Brendan Burgess
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Richie Boucher: BoI is deliberately charging a high SVR to encourage people to fix
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Brendan Burgess
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Hi Onceagain
I was arguing against fixing, until Sarenco and others showed that it's the correct thing to do.
http://www.askaboutmoney.com/thread...t-tsb-you-have-only-yourself-to-blame.200933/
If you can't switch, you should fix for one year. Unless you think that the Bank of Ireland will cut its rates dramatically and very soon. The best we can hope for is that the FF Bill gets passed and enforced. But that is going to take at least 6 months.
Brendan
I was arguing against fixing, until Sarenco and others showed that it's the correct thing to do.
http://www.askaboutmoney.com/thread...t-tsb-you-have-only-yourself-to-blame.200933/
If you can't switch, you should fix for one year. Unless you think that the Bank of Ireland will cut its rates dramatically and very soon. The best we can hope for is that the FF Bill gets passed and enforced. But that is going to take at least 6 months.
Brendan
Should be great fun when Richie contests the constitutionally of the FF bill and calls his principal witness the Governor of the Central Bank .
It actually is that simple.
Those fixed rates are available to all existing BoI customers - even if they are in NE.
I would certainly encourage you to switch lenders if you can get a better deal elsewhere.
If you can't switch, then take the best deal being offered by your current lender.
Simples.
Wow Brendan, thought you could make your own mind up... The argument is fix cause you have no choice and it will cost you less. But that doesnt make it right.....simples.xx
gnf_ireland
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The argument is to fix because you get a lower rate if you do. That is what is simple
Please feel free to take the moral high ground here, pay extra for your mortgage in doing so. You will have less money as a result, and contribute directly to Richie's bonus as well. But that is your choice - no one is forcing you to do that.
Then you stick to your principles and pay more. But don't come back here in two years complaining that you should have fixed because the variable has shot up.
It is clear that Irish banks are not going to budge, it seems interest rates may rise, clear that too many people don't switch, but that's great because they are helping banks back on their feet quicker. Which might eventually mean lower rates, in the distant future.
D
Dan Murray
Guest
Nope it's definitely the interest ......
This has got to be a candidate for best one-liner of the year?
Onceagain's position could be characterised, as follows:
I'm not happy
I'm not happy, at all
I take a very dim view of de antics of dem banks
I'm going to show them how bloody unhappy I am by giving dem more money than I need to
Their practices are all wrong and I'm not going to make dem pay for it
I'm going to make me pay for it
Onceagain - on a serious note - I get your frustration but there is another way to look at this?!
I am one of those on BOI's "high" SVR of 4.5%. I asked for an updated rate and BOI now have given me the option to move onto a lower fixed rate of 3.4%. In parallel I have looked around at the option of switching and now also have the option of a lower variable rate of 3.1% from KBC. I'm close to going ahead and moving to KBC but to be frank Im a little concerned by the advice in the Best Rates post to avoid KBC - given KBC are now promising to give their existing customers the same rates as new customers has your position on this changed? What would folks advise as regards whether I should make the move to KBC or whether their customer service is so bad for it to be worth .3% to stick with the BOI fixed rate?
Thanks,
Warren
gnf_ireland
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KBC have issued a press release saying existing customers can apply for the new rates from 1st December. I have attempted on a number of occasions to get further detail from KBC on this but to little avail. Latest information is they will have this available later this week or early next week. I would definitely not consider switching to KBC until this is available as the 'devil is in the detail' so to speak
Is the question re KBC or switching in general. If you are a BOI customer on 4.5% and you are in a position to switch, it should depend if you wish to move to a variable or fixed rate. I find KBC customer service ok - as good as any of the other banks I have the 'misfortune' to have to deal with. They are normally fine until something goes wrong and then all banks are 'hard work'.
Have you considered options other than KBC - such as EBS (you get your 2% cashback) or Ulster Bank who have promised to treat existing customers the same as new ones. As your LTV drops, Ulster allow you to go to the reduced rate.
In short, personally I would not be fixing (assuming you don't want to for other reasons) if you have the ability to switch. If you can switch you should consider all options open to you. You can avail of 2% cashback if you wish for example, which may be worth it. If you do decide to fix, be clear from the outset on what rate you will fall back on once the fixed period has expired.
gnf_ireland
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Absolutely agree !!
@Brendan Burgess is there any plans for AAM Awards ? This has got to be a serious contender !
The question was regarding KBC. I think at this point it makes sense to switch given the best variable rate I can get will be from another bank other than BOI. I was primarily interested to know how strong the recommendation to stay away from KBC was.
I could look at other banks but right now the rate of 3.1% from KBC looks like the best we could get - it appears better than AIB, EBS and UB. The cash back option from EBS does sound interesting but I read on another post elsewhere on this site that EBS might be less likely to pass on any future rate changes given they will have to make back the cash back they are providing as people switch (I understand thats pure speculation but it seems a reasonable point)
gnf_ireland
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This is a hard call to make until they fully declare their intentions for existing customers in the next week or so.
