Has anyone used the L&C £300 Remortgage package + check my calculations!

KTF

L&C do a remortgage package for a fixed rate of £300:

http://www.lcplc.co.uk/Remortgage_sols_1.aspx?id=1:27240&id=21992

and I was wondering if anyone had used it what they thought of it as it seems a lot cheaper than the £600+ I seem to be getting quoted from other places.

If they are any good then I am thinking about using them to move to the A&L 4.24% fixed rate because if you combine the fixed rate of £300 with the £250 (an extra £25 can be added to the total if you open a Premier account online) cashback that A&L offer Premier Account customers they basically cancel each other out so I can get one of the lowest fixed rates and avoid most of the fees.

So my figures are as follows for £88,500 over 23 years on a repayment basis.

Nationwide:
Rate: 4.39% for 2 years
Package fee: £389
Admin fee: £50
Legals: £0
Total: £484

Payment: £509.86 (£530.03 if you take into account the fees over the term)

A&L:
Rate: 4.24% for 2 years
Package fee: £395
Admin fee: £0
Legals: £300 (via L&C)
Cashback: £250
Total: £445

Payment: £502.54 (£521.09 if you take into account the fees over the term)

So (assuming my calulations are correct) even with the legal fees, the cashback makes the A&L deal better than the Nationwide with free legal fees and all I have to do is open a A&L bank account to get it.

Am I correct in my workings or am I missing something here?

Ian_W

Never used it, but L&C seem like a really professional outfit so I'd give it a go and your figures look fine to me ... BUT ... I've seen [I think] somewhere, probably on this site, that A&L charge a £250 exit fee which is about double the norm - YOU NEED TO CHECK TO MAKE SURE I'M RIGHT. If I am & you don't like their rates in 2 years time it'll cost you far more to leave them than other lenders.

There was an article about fixed rates and hidden charges in the local rag to-night and the following is a quote from it ...

" She cites the Alliance & Leicester two-deal fixed rate deal at 4.24 per cent as an example. Although it offers the second most competitive headline rate it actually works out more expensive over the loan period than Portman's 4.49 per cent." The exit charge might be the reason for this quote.

Full article at Manchesteronline

payless

Not saying which is best ( if any) - may still be A&L

as well as differences in account closing fees mentioned above ( top of head - believe currently£295 Vs £90 , but can change)

1. Is there a valuation fee to take into account
2. Can L&C ( or any broker) be involved if you claim the Premier £250 cashback you mention ? ( they still might be able to get you competitive legals)

Also look at differences in early redemption charges and the overpay options to see which meets your requirements

Ian_W

From Martin's free PDF re-mortgaging guide [p.17] - well worth a read for anyone considering it ...

Look out for another sneaky leaving cost levied by most lenders. It can be called a deeds release fee, sealing fee or discharge fee - but essentially it’s to cover the administration costs of dealing with your mortgage paperwork. Typically this should cost
you around £200 - but some lenders charge a combination of 2 or 3 of these so the bill can be higher.
These fees have been going up recently.

I think, and again I'm going from memory so I could be wrong, some months ago Martin named A&L as they well above the norm. Maybe other lenders have caught up on "sneaky charges", thinking that's a wizard wheeze, or maybe with more people swopping exit costs to lenders have gone much higher and the charges are justified?

Still, worth including in your calculations as it will be a factor if you want to change again in 2 years time.

MortgageGenie

I use a similar setup for remortgage conveyancing where standard legals are not provided by the lender. For straight forward remortgages I don't experiance any problems however for purchases or anything more complex I tend to recommend using a good local socititor as they are usually a lot easier to work with when things are out of the norm.

KTF

Right, having punched the numbers for the discharge fee into my spreadsheet, the Nationwide (2 years @ 4.39) is still coming out on top so scratch the A&L plan.