KBC existing borrowers- have you considered switching?

[Brendan Burgess]

I can't really understand why anyone would be tempted by KBC's mortgage rates given their contempt for you once you become a customer.

It is expected that they will be announcing reduced rates for new business tomorrow, but won't be reducing the rates for existing customers.

I would be interested in hearing your experiences.

If you took out your mortgage with KBC initially, have you asked for a lower rate? How did you get on? Are you thinking of switching and, if so, to whom?

If you switched to KBC, but are now seeing rate cuts being passed on to new customers only, how do you feel about it? Did you ask for the rate cuts? When did you switch and are you thinking of switching again?

A mortgage broker told me that they have negotiated reduced rates for KBC customers but I have no way of verifying it. If you switched using a broker or took out a loan recently using a broker, did your broker make representations on your behalf?

Brendan

 

[newirishman]

Took out a mortgage with KBC (then IIB) in 2008 with a few years fixed rate. Was moved to their SVR (4.5% at the time, now 4.25%) when coming off the fixed rate. Started to engage with them both phone & branch to discuss better rate option, but no avail - they did not even start to negotiate, always stating that the NB rates or for NB only.
I'd love to hear from that Mortgage Broker if he managed to negotiate better rates.
In any case, I am moving my mortgage away from them due to rates, but also as I think they customer service is "not great".
Took weeks and repeated phone calls to get a current mortgage statement from them, and they won't help you in their branch with that either ("oh we don't have access to that information").
The overall customer experience was for me the main reason to not move a current account to them which might have given another 0.2% off the interest rate (not worth the hassle IMO).

 

[qwerty5]

My experience so far.

I changed jobs last year so couldn't switch and had to wait until probation was over.
As soon as my probation finished I contacted Ulster Bank. They required me to jump through a lot of hoops and an issue with my missus account caused us a problem which we can resolve but it'll take a while.
In the meantime we applied to BOI. Another large amount of hoops. We've been approved with BOI and I'm currently waiting on a valuation and getting the supporting documentation together.

Moving from KBC will reduce my rate from 4.05% (variable KBC) to 3.6% (Fixed BOI) and will give us €5000 cashback.
The solicitor said they'll do the switch for about €800 and the valuation is meant to be about €120. So in reality we'll have €4080 cashback. This will just be paid off against the mortgage.

My current LTV is about 66%. I figure in 3 years I'll pay any extra required to get it down to 59% and see what BOI do.
If I was 59% LTV today then BOI would give me 3.9% variable. KBC wouldn't. They don't take LTV into account for existing customers. I'd just be stuck on 4.05%. KBC do offer a fixed rate of 3.9% that we could take but there's no way in hell I'm locking myself in with KBC.
Then in 5 years I'll re-evaluate and see if it's cheaper to move the mortgage elsewhere.

I asked KBC about changing my rate but they seem to be happy enough to lose my business for a few years and take me back as a new customer in the future. This will lose them thousands in interest from us and they'll have to incentivise me to come back costing more but that seems to be their business model. They just told me they don't renegotiate with customers when I told them I was moving.
I hate KBC but I would add them to the list of companies to see if they offer a better deal in 5 years. However as a current customer I know what to ask them in 5 years to make sure I don't get screwed again.

KBC will also be losing me as a banking customer. I opened a current account with them and was going to move all of my banking to them but this was around the same time that rates started to come down. So I just kept the current account to get the .02% discount and kept my day to day banking in my old bank. When I move the mortgage I'll just close this account.

One (other) thing that has annoyed me during this process is the amount of complication in switching mortgages. Both myself & my missus are better off than we were 10 years ago. We've paid a fair bit extra off our mortgage. We're ONLY moving because KBC are not competitive. We've no problem paying what KBC want but we're also not stupid. I know there's regulation and due diligence but I think companies like KBC are relying on the fact that it's a pain the hole to switch. If it was easier I'm sure they'd give more of a damn about existing customers.
Also the mortgage advisors seem fairly unprofessional. I applied to BOI early Dec. After several repeated questions from the adviser and the same answers provided I received approval last week. Then I was handed over to a mortgage advisor in my local branch. She doesn't reply to emails (well hasn't yet) and is very hard to get on the phone. They're only selling a product that'll make them a couple of hundred thousand over 24 years. You'd think they'd be interested in getting it signed off.