I would explicitly ask each bank the following questions as part of an initial engagement
1. Do they commit to offering existing customers the same rates as new customer for the next 5 years (timeline up to yourself. Longer it goes out the less chance you have of getting any commitment or even comment)
2. If my LTV reduces sufficiently, will I will allowed to move to a lower rate on production of an updated valuation?
3. If you are going for a cash-back option, ask is there any scenario where they will attempt to claw back the cash provided.
After that its up to you to evaluate the responses. KBC are unproven here so a riskier option. AIB & Ulster have form, which is good. However past performance is not an indication of future behaviour.
If it was me, I would start the engagement with KBC and ANO, and based on the experiences existing customers have moving to new rates over the new few weeks you can decide if they are worth the risk.
I switched in May 2015 and went for the cheapest rate (KBC at the time @3.55%). I am still on that rate, until I get a chance to apply for the new ones. Short term it was the right thing to do - and it is still a better option than 4.35% or 3.9% with BoI. Hopefully come 1st January I will be on 3% so moving in the right direction
If it's any help I'm a KBC customer abroad and they are absolutely brilliant to deal with.
What a bank says it will do today doesn't mean it will do the same thing tomorrow. You can't rely on anything a bank says ever. They will say what suits to sell their products, that would be mortgages and loans.
What you need to look at is what the deal offered to you is and if you're happy with that.
So for poster Warren, it will depend on your individual circumstances on what to do.
Currently my view, is that interest rates will go up and I'd fix. I base this on what I listen to and the curtain turmoil in the political world.
What a bank says it will do today doesn't mean it will do the same thing tomorrow. You can't rely on anything a bank says ever. They will say what suits to sell their products, that would be mortgages and loans.
What you need to look at is what the deal offered to you is and if you're happy with that.
So for poster Warren, it will depend on your individual circumstances on what to do.
Currently my view, is that interest rates will go up and I'd fix. I base this on what I listen to and the curtain turmoil in the political world.
Hello,
I think there is also a question to be answered about KBC's long term commitment to Ireland. While things have been relatively quiet of late regarding KBC's plans for Ireland, there's a decision yet to be finalised and made public by their parent company on whether they will commit to Ireland long term, or not.
Speaking as someone who was formerly a "good" Danske Bank customer and has now found themselves with Pepper managing their homeloan and no ability to ever top up or restructure etc. without having to lose my tracker rate when forced to refinance to another lender, we must consider the lender's commitment to the Irish market (and what our future potential requirements from them might be) when considering who to borrow from.
gnf_ireland
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Surely the same could be said for Ulster along others. Does P-TSB have a long term future?
What about the proposed new entrants such as Frank? There is a chance that after 5-10 years they may decide to call it a day. I see that RaboDirect investments are withdrawing their services from April 2017.
I guess it all goes down to the ability to refinance if you need to, and yes while I understand your issue with top-up or restructure is complicated by the tracker issue, it is not something that comes into this scenario.
That said, I stayed with KBC for the last 16 years, because of a redraw ability I have on certain over payments made. Without that it would be highly unlikely I would have remained a customer of theirs this long.
Ultimately, it could be said about any bank in Ireland, if you really want to go that route.. the reason I mentioned it in respect of KBC is because there has been numerous references to the parent company intending to conduct a review of it's operation here over the past couple of years and until such time as the results of that review are made public, one has to wonder about their commitment to the Irish market.
As for Ulster Bank (for example), I think we've heard RBS state that they are committed to Ulster Bank, with Ulster Bank committed to Ireland and while I know that doesn't mean they can't do an about turn, it's better to have some comfort from a parent company than not, imho.
It doesn't matter to posters with mortages not in NE if a bank is going to pull out of Ireland does it. They can always switch to another bank. I won't go in the door of AIB or BofI. I left EBS, terrible to deal with. I'm moved to Ulster, and went to the ombudsman, they have appalling customer service, but you don't realise that when you originally apply for loans and the only bank I've ever had a consistent positive experience with is KBC. So far. At one stage I put money on deposit in Bank of Scotland. I think they have pulled out.
Can you run the numbers for us. Loan, NE or PE (value) , how much your repayments are, what will they be at 3.4% and 3.1%, term etc. Also want to see if it's a good idea to switch and keep the same repayments etc.
Similar with me. I've moved to Ulster and the quality of service is far lower than it was with KBC.
KBC weren't perfect but they were more efficient. They were also a crapload more expensive but they're not anymore.
I don't know what it is with banks. My mortgages with KBC and UB were in no way complicated but with both, simple questions take days to resolve. With UB its normally a bit longer and requires more chasing up.
I rang UB a couple of weeks ago asking what the formula was that calculates my interest as my formula was getting a different number than I was being charged. The guy told me their computer systems handled that. I understand that but should they not put people on the phones that can do basic maths. I wasnt looking for the formula to get to the moon.