Offsetting (IF, OneAccount, FD)

[Benn]

Hi,

Need some advice on which lender to use for my up and coming
remortgage.

The three i am considered are IF, Oneaccount, First Direct.

I am aware that their are many others but where do you stop.

I have heard good things on IF, and the Oneaccount but nothing from
First Direct. I currently bank with the HSBC and find their internet
banking ok - is FD the same??

They currently have a 36 month fixed rate (5.99?) offsetting deal -
initially it looks tempting(in current slowly creeping rates).

Any good/bad experiences with any of the above 3. Any comments would
be valuable.

Cheers

 

[Guest]

X-No-Archive: yes

Hi,

Need some advice on which lender to use for my up and coming
remortgage.

The three i am considered are IF, Oneaccount, First Direct.

I am aware that their are many others but where do you stop.

I have heard good things on IF, and the Oneaccount but nothing from
First Direct. I currently bank with the HSBC and find their internet
banking ok - is FD the same??

They currently have a 36 month fixed rate (5.99?) offsetting deal -
initially it looks tempting(in current slowly creeping rates).

Any good/bad experiences with any of the above 3. Any comments would
be valuable.

Cheers

I was on a property forum and some people with big mortgages do NOT like IF
offset mortgages
they are a con and any benefits you get are AFTER you have paid up.

Dunno about Virgin one.

 

[Tim]

Hi,

Need some advice on which lender to use for my up and coming
remortgage.

The three i am considered are IF, Oneaccount, First Direct.

I am aware that their are many others but where do you stop.

I have heard good things on IF, and the Oneaccount but nothing from
First Direct. I currently bank with the HSBC and find their internet
banking ok - is FD the same??

They currently have a 36 month fixed rate (5.99?) offsetting deal -
initially it looks tempting(in current slowly creeping rates).

Any good/bad experiences with any of the above 3. Any comments would
be valuable.

I've been with FirstDirect for over 10 years and had one of their offset
mortgages for a while now too. Service is excellent. [They originally
pitched themselves as a telephone bank, and all operators are pleasant to
speak to and always manage to help. I find their internet banking very
useful too - you can do pretty much anything you'd want to with it.]
I'd recommend them to anyone.

 

[Marcus Collie]

Hi,

Need some advice on which lender to use for my up and coming
remortgage.

The three i am considered are IF, Oneaccount, First Direct.

I am aware that their are many others but where do you stop.

I have heard good things on IF, and the Oneaccount but nothing from
First Direct. I currently bank with the HSBC and find their internet
banking ok - is FD the same??

They currently have a 36 month fixed rate (5.99?) offsetting deal -
initially it looks tempting(in current slowly creeping rates).

Any good/bad experiences with any of the above 3. Any comments would
be valuable.

Cheers

Well, if you are looking at IF and The One account then stop - their
interest rates are 5.8% and 5.70% respectively, compared to Open Plan offset
(Woolwich/Barclays) which is 5.6%.

Dunno about FD though - excellent bank mind!

MC

 

[Robin Graham]

I was on a property forum and some people with big mortgages do NOT like
IF

offset mortgages
they are a con and any benefits you get are AFTER you have paid up.

Can you be more specific? This sounds like a blanket criticism.

Rob Graham

 

[Tim]

Well, if you are looking at IF and The One account then stop - their
interest rates are 5.8% and 5.70% respectively, compared to Open Plan offset
(Woolwich/Barclays) which is 5.6%.

Dunno about FD though - excellent bank mind!

FD = 5.25%.

[They're doing 4.24% discounted rate for first 3 months.]

 

[Mike NG]

Hi,

Need some advice on which lender to use for my up and coming
remortgage.

The three i am considered are IF, Oneaccount, First Direct.

I am aware that their are many others but where do you stop.

I have heard good things on IF, and the Oneaccount but nothing from
First Direct. I currently bank with the HSBC and find their internet
banking ok - is FD the same??

They currently have a 36 month fixed rate (5.99?) offsetting deal -
initially it looks tempting(in current slowly creeping rates).

Any good/bad experiences with any of the above 3. Any comments would
be valuable.

Cheers

I think the One Account is unique in that you can have a credit card as
part of your pooled balance. Not that I am suggesting you use it for
spending, but that you send money to it from another credit card on a
free balance transfer deal

 

[Thom]

I was on a property forum and some people with big mortgages do NOT like IF

offset mortgages
they are a con and any benefits you get are AFTER you have paid up.

I've no idea what this means. Offset mortgages are not a con - but you
do need to be aware that you pay a premium on the interest rate to gain
flexibility and offset advantages. Unless you have sufficient turnover
of cash through savings or current accounts it may not be useful to
offset (though there are other potential advantages such as retaining
ISA allowances after the mortgage is paid off).

Thom

 

[Thom]

I think the One Account is unique in that you can have a credit card as
part of your pooled balance. Not that I am suggesting you use it for
spending, but that you send money to it from another credit card on a
free balance transfer deal

No IF allow credit cards and loans to be offset.

Thom

 

[John Laird]

I've been with FirstDirect for over 10 years and had one of their offset
mortgages for a while now too. Service is excellent. [They originally
pitched themselves as a telephone bank, and all operators are pleasant to
speak to and always manage to help. I find their internet banking very
useful too - you can do pretty much anything you'd want to with it.]
I'd recommend them to anyone.