 

[todo]

I don't think Bank Of Ireland gimmick is worth it. I for sure would not fix with them. They are renowned for treating there existing customers terribly.

They wont pass on rate cute either.

I agree with you that the switching process is a pain.

 

[qwerty5]

I don't think Bank Of Ireland gimmick is worth it. I for sure would not fix with them. They are renowned for treating there existing customers terribly.

They wont pass on rate cute either.

I agree with you that the switching process is a pain.

Switching from KBC to BOI will save me about €7 - €8K over 5 years (including the cashback and taking switching fees into account).
I've asked them about what rates I go onto after the fixed rate ends. They've said that it'll be whatever the rate is at the time and that if my LTV goes down below 60% this is taken into account (with another valuation at that time). I'll get this in writing before I sign anything though.

As for treating their existing customers badly. Sure I'm with a bank that does that now. In 5 years I'll have no problem moving if they've turned out to be crap.

 

[todo]

They've said that it'll be whatever the rate is at the time and that if my LTV goes down below 60% this is taken into account (with another valuation at that time). I'll get this in writing before I sign anything though.

I'd be very interested to see how this is worded in the MFA. Good luck with the switch.

Also ask what happens if the LTV doesn't go down. Will you get the new customer rate or the screw the existing customer rate.

I guess once your prepared to switch again, thats the main thing. Still I'd hate to be tied to Bank of Ireland for 5 years.

 

[qwerty5]

I'd be very interested to see how this is worded in the MFA. Good luck with the switch.

Also ask what happens if the LTV doesn't go down. Will you get the new customer rate or the screw the existing customer rate.

I guess once your prepared to switch again, thats the main thing. Still I'd hate to be tied to Bank of Ireland for 5 years.

If the LTV doesn't go down I suppose I'd get the variable available at the time for 60% -> 80% (if it was today it'd be 4.1%)
So that's a whole .01% above what I'm paying KBC and I'd have had the thousands I'd have saved paid off the mortgage reducing the interest.
That's if the LTV doesn't go down. Myself and my other half currently save a fair bit so after 3 years we have a number which we should be able to pay off at the end of the fixed term. I know there could be another crash but we can only plan so much.

Or I could switch to the available fixed rate. At todays rates if I was with BOI I could fix at 3.6%. With KBC I can fix at 3.9%

I don't mind being tied to BOI for 5 years. It's a 5 year plan. I know any bank tomorrow could drop their rates and I'll be annoyed if I've just signed up with BOI. That's exactly what happened when I signed up to KBC. I fixed at something like 6% and then watched the rates drop over the following years. I don't like that but that was my fault / decision. The current KBC higher rates are just my fault because I'm an existing customer. Something I'm rectifying
I don't mind switching after 5 years if it's worth our while.

 

[Sarenco]

I hadn't appreciated that at the end of a fixed rate period with BOI you could choose to roll-over to the appropriate new business variable rate - I always assumed you would roll-over to their prevailing SVR.

 

[gnf_ireland]

I moved from BOI to KBC in Q1 2015. I wrote a semi-blog on the experience back over the simmer which can be found here

http://www.askaboutmoney.com/threads/my-experience-switching-from-boi-to-kbc.194863/

So at the moment, I am on the 3.55% SVR rate with KBC. I have contacted them twice regarding availing of their new rates, and was refused on both cases. They said they would welcome me back as a new customer, on new customr rates, if I ever decided to switch and return.

I have looked into the option of moving to an SVR rate with either AIB and Ulster Bank, but have not progressed with either for the following reasons:
1. AIB will offer me 3.35% - which would work out as a saving of roughly 20 euro a month. However there is no contribution to legal costs, so assuming they would be 1k, it would take ~4 years payback, which does not really make financial sense
2. I would not really qualify for the 3.35% Ulster Bank rate. While my mortgage may be above the 250k mark, I have currently overpaid it so is well below this amount. I would need to redraw down those funds, which means I would be paying considerably more in repayments. The benefit of the 'offsetting' would be lost on moving to Ulster, probably costing me more in the long term

