P
PeterDublin
Guest
Hi Everyone,
I've been reading the active thread "any chance of the banks wriggling out of tracker deals" for the past few weeks with interest. I imagine that this thread will continue to be a hot topic over the coming months.
I'm currently on a fixed rate mortgage but in a few months time I'm due to switch to a tracker mortgage - ECB + 1%. Customer service have assured me that the bank will honour the agreement, as it is in writing. However, I recently phoned my brokers for a second opinion - for reassurance more than anything else and to make sure that I was not putting my transfer to a tracker at risk in any way.
Their response has unsettled me; they said that in 2 months time I will be switching to a standard variable rate as banks have stopped giving tracker mortgages. However, I highlighted that in the original agreement it states that at the end of the fixed term, I will move onto the tracker as outlined in my loan offer.
My broker said that my bank has a get out clause where they say "if for any reason, or at anytime, the REFI rate is certified to be unavailable, the mortgage rate applicable will be the standard variable." They pretty much said that there is no way to prevent this i.e. that I will inevitably be switching to a tracker at the end of the fixed rate.
Oakes P, former regulator and MD Compliance Ireland, has outlined this clause in his recent posts on tracker mortgages. He says that it's unlikely a judge would side with the bank on this one, due to the parole evidence and verbal promises etc. I certainly hope that this is the case!
Since my broker gave me the unresting news, I've phoned my bank again. However, they (customer service) continue to reassure me that I will switch to the tracker in due course. However, are customer service simply doing this to defer any uproar?
I'm very concerned. It is clear that my brokers are on the side of the bank manager. Could my switch to a tracker, as originally agreed, impact negatively on their commission from the bank?
Is anybody else in the same boat?
How many of you also have this "unavailable" clause in your loan offer?!
Any advice would be much appreciated.
I've been reading the active thread "any chance of the banks wriggling out of tracker deals" for the past few weeks with interest. I imagine that this thread will continue to be a hot topic over the coming months.
I'm currently on a fixed rate mortgage but in a few months time I'm due to switch to a tracker mortgage - ECB + 1%. Customer service have assured me that the bank will honour the agreement, as it is in writing. However, I recently phoned my brokers for a second opinion - for reassurance more than anything else and to make sure that I was not putting my transfer to a tracker at risk in any way.
Their response has unsettled me; they said that in 2 months time I will be switching to a standard variable rate as banks have stopped giving tracker mortgages. However, I highlighted that in the original agreement it states that at the end of the fixed term, I will move onto the tracker as outlined in my loan offer.
My broker said that my bank has a get out clause where they say "if for any reason, or at anytime, the REFI rate is certified to be unavailable, the mortgage rate applicable will be the standard variable." They pretty much said that there is no way to prevent this i.e. that I will inevitably be switching to a tracker at the end of the fixed rate.
Oakes P, former regulator and MD Compliance Ireland, has outlined this clause in his recent posts on tracker mortgages. He says that it's unlikely a judge would side with the bank on this one, due to the parole evidence and verbal promises etc. I certainly hope that this is the case!
Since my broker gave me the unresting news, I've phoned my bank again. However, they (customer service) continue to reassure me that I will switch to the tracker in due course. However, are customer service simply doing this to defer any uproar?
I'm very concerned. It is clear that my brokers are on the side of the bank manager. Could my switch to a tracker, as originally agreed, impact negatively on their commission from the bank?
Is anybody else in the same boat?
How many of you also have this "unavailable" clause in your loan offer?!
Any advice would be much appreciated.