my back of a fag packet calculations are right id be inclined to take that now whilst it’s going. You can always take out the SW mortgage in 2 years if it’s so great at that point.

dunstonh

Its about the only thing that Scottish Widows are good for nowadays. Lloyds have nearly killed them as a viable insurance company.