While having no experience of their mortgage products, my dealings with FD
over the years have been without any complaint whatsoever. Only recently, I
have been collecting deposit payments for a society meeting next year, and
have had some fun matching up bank transfers with people. One in particular
was unrecognisable - no name, no account no, no sort code. Just P followed
by about 10 digits, which meant nothing to any of the people who might have
sent it. I phoned FD and after a couple of minutes they were able to come
back and tell me the name of the account holder who had sent it - I was
impressed by this at 11pm. He then confirmed by email that he'd been asked
for a reference which was then clearly not included in the transaction
details.

His bank ? "Intelligent" Finance :-(

 

[Peter Smithson]

Any good/bad experiences with any of the above 3. Any comments would
be valuable.

I've got a OneAccount. I got it because there was no indemnity insurance
(I think that's the right name) for getting a 95% mortgage. This saved
me a few 1000 at the start. Then I sold my canal boat and was able to
pay off quite a bit of the mortgage with no penalty.

Since then I've got nearly £60,000 on interest free credit cards. As
someone pointed out, you get a credit card with the one account so you
can credit that with the cash from the "balance transfer". The website
is excellent and allows you to set up virtual savings accounts. So if I
transfer 5000 from a credit card, I immediatley create a "savings
account" for 5000. This way I can be sure not to spend the cash.

But, as I don't have any savings and the credit card deals will dry up,
I'm going for a less flexible mortgage as the rates are much lower.

The One account was good at the start for the reasons I've mentioned and
they have a good website and service - it's just the high interest rate
which is the problem.

 

[aris]

Well, if you are looking at IF and The One account then stop - their
interest rates are 5.8% and 5.70% respectively, compared to Open Plan offset
(Woolwich/Barclays) which is 5.6%.

Don't forget our friends at EGG either: 5.49% (5.6% APR). Been with
them for 5 years and no complaints. Totally flexible mortgage fixed
to the base rate (within 1%) & offset too if you wish.

Aris

 

[Phil Thompson]

Well, if you are looking at IF and The One account then stop - their
interest rates are 5.8% and 5.70% respectively, compared to Open Plan offset
(Woolwich/Barclays) which is 5.6%.

but the latter is also substantailly less flexible than the One
account, so that needs to be included in the comparison. The clue is
in the language they use - "overpayment", "take a break", "partial
redemption" - these are not the words of a flexible current account
mortgage. I'm paying 5.6% on a One account by having a loan facility
less than 50% of my valuation - sometihng you can change as you go
along.

Phil

 

[Phil Thompson]

Don't forget our friends at EGG either: 5.49% (5.6% APR). Been with
them for 5 years and no complaints. Totally flexible mortgage

"oh no it isn't"

Egg say...
" Overpayments, withdrawals and payment breaks Overpay at any time
using lump sums of more than £500, or by simply increasing your
regular monthly payments without the risk of incurring a penalty. You
can then withdraw your overpayments if you need them back (minimum
withdrawal £250). Need a break? No problem, you can take a payment
break of up to six months every five years if you need to. "

with a One account you can put in any sized lump sum and withdraw all
the money in the account up to your agreed limit at any time, none of
this "withdraw your overpayments" stuff. You can take a "payment
break" (sic) for 10 years as well.

Trust me, Egg is not "totally flexible".

Phil

 

[LadyJane]

but the latter is also substantailly less flexible than the One
account, so that needs to be included in the comparison. The clue is
in the language they use - "overpayment", "take a break", "partial
redemption" - these are not the words of a flexible current account
mortgage. I'm paying 5.6% on a One account by having a loan facility
less than 50% of my valuation - sometihng you can change as you go
along.

Phil

Totally agree - One Account is totally flexible and runs like clockwork -
wouldn't change it and would reccomend it to anyone.
L

 

[Daytona]

with a One account you can put in any sized lump sum and withdraw all
the money in the account up to your agreed limit at any time, none of
this "withdraw your overpayments" stuff.

I think the phrase which covers this is 'current account mortgage'
(CAM)

You can take a "payment
break" (sic) for 10 years as well.

I've never heard of that restriction. When I opened the One account in
1999 there were no restrictions other than staying within the agreed
loan facility.

Daytona

 

[Daytona]

Totally agree - One Account is totally flexible and runs like clockwork -
wouldn't change it

Hear, hear

and would reccomend it to anyone.

I wouldn't recommend it to the financially challenged.

Daytona

 

[Daytona]

Any good/bad experiences with any of the above 3. Any comments would
be valuable.

It's a FAQ; search the uk.finance archive -
<URL:http://groups.google.co.uk/groups?q=uk.finance&hl=en>

 

[Phil Thompson]

I've never heard of that restriction. When I opened the One account in
1999 there were no restrictions other than staying within the agreed
loan facility.

that is still the case, my 10 years was an illustration to comparre
with the more restricted products.

As there are no payments the concept of a payment holiday cannot, as
you point out, arise.

Phil

 

[Benn]

It's a FAQ; search the uk.finance archive -
<URL:http://groups.google.co.uk/groups?q=uk.finance&hl=en>

I have, never quite got what i wanted unfortunantly.

Cheers