Virgin One account interest tips

wymondham

Going_Digital wrote: »

I'm afraid I couldn't recommend the one account to anyone, the tips are really aimed at people who have one already and are not willing/able to find another deal elsewhere. My advise would be look elsewhere if you are starting a new mortgage as the RBS are not trustworthy and could well increase rates further over coming months if they feel the need for some more money to prop themselves up with.

ANY mortgage company can increase rates. RBS are not alone with this....

Going_Digital

wymondham wrote: »

ANY mortgage company can increase rates. RBS are not alone with this....

wymondham you seem somewhat of a RBS fanboy. Whenever anyone says anything negative about RBS you jump to their defense and I'm beginning to wonder if you are in some way associated with them in some way. The overwhelming opinion is despite all the apparent benefits of a flexible offsetting mortgage (and there are plenty available not just the one account) RBS has mislead their customers and you clearly don't understand the concept of trust.

Just because other banks are increasing rates to new customers or where discount periods are ending does not make it right that RBS does it to their existing customers that have been sold the benefit of an account that is linked to the base rate.

wymondham

Going_Digital wrote: »

wymondham you seem somewhat of a RBS fanboy. Whenever anyone says anything negative about RBS you jump to their defense and I'm beginning to wonder if you are in some way associated with them in some way. The overwhelming opinion is despite all the apparent benefits of a flexible offsetting mortgage (and there are plenty available not just the one account) RBS has mislead their customers and you clearly don't understand the concept of trust.

Just because other banks are increasing rates to new customers or where discount periods are ending does not make it right that RBS does it to their existing customers that have been sold the benefit of an account that is linked to the base rate.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of any bank, but you seem to be implying what RBS are doing is different to what any other bank would do, when in fact any bank can, and do raise their rates whenever they like.

I'm trying to level out the conversation as you are in a definate RBS bashing run (not in itself a bad thing, but just trying to even things out!!)

The fact they have raised your rate seems to have struck a real nerve - did you not realise you had a variable rate mortgage? There is no concept of trust and loyalty in the banking world, and you should have never thought it was ever so.

Nowhere in my T&C's with One Account does it say it is linked to the bank base rate - does it say this in yours? People seem to be confusing clever advertising speak with cold hard binding words on contracts....

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

I have had a V1 account now for a few years and despite the interest rate rise I can still see that it is the best thing for us. I have been able to differentiate between capital and interest payments and have done everything I can to minimise the interest I pay, this would have been very difficult/impossible with some other mortgage accounts.

I think everyone on the V1 threads have valid points, it is easy to see why people are up in arms about the rate rises but unfortunately the cold, hard facts are that they are legally within their rights to do this. I have still called and logged a complaint with the call team, in a polite manner of course, its not the poor call persons fault!

I will still carry on with this account as I can now see an end to my mortgage, its actually kept me focussed on my goal...paying it off. This thread is great for sharing tips, if only we could get hold of lots of 'free' money to stick in the account so we don't pay interest, sad fact is that these days are now at an end and its slim pickings in the 'stoozing' arena as far as I can see. The way I will win is that I am doing all I can to pay it off, before interest rates go up, up, and away. Hopefully they will never be as high as they were in the late '80s early '90s at around 15%.

My latest tip is to take advantage of the high interest rates on savings accounts if you can, I have just opened a Halifax regular saver ar 10% and this can go as high as 12% if you have £5k in another account. There is still room for manoeuvre in terms of shifting stoozepot money around. Luckily my stoozepot just about covers my mortgage so I don't pay any/much interest.

Another tip (sorry if its obvious) is to sit down and seriously rethink your budget, see where you can shave off costs. I consider myself as a blackbelt tightwad but I still look for ways to save money. I recently re-negotiated a lower home insurance, use quidco for purchases, go to jumble sales, dumpster dive in skips left on the road, visit charity shops, clickthroughs for vouchers at xmas, freecycle, scratch cooking, I have converted my family into blackbelt tightwads too and read every book on money saving (out of the library) I can get my hands on!

Having said all that, I don't crave money or lots of material wealth, I just want a happy family life with lots of quality time together before the desperate juniors leave the nest. We also are having 4 hols this year which I got on the cheap, grow our own etc. There's lots you can do. I see it as a lifestyle choice and this is where this account fits in for me. I also like the flexibility of being able to borrow more money at the drop of a hat if I need to. I don't want to but its a safety net.

Hope everyone gets sorted, I would love to read other people's tips too.