Old Woolwich Mortgage A/c

setmefree2

Hi Guys,

I've been trying to talk to someone at Barclays/Woolwich with no luck. Thought I'd try you guys instead:rolleyes:...

We have a Woolwich mortgage which changed to Barclays. When I went into my Barclays mortgage A/c today on line it has another a/c which looks like it's an Open plan Account- it's called POT1. It looks like it's an offset savings a/c.

Can anyone explain what the new set up is with Barclays/ Woolwich?

Thx

SMF2

catshark88

Hi Setmefree2, we have the same account.

Pot1 is your savings account, they call them "pots" and you can have up to 12 I think. They can be linked to your mortgage in an offset arrangement. It is worth checking that they have been linked though in case Barclays have made an error. You can check by selecting your mortgage account and scrolling down.

You can change the name of your pots by going to the customise site section on the summary page (I think that is the heading but have a play and you will soon find it).

Although Barclays have taken W over, there is still some W branding about so don't be surprised when you come accross it.

It seems a good account but telephone banking is woeful and Barclays branches don't seem to know about the mortgage side. Every time I pay cheques in to my current account, the ladies try to arrange me a financial makeover as I have a few pots and I keep having to explain the concept of an offset. Doesn't exactly inspire confidence!

Well done on your mortgage reduction, you have done really well. Any tips?

setmefree2

Many many many thx for your reply. Does that mean (sorry for being thick) that the account POT1 attracts interest at the same rate as my mortgage? We have a flexible tracker - will the interest rate on POT1 move with my mortgage rate? I did try to talk to someone - nobody seemed to understand (and I was worried about the cost of the phone call:o)....

We've just being careful really over the last 5 years with our money - sadly, half of income goes to Barclays/ Woolwich every month as we attempt to clear our mortgage:o:eek: but hopefully it will all be worth it...

setmefree2

Hi again,

Just went into my Barclays a/c and I can't scroll down on my mortgage a/c at all?

din_dons

Hi I have this account agree with what catshark 88 says-in fact trying to get through as I write!!
You can have up to 12 different pots with different titles linked to the mortgage account therefore used as offset.
You are not able to see Mortgage account on line only balance, what you saved in interest last month and how much you overpaid. You will get a mortgage statement from Woolwich every month and also a bank statement every month, because I have 12 posts I get 4 letters from Barclays!!!
It is much easier to speak to the Woolwich staff as they are based in the UK number 08456051111. Barclays is a different story.

If you wish to overpay please be aware that the money will leave your Barclays account and take 3 days to get to your mortgage account whcih is a little annoying as that didn't used to happen when it was all Woolwich.
I have not long to go with my mortgage and feel that I will move back to a normal current account when mortgage is over. Despite that the account makes you a little obsessive to keep all the money you have in your account. Use a credit card that you pay off monthly so you can keep the money in the account longer, I use Tesco so to capitalise on my points!!

Hope that helps

setmefree2

Hi

Many many many thx for all that info. I can see POT1 and a sort code but I will phone Woolwich to check what interest is on pot to be sure to be sure....at the moment just pay money straight off mortgage but might have to start a new car fund so might be a good place to put it.

Many thx again

catshark88

Din Dons is absolutely right, you don't have "live" info on your mortgage a/c but you do get a "cleared" amount at that moment and a summary of overpayments made in the previous month. At the bottom of that info is a list of offset accounts. If there is nothing there, i would worry that the savings pots are not yet linked. You do not get interest as such on your savings pots, you get that amount deducted from the overall mortgage amount that you owe.

The amount that you overpay gets added to your overdraft facility so beware if you are one for unplanned splurges (which with your overpayment rate is clearly not the case!).

The fact that overpayments take 3 days to clear is completely £$%£$%£!:mad: but it suits Barclays so there you go. This account will either drive you to murder or yoga (for relaxing thoughts) but it does do the job.

I do not know if I am keener to pay my mortgage off to save the interest or so that I can change my account...

I "service my mortgage" daily, taking off either single or double figures according to how flush I feel. This account can lead to financial OCD and membership of the fantastic live on £4k a year thread though so BEWARE!
:rotfl:

setmefree2

catshark88 wrote: »

I do not know if I am keener to pay my mortgage off to save the interest or so that I can change my account...

LOL:rotfl:

catshark88 wrote: »

This account can lead to financial OCD and membership of the fantastic live on £4k a year thread though so BEWARE!
:rotfl:

OMG can't have that happen - I think about money too much as it is:eek::rolleyes::D

So it sort of "Sweeps" the a/cs balances overnight then? Rather than one being a savings a/c and one a mortgage a/c?

You may wonder how we've ended up with an a/c we know so little about! I think it's because we were given an open plan mortgage but have never operated it as such - we just make overpayments directly to mortgage.

by the way our overpayments have been made in 5 years - not in the length of MFi3 challenge. Must change my sig....

Thx again

phizzimum

we also have the offset tracker with barclays/woolwich

the interest on our loan pot is at exactly the same rate as the mortgage.

it's always taken a few days for an overpayment to show up on the mortgage. But the loan pot is listed alongside our current/savings accounts and money can be transferred into the loan pot account immediately.