2025 Mortgage-Free Wannabes

V3cash

£450 OP for July please @julicorn
#68 £450.59 total for July 

JohnTheSkier

Hi, #14 here. Please could add an overpayment of £225 for July, taking YTD to £849? Upped my regular overpayment, and split a switch bonus between mortgage and pension.

Lauraebrad

Hi @julicorn July update from #30 - thanks!!
July £200
YTD £1960

amydoll83

Hi Julicorn,

#67 reporting in for June (late again!)

Total OP for June was £338.29

Bounty123

Evening,
No.23 with an update.
June £99
July £99
Total for the year £1725.
By the way, is anyone finding that N*twest is now adding on a £30 fee for one off overpayments? They only seem to have started this year but it is really putting me off doing the small amounts more regularly.
Anyway, thanks for running this challenge @julicorn
Bounty

turtlemoose

Bounty123 said:

Evening,
No.23 with an update.
June £99
July £99
Total for the year £1725.
By the way, is anyone finding that N*twest is now adding on a £30 fee for one off overpayments? They only seem to have started this year but it is really putting me off doing the small amounts more regularly.
Anyway, thanks for running this challenge @julicorn
Bounty

Yes, and when you do it via the mobile app, it only tells you about the £30 AFTER you've completed the process. I called them last week to ask for it be refunded on this occasion, as they didnt give me a choice to accept or decline it. And said they should feed it back that the mobile pages don't inform customers of the charge until too late. Still waiting to hear back....

here_for_the_tips

That's a pretty high admin fee for a single transaction. Is it all mortgages? Did they send out notification of updated terms re fees?

EDIT from there help site (I bank with them but not the mortgage thank goodness), this is cheeky. Overpay but need to ask maybe once a year to reduce the term rather then do this after each OP. Very crafty.

You can make an application to reduce the term of your mortgage at any time. We'll complete an income and expenditure check as a part of the application to ensure the new payments are affordable for you. There's an admin fee of £35 to amend your term which is due when you make your application. You can request a call back to start your application using our online self service platform 'Manage Your Mortgage'. Select our live chat which appears on your screen offering help.

You can find 'Manage Your Mortgage' in the NatWest app or Online Banking. If you haven't used them yet, here's some guidance (opens in a new window) on how to access them. It doesn't matter whether you have other NatWest accounts or just a mortgage.

If an App isn't for you, you can use Manage Your Mortgage (opens in a new window) where you can just see your mortgage account using a one-time passcode.

Overpaying your mortgage doesn't automatically reduce the term of your mortgage. Each time your interest rate changes, or you make a lump sum overpayment of £1000 or more, we'll recalculate your monthly payments over the remaining term of your mortgage.

turtlemoose

Prompted by the discussion here, I rang them again this morning. They've checked my account and confirmed I did NOT have a £30 CHAPS fee (so, different to the £35 fee mentioned above) applied to my payment, even though it does say that on my online account (just a little bubble that pops up, not a transaction on my statement). It LOOKS like potentially an error with the website rather than an actual charge being applied. The call handler said they would flag it with the relevant team to look at what's displayed on the online banking.

He did however say there IS a fee if you pay by bank transfer from another bank to your Natwest mortgage, but if you did the same transaction directly from a Natwest current account to your mortgage, that fee doesn't apply. So perhaps it's picking that up (incorrectly) and displaying it. Who knows! I'm just relieved i didn't actually get charged for it. 

HelenaPinky

#75 July OP £565 which brings my total OP this year to £1352. Thank you Julicorn for keeping us on track.

Bounty123

Thanks for the responses @turtlemoose and @here_for_the_tips
I have been overpaying for years and never had any charges no matter what bank I pay from but I moved house in November so it might be a condition in newer mortgages. I checked my mortgage documents and there is no mention of it. I will contact them at some point to find out because two charges this year for one off overpayments is too much for me.
Bounty