Interest rates for TheONE Account staying up

wymondham

mpsavuk wrote: »

Looks like you spoke a bit too soon there jackarmy!

is it going up again?

There is a good side to One Account rises ... once you've paid it off then at this rate you have a half decent current account with ever increasing rates!

jackarmy

Its only a hunch that they will start introducing arrangement fees which seems to be the norm now with traditional mortgages.

I'm afraid that the Virgin ethos of fair play and honesty, has disappeared forever, and the sooner we all get a reality check the better.

Complain to the FSA, hassle the One Account managers, have a good bleat, moan about being hard done by and then get on with life.

The good old days have gone forever, we are all in for a rough ride.

Grow your own food, buy some chickens, get a bike, spend only what is absolutely necessary to survive, and pay the mortgage off ASAP.

On re-reading the latest letter there is no mention of any increases for credit balances.!!!!

strength_in_numbers

Hi all,

My first post, but I've got to let it out...........

I feel we need to stop saying it could be worse and comments like that. Lets not forget they've dumped on us. We all had an understanding, and that has been cast aside. It's just not on. On many occasions over the years we could have moved for cheaper deals elsewhere, and this is how they reward our loyalty. Also with respect to the flexibility of the loan, this is not the only lender to offer this sort of arrangement, so why it is made to sound like some sort of perk.

I too, wrote to the One Account Team for an explanation of how they can manipulate the interest rates after agreeing to move them in line with the Bank of England's. But before I even got a reply they'd written to me to say they are going to increase the interest rate again by another quarter point.

I now have their reply, and they have said:
"We are also aware that some years ago certain price promises were made to our customers around changes to the Virgin One Account rates following any change to interest rates set by the Bank of England. These promises did not reflect the mortgage terms and conditions, but were a genuine statement of our intentions at the time, and we can only apoplogise if, as a result of the communications, you were ever led to believe that the rate would always track the Bank of England Base Rate."

Well forgive me, but "these promises did not reflect the mortgage terms and conditions" sounds like a pretty clear case of mis-selling, mis-leading or certainly mis-representation to me. And what's with the "some years ago", as if the promise only had a limited shelf life, didn't we mention that.

It seems now that they've decided in for a penny in for a pound and they're accelerating up and away from the B of E base rate using the credit crunch as a scapegoat. It is easy to pull this stunt when then can point the finger at everyone else doing it. But the others didn't have the deal we had.

Are we expected to just roll over and take this? When I took my loan, it was a major selling point that the interest rate would be tied to the Bof E rate. It was something they proudly flaunted as it offered some sort of benchmark and security. They have clearly stated in their letter that they did promise to do this, so how can they then just decide to pull the rug on it ten years later.

When I get my next response from them I will go on to register a complaint with the FOS and FSA, as I hope many others will.

I have also written and asked for clarification on the way they charge us interest. I think they have a little scam going. They write to us and tell us how much the interest will be for the month, they say they will take it two weeks after it is due. For the two weeks that they delay in taking the money they charge interest on the interest they should have taken in the first place. I checked over the phone and it sounds like this is what they do. I will get it in writing in a few days. Is this legal? Is it another example of underhanded charging that we can all claim back?

At the start of my loan my LTV was about 80% and the interest rate was at the top end of the LTV bands. I asked on the phone if I could be moved to the interest rate for a LTV of 50% as the property has increased in value over the years. The advisor told me that they don't do split rates for different LTV's any more. That's a lie - the last letter they put out to everyone shows the different rates for the different LTV's. I am waiting their answer in writing.

Anyone who has a vastly different LTV now compared to when they started their loans, should ask to have it re assessed. I am expecting them to say there's an 'arrangement fee' for making any change, larger than any saving we could make.

wymondham

You must feel better after that!

virgin-one-leaver

There's a very simple solution to all of this hand-wringing - move your mortgage. I have just done a quick survey and have found that the Woolwich offset tracker is fixed at Barclays base rate (=BOE MLR with a slight delay when tracking changes) +0.99% for 60% or lower mortgages for the lifetime of the mortgage. It is basically the same as the virgin one, but easier to manage. So I'm moving. If we all move en-mass, then that will teach RBS about screwing their customers and relying on them to just moan but do nothing. I will admit, I'm just joining Barclays in case anyone cries bias, but just have a look at the best buys on confused.com and very quickly you'll see it is good value in the current market. There is a steep joining fee (900 quid) but you will recoup that in about 18 months with the reduced interest rate. For the record I registered my complaint with V1 and the chap at the other end of the phone was very sympathetic. I used to sing the praises of the account, but good service and flexibility aren't worth the extra interest rate any more. Sympathy don't butter no parsnips.

Monty76

At least you have the balls to do something about it virgin-one-leaver. Be careful though, you could be chucking 900 quid at Barclays for them to do the same as RBS. Is there anything in the T&Cs stopping them raising their Barclays base rate out of step with the BoE. Why don't they just peg to the real base rate? Just saying be careful is all I'm saying as Barclays can't be making much money on this deal which is always a sure sign it will not be around for long.

Monty76

Any Vals and Sols fees on the Woolwich deal by the way?

DickDastardly_2

wymondham wrote: »

You must feel better after that!

I know you probably meant this tongue in cheek, but if you have nothing to add to the debate other than mild micky-taking, can you please leave it?

Strength-in-numbers - Agreed entirely, very good post and well put.

Virgin One Leaver - Fair points, but not everyone is in a position (like me) to just leave or change mortgage, and whilst you're right and the actions are valid, it really does miss the point about Virgin mis-selling or leading folk to believe that their mortages would be kept in line with the BoE rate. Rules for selling financial products are there to stop this kind of thing, and walking away doesn't improve the situation for the next sucker.......

strength_in_numbers

Hi all,

a bit off the thread, but I just popped into to our favorite bank (RBoS) to pay another £1000 off my debt. Evey time I go in there they see my One Account card and almost insist on making me an RBOS alternative mortgage offer, even though the One Account is under the RBOS. Anyway I just asked a couple of questions and in the exchange the lady told me that RBOS will be increasing their mortgage interest rates next Tuesday.

wymondham

DickDastardly wrote: »

I know you probably meant this tongue in cheek, but if you have nothing to add to the debate other than mild micky-taking, can you please leave it?

Just trying to lighten things up a bit, no intention to offend anyone, but i have to say you're all dreaming if you think the FSA is interested in people being upset at rate rises on a variable mortgage .... I've read my contract many times and nowhere is there any promise to keep it at X, or in line with Y - I'd be the first to complain if they had. good luck though!

voila, contribution duly made.