Interest rates for TheONE Account staying up

janken

Have just registered a complaint, dont know what hapens next. If everyone starts complaining-you never know

DickDastardly_2

I am sorry Wymondham, Stuart and Monty, but I think you are incorrect in your assumptions on the issue.

I don't think people are naieve enough to think that banks are social institutions and not out to make a profit but there is a difference between making a profit (wich on a normal mortgage at 6% over 25 years is quite substantial thank you very much!) and royally screwing people rotten. RBS are currently doing the latter and with aplomb.

These current rises are AGAINST the BoE rates rise and not in line with them. If the base rate has risen, and my mortgage followed suit, yes that is fair enough. But to raise rates when the base is falling is not on, especially as we are not fool enough to think that it is nothing other than to pay for the enormouse mistakes that banks like RBS have made in the sub-prime and American markets. They have chased high-profit fool-hardy deals and have got stung, but rather than the investors taking the sting they have decided to pass the costs down to us mugs instead, and that is what make folks angry and justifiably so.

Don't you think its funny how investors never pass down the huge sums they make when things are going right though? Seems to me it is a no-lose situation for them. They gamble and win and keep the profits, they gamble and lose and we get the losses. Hmmmm, no thanks!

Folk on here have every right to complain about this issue and merely because there maybe no credible alternative, makes a complaint all the more valid IMO. And regarding the marketing 'mistakes', these are important and not to be dismissed. The entire endowment mis-selling scandal was just 'errors in marketing' but only a fool would say the folks involved weren't right to press ahead with class actions to get changes and compensation.Whilst on a smaller scale the facts remain that currently RBS / Virgin One customers are being giving the once over to cover the banks losses elsewhere, and if you seriously think that they are quite within their rights to do so, that's fine, but then why post about it in a forum about saving money, i.e. keeping it in your pocket and not the big banks???!!!

And as an addendum, I don't think anyone is throwing their toys or otherwise at call-centre staff SFAIK. Most complaints are better done in writing, as I have done. I like my One Account and the staff have always mostly been helpful, so it is not to do with them, but the organisation as a whole. And personally, I don't want to change my account but on the same hand, I will not stay to be screwed over either. The situation for me is in flux and I am currently adopting a wait-and-see approach too future moves by RBS to decide wether it is more frugal for me to take my business elsewhere....

Monty76

Wow, long post. Very emotional subject it seems.

Problem is, BoE base rate means little or nothing nowadays - it's all down to LIBOR. Sooner people realise that the better. Things have changed! The lending market over the last few years have corrected and we may never go back to super cheap mortgages.

Lot of hate for RBS but the fact remains: If they were trying to screw you over you would be paying at least 1% more than you are now. They've swallowed the majority of the increase in borrowing money and us One account customers remain relatively sheltered from all this. Those that are coming off low fix rates from a few years ago are really going to feel the hurt.

Complain all you like, I don't blame you, but reducing the hysterics and accepting things change might pay dividends.

wymondham

I always thought in an open market, a bank can charge whatever rate they liked on their variable rates....? Make them attactive to get more customers, less attractive to lose customers..

RBS are nothing special in upping rates... it's all over the place at present

Cosmo

I understand the comments made by those quoting market forces etc. Perhaps we are lucky in that we still have great flexibility and have only lost 0.5% in real terms. (Or the alternative view that we've always been stupid to accept such a high rate and now we're even more stupid to stay with it). That's not the point. The point is that I was sold on the One Account on two things.

1. The single view of a traditional mortgage and current account, combined with complete flexibility on payments and no penalty on leaving.
2. The promise that the interest rate would change with the published Bank of England Base rate.

I read the T&Cs and understood that they could change the rate whenever they needed to - I'm not naive, I counted this as a necessity in being able to follow the BoE rate. I went through a period of 8 years of complete confirmation of their promise. Since RBS took over they have now renaged on promise 2. How long are we to wait before they screw up the rest of the benefits of the account? Thin end of the wedge, how to boil a frog etc...

That's my beef and it is contrary to the FSAs guidelines - I've been sold something which has not lived up to the expectations set by the seller.

StuartGMC

ixwood wrote: »

Sorry, but that's rubbish. What about the loss of interest on the cash you're offsetting?

With all due respect, there are plenty of worked examples here on MSE on why offsetting is beneficial in terms of the interest rate charged on the mortgage vs the interest rate minus tax you pay on savings i.e. you need a very much improved interest rate on the savings to counter the tax deductions. Even a Cash ISA will struggle to beat this

As I noted, and OP has confirmed, if you have a positive current account balance every month and a significant amount being paid into it, then you immediately gain on that sum alone if you leave it untouched for as long as possible. Indeed, as the capital reduces, the effective % offset by that monthly salary arriving in the account increases.

For higher rate tax payers the situation is even better. However, I did not say pull money out from the ISAs, my view is to balance offset combined with overpayment and also long term tax efficient saving (ISAs - you choose the balance you want in Cash and Stocks & Shares variants).

HelpWhereIcan

I would have thought that First Direct are a good alternative.

Do not know that much about their product at the mo, but I am led to believe that the Shepshed http://www.theshepshed.co.uk/mortgages/offset.htm have a CAM that is BBR + 1% for the term of the mortgage available up to 85% LTV. Worries about LIBOR and profiteering gone.

Both above have savings, current account and mortgage in seperate accounts but that does not really make any difference to them as an alternative.

Yorkshire Bank were the first UK CAM mortgage (contrary to popular belief) and offer between 6.19 to 6.54 http://www.ybonline.co.uk/0,,38857,00.html but is a variable rate at discretion of the lender.

Hope this helps someone

jackarmy

I think we have seen the last of the increases in interest rates for the time being.

Now watch as high arrangement fees become the norm.

DickDastardly_2

Well I have had an initial response from Virgin who have ignored the crux of my letter and merely attempted to justify the raise in rates because "...it has become increasingly expensive for us to lend money at variable interest rates...."

Sorry about that Virgin/RBS, I will work harder so your directors can rake in profits at the same high levels then...................:mad:

mpsavuk

jackarmy wrote: »

I think we have seen the last of the increases in interest rates for the time being.

Now watch as high arrangement fees become the norm.

Looks like you spoke a bit too soon there jackarmy!