Does Anyone Have A Abbey Flexi Plus Mortgage That Can Help Me Please? 26 January 2008 at 11:35PM in Mortgage-free wannabe 15 replies 2.4K views

taxi73

just wondered if any of you clever people on here can help me?I've just got a Abbey Flexi plus mortgage and aim to have rid of my debt and mortgage by the end of 2011. It's at 5.99% base rate plus 0.49% for the life of the mortgage.
It's for £47400 and is £524.99 p/m
I can make overpayments as large as I want with no penalties.I understand how to do this and increase the DD and how to do the basics of the account.
What I am confused about and need confirming is that when you make an overpayment it automatically goes in your offset pot..thats fine..unless you request otherwise and then it reads to me that if you request it to go direct off your mortgage then it doesn't shorten the term only lowers the payment required..is this right?..if so is the only way to pay it off to have the same amount in the offset as the mortgage and then to ask them to pay it to the mortgage?
Sorry for what may seem stupid questions as before being self employed I have always been self cert...we only took a 25 year mortgage out 5 years ago and have shaved this one down to 10 years..so have done well so far.
Is it better to pay it off your mortgage and for it to come off the mortgage or to pay it off your mortgage where it goes direct into your savings pot(automatic)
I plan to overpay 1k per month so if any of you understand this better than me then can you be kind enough to assist me ...thanks

dimbo61

hi taxi73 I think you have an offset mortgage with a rate of 6.48% so your best option is to save into the offset and build up your savings, as you are self employed this is a good place to keep your TAX money till you have to pay it ! You are not going to get an ISA paying more than 6.48% .
there is no difference to saving into the offset than overpaying the mortgage
except you have access to the money for EMERGENCIES ( ie big car bill )
GOOD LUCK

taxi73

Thankyou so much for your answer my rate is 5.99% for definite and what you said was what I was thinking regarding my tax savings etc.I was just struggling because it has a credit facility, overpayment facility and offset and because when I went to see my MA was after one I could overpay on...this was the one that he recommended we go for.I was shocked that I no longer have to go self cert so hadn't even thought about this account or looked into it..I have since looked and wanted to make sure that I use the account in the most effective way..so your input is appreciated..glad I don't have my current account with it as that will totally confuse me.Take care xx

Kez100

We have an old Abbey flexi mortgage and love the product (as much as anyone can love a debt). Ours is 0.69% above base. Because it is an old product ours works a bit differently to yours in the technical sense but I wanted to let you know how happy we have been with the flexibility.

We had a huge credit at the end of 2005 and the opportunity to extend came along - something we hadn't thought of before. It was fantastic to know we could just do it and the money was there at a sensible rate without all the paperwork these things normally involve. We also save our holiday and rainy money into it knowing, without any hard graft looking, it is pretty much the best rate we can get anywhere anyway.

taxi73

Thanks for that Kez...I too will be putting my tax money etc into it as well...I've heard so many stories about Abbey banking being bad that I didn't know whether they were as bad on mortgages...I think the flexibility is a good idea as well can't wait to get cracking on busting that mortgage come April...I don't think I will put the debt on the mortgage but haven't totally decided....thanks for the reply as everybody seems to have the one account.

Sweets2

hi taxi73!
I'm doing same as you - same mortgage and I'm self employed. If you can, register for internet banking and use their Abbey mortgage View and Do facility.
I find it v helpful to click the Show Me button which will tell you how much time (in months) and how much interest you would save by depositing an amount into your offset account, before actually doing to transfer.

Sweets2

ooo while I think of it...have not had a bad experience yet with it (been with Abbey couple of years now) ... it's been taking about 5 working days for offset deposit to move out of my other account and appear in Abbey offset.
BUT to get hold of cash offset by withdrawing and having it deposited back in my current account (not an Abbey account) has been done in 24hours. Great for tax payments (...or holidays...etc!)

Sweets2

Good luck with your 2011 quest Taxi73!!

taxi73

Thanks Sweets....that looks good the internet banking bit.It was a shock when my MA applied for that mortgage as even though I have excellent credit I have always been self cert so had never looked into these mortgages before but was determined that I wanted to make overpayments and to reduce my term to 10 years from 18 years...but am happy that I will be able to pay this off in about 3 years and be mortgage free...can't wait to get started.I'm just waiting for my ERC to finish on 31st march and then my solicitor says it will take 4-5 days all the paperwork is done...so will then be able join MFi3....and all stuff will be finished no debt no mortgage by 2011 god willing

taxi73

Thanks for the other 2 posts ....i read that in the literature that I got about the time he takes but thats fine funny when he got me the offset I thought I hadn't got anything to put in it but I have my tax savings and holiday money plus money left over each month so can find quite a bit to put in and it will be topped up each weeks as well.
Can I put lower amounts than £500 in or is that other Abbey mortgages.I haven't seen anything in the bumph that says there is a minimum overpayment.

Sweets2

Cool! PM me anytime if you wanna chat/compare notes.

I've seen your diary thread on another board (hmm starting to sound like a stalker...that's not good) and have found it v inspirational but I lurk more than post as it's tough for me to get an internet connection I can post from. I'm one of those sad creatures who started off frugal by necessity but have kept it up as a lifestyle thing now...hence my slight addiction to knowing about internet banking. You'll see the offset pot grow by an item marked "Overpayment" once each month - which is the Abbey's contribution to the offset.
Note to self - I gotta get out more!