Woolwich/ Barclays Reserve Facility

DaftOldBat

I have just received a letter and had completely forgotten I had this facility. I'm not very good with the number crunching - does anyone know if this is a better way to borrow a smallish amount of money, as opposed to using a credit card? Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

phizzimum

oh yes much better than a credit card I would say - your interest rate will be the same as your mortgage rate and you can pay it back as when you are able to.

just don't get carried away and end up borrowing too much (like we did!)

TurnaroundSue

phizzimum wrote: »

oh yes much better than a credit card I would say - your interest rate will be the same as your mortgage rate and you can pay it back as when you are able to.

just don't get carried away and end up borrowing too much (like we did!)

I don't think that is always the case - if I use my reserve facility the interest rate is at the variable mortgage rate and not the fixed one I have at 5.65% - so be careful! Check your T&C to see if yours is the same as your mortgage rate or different (like mine)

borntobefree

TurnaroundSue wrote: »

I don't think that is always the case - if I use my reserve facility the interest rate is at the variable mortgage rate and not the fixed one I have at 5.65% - so be careful! Check your T&C to see if yours is the same as your mortgage rate or different (like mine)

TurnaroundSue ours is the same as yours - and others have the SVR also - but some on MSE seem to have their reserve as their mortgage rate so there seems to be a difference. Ours is defo the SVR though.

phizzimum

our mortgage and reserve are both charged at the same rate as we have a tracker. On our statement they treat the reserve as if it's just another linked account (but a seriously overdrawn one!) and we pay interest on the total amount owed.

Mr_Picky

I replied to this letter by stating they should not put the onus on their customers to ask for what they already have to prevent it being taken away. I opted for neither 1) nor 2) and insisted they keep to the existing contract. I also copied their sneeky idea and stated that if they do nothing by the deadline (theirs) then I will assume they agree to my terms.

I can see our mortgage account online but both the balance and term increase after each monthly payment!!! We have to wait for the annual posted statement to see the real figure. Great customer service?!

drewwa

Just to come back to this thread.

Despite just ticking option 1 and sending the form back, I can report that my reserve is still rising. Now above £75k.

Cheers,

Drew.

phizzimum

interesting to see this thread popping up again. I'm a bit worried with the current financial climate that woolwich/barclays will withdraw the reserve and ask us to pay it all back. can't find our original term and conditions to see if they can do this to us.

evilcartman

I genuinely never received any such letter about my reserve facility!

The first I found out about it was today when I went to the bank to enquire about using my facility for the first time, only to be told that since I had never used it, it had been reduced from £50,000 to £100! And I've been told that to restore it would mean having to pay a £150 fee and any new reserve would be "subject to status".

How the hell can they do this unilaterally? When the mortgage was taken out in 2003, that facility was there for as long as I wanted it.

The thing is that now I actually need the facility whereas before I didn't, so I avoided using it. I am now out of work, have a personal loan of about £2,600 plus a credit card debt of about £3,000 which is currently being paid off on minimum payments (stupid, I know, but neither of these loans were a big deal when I was working).

So I was hoping to put both of these on the reserve to consolidate the loan and stop my savings haemorrhaging too fast. I had been hopeful of finding new work by now, and so hadn't really expected to be in this position, but as the jobs outlook is getting increasingly gloomy I have to face the possibility that I may not find work before my savings dry up.

Any suggestions on what I can do to get my reserve reinstated? I really did not receive any such letter and it can't be right that they can just withdraw it unilaterally.