As stated I have considerably overpaid the mortgage currently and continue to do so on a monthly basis. I have access to redraw these funds from KBC as discussed in the thread below, which I find great being self employed.
http://www.askaboutmoney.com/thread...ents-another-reason-to-switch-to-them.194940/

Objectively, if I was in a position to be offered a 2.75% rate as an 'ultra-prime' borrower (here's hoping - see thread below), I may consider moving. However, the redraw option and lack of 1 year payback to switch is keeping me with KBC for the moment
http://www.askaboutmoney.com/thread...gger-reductions-for-low-ltv-mortgages.197566/


It is worth noting I have moved all savings accounts from KBC, and also moved my credit card from them, so the only business I have with them now is current account and mortgage account. I will close the current account once the mortgage is cleared down, although this is a few years away despite my best efforts

BTW - I would advise anyone considering moving to KBC to fully appreciate that they will NOT pass on rate cuts to you. If you understand this from the outset, and still make the decision this is fine. It should be noted that if I was switching today from BOI, I would still consider KBC, not just for the 3.2% rate (assuming legal switching fee support), but also for the redraw facility. That said, if what is said on a number of these forums is true about new entrants into the market, now is probably not the time to switch (all other things being equal).

 

[SS expert]

I moved to Ulster Bank in January from KBC, the process was a little tedious gathering all the information but well worth it overall. I was on a rate of 3.85% with KBC and now I have 3.35%, saving annually about 1400 a year. In my experience with both banks UB was better to deal with but there were a few delays due to a lack of communication within the bank. Also the 1500 UB provided easily covers the fees.


I asked for the lower rate twice, at that stage I had most of the hard work done and KBC were never going to beat 3.35% so I did not really care.
The feature I liked best with KBC is that you can withdraw funds, the major issue apart from the rates is the fact you cannot see your mortgage account online…

 

[WorstPigeon]

My experience so far.

I changed jobs last year so couldn't switch and had to wait until probation was over.
As soon as my probation finished I contacted Ulster Bank. They required me to jump through a lot of hoops and an issue with my missus account caused us a problem which we can resolve but it'll take a while.
In the meantime we applied to BOI. Another large amount of hoops. We've been approved with BOI and I'm currently waiting on a valuation and getting the supporting documentation together.

Moving from KBC will reduce my rate from 4.05% (variable KBC) to 3.6% (Fixed BOI) and will give us €5000 cashback.
The solicitor said they'll do the switch for about €800 and the valuation is meant to be about €120. So in reality we'll have €4080 cashback. This will just be paid off against the mortgage.

As a matter of interest, why those two? AIB's variable rates, at any rate, are better, I thought.

 

[gnf_ireland]

As a matter of interest, why those two? AIB's variable rates, at any rate, are better, I thought.

I am guessing the reason most are not choosing AIB is they do not offer any support for switching in terms of contributions to legal payments. In my case, the difference between AIB (3.35%) and KBC (3.55%) is 20 euro a month, which has a 4 year payback (all other things remain equal).

Ulster also have a variable of 3.35% if you have a certain mortgage amount (250k) and >80% LTV

BOI cash back offer is attractive to a number of people, especially if you decide you are moving after 5 years.

 

[qwerty5]

I hadn't appreciated that at the end of a fixed rate period with BOI you could choose to roll-over to the appropriate new business variable rate - I always assumed you would roll-over to their prevailing SVR.

No you may be right. After the fixed rate my offer letter says I'll go onto 4.1%. I didn't realise that is not the standard variable rate now (just checking now I see it's 4.2%) I don't know where they plucked 4.1% from. Anyway if I sign on the dotted line and fix for 3 years I can still fix for another couple at whatever the rates are then if they're cheaper.

 

[Sarenco]

Hi qwerty5

I checked BOI's website and it says a fixed rate borrower can roll on to the prevailing new business variable rate at the end of the fixed rate term. It seems strange that your contract specifies a particular %. Might be worth querying.

 

[qwerty5]

As a matter of interest, why those two? AIB's variable rates, at any rate, are better, I thought.

Yeah like gnf_ireland said, I'm calculating my costs over 5 years. After that I'll get the spreadsheets out again. Whoever's cheapest now probably won't be then.
The plus side of switching for me is that once I've done it once I won't mind so much doing it again.