First Direct

unkle

I've been with First Direct for years now and the general day to day service is excellent.

However a word of warning, they are a cute lender/bank.

When I was looking to move I applied to increase my mortgage (offset). Now over the prior few years i'd effectively paid off my mortgage as I was fully offset (interest was usually between £1-£2 a month). Going through the application process I thought there would be no issue. I had no other debt, the loan was less than 30% LTV and was less than 2.5 times my basic income.

They declined my application for an offset but would agree it on a repayment mortgage under the premise that I couldn't afford the offset mortgage which was bonkers.

Having latterly had an 'off the record' conversation with the underwriter she confirmed that there was no issue with my finances but under an offset mortgage they made no money out of me (I never use an overdraft, pay off my credit card each month etc).


,

robatwork

If you just have a repayment mortgage and no bank account, you can't use the app (or online banking):

To:

Re: Mobile Banking App

Thank you for your message dated 15-Nov-2017 regarding the Mobile Banking app.

As a stand alone Repayment Mortgage customer, it would not be possible to register for Internet Banking and therefore viewing your Mortgage Account via the Mobile app will not be possible. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.



Come on First Direct.....2005 is calling and the internet is going to take off in a big way soon and become invaluable

pavlovs_dog

As has already been mentioned on the thread, they have just updated their online banking provision and it is now possible to see repayment mortgages online and via the app

geek1981

I don't mind opening a current account just to see my mortgage balance. If you have a mortgage with them you do not need minimum balance, salary credit or direct debts to keep current account. So i will apply for one when my mortgage offer comes through. Looks like they have a decent ios app too.

robatwork

pavlovs_dog wrote: »

As has already been mentioned on the thread, they have just updated their online banking provision and it is now possible to see repayment mortgages online and via the app

The point I was making is that if you don't have a bank account with them, you can't use their app. Nor see your mortgage online.

bluenose1

unkle wrote: »

I've been with First Direct for years now and the general day to day service is excellent.

However a word of warning, they are a cute lender/bank.

When I was looking to move I applied to increase my mortgage (offset). Now over the prior few years i'd effectively paid off my mortgage as I was fully offset (interest was usually between £1-£2 a month). Going through the application process I thought there would be no issue. I had no other debt, the loan was less than 30% LTV and was less than 2.5 times my basic income.

They declined my application for an offset but would agree it on a repayment mortgage under the premise that I couldn't afford the offset mortgage which was bonkers.

Having latterly had an 'off the record' conversation with the underwriter she confirmed that there was no issue with my finances but under an offset mortgage they made no money out of me (I never use an overdraft, pay off my credit card each month etc).


,

Banked with FD since it first started and have an offset mortgage. We rang them the other day to check our offset mortgage was portable, didn’t realise they may do this, very annoying.
Is it worth you looking for another Bank that does offsets? I don’t want to leave FD but I would if it saved a lot.

Keith

I'm happily with them and have remortgaged with them easily.

My only concern is the term in the mortgage which links all your unsecured HSBC debt with the mortgaged property under default.