MIS and interest rate changes

Hi there,

We are in receipt of mortgage interest supplement since the end of July.

We have a tracker mortgage (fortunately) and the rate increased in August, just after the assessment. My husband rang the local social welfare office to check what he needed to do to have the amount revised and was told it would be done automatically.

I have calculated that the amount we're getting in MIS is the amount from the old rate of interest we were paying.

We only actually started getting the payment after the rate increased so there wasn't a change. Also, we didn't get any details of the calculation. Is this normal?

Should we go back to the CWO to get it recalculated or should we contact the bank to get them to forward details of interest we're paying now?

Thanks for any advice.

similar thing happened to me. after the last ECB increase I filled in another MIS application form and got updated interest details from bank. I dropped it into CWO and week later got the revised calculation and subsequent payments are increased. There was no automatic increase, so I would drop into the CWO with the new interest figures if I was you. You should have been sent a calculation, just ask for one.

If your interest increases (or indeed if any of the other details of your income change either up or down) you should advise the CWO and have your Mortgage Interest Supplement revised. However it sounds like your payment has been based on original figures, so you should let the CWO know. You're entitled to be given a written calculation of what payment you're getting, they are supposed to give this to you automatically, but in some cases they don't. You should request a copy of the calculation to make sure what's happening.

The only caveat with asking for reassessment for an increase of interest is that if the interest has increased so much that it now appears unrealistic for you to maintain the mortgage, the CWO may well withdraw support completely and insist on you selling the house. You should get sound financial advice for the likes of MABS when dealing with this situation.

www.mabs.ie

Thanks very much for the advice - we'll go in to the CWO tomorrow and give him the new figures.

Fortunately Ildanach, the difference is only about 10 per week so it's unlikely to be a problem.