Should all variable rate customers stop paying their mortgage?

T

todo

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This is an entirely theoretical question!!

I'm also one of the variable rate customers being over charged by Bank of Ireland and it occurred to me that we actually hold a very good card in all of this.

If there are approx 300,000 variable rate customers and if a large percentage of those customers decided they were going to stop paying there mortgage until the banks lower there rates to a reasonable level with no fixed rate gimmicks, I wonder how it would play out. The lenders would have a big problem on there hands, I guess the mortgage holder would end up with a bad credit rating and possibly some kind of penalty.
 
Dont think this is a good idea for reasons you stated yourself
 
This gets suggested from time to time and indeed was suggested a few years ago when ptsb were charging 3% more than Bank of Ireland and AIB.

Anyone who did go on a payments strike back then is stuck with ptsb now. They can't switch to another lender because of their impaired credit rating.

So tough as these high rates are, this is not the way to bring them down.

Brendan
 
I know it would be a very bad idea. I just feel the banks are laughing at us, as are the politicians.

There should be strength in numbers, but I guess its hard to get the whole herd together.
 
todo.

Its a very good idea, people are being robbed. Just sadly, not practical.

if a large % of variable rate customers stopped paying, you can be sure that after the initial yowls from the lenders, rates would be lowered and for that say 6 months of (war) no adverse postings would be held on Irish Credit Bureau (ICB).

If you can figure out a way to get that large % on board , I will propose you for President !!
 
It seems to me that at this stage Minister Noonan has shelved any notion of urging banks to reduce rates. We are being ignored and we need to get the campaign rebooted.
 
Ger Fleming said:
We are being ignored and we need to get the campaign rebooted.
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Realistically this campaign was always doomed to failure without having the benefit of a downside risk for the banks. At face value Todo's suggestion does have some merit as if a significant portion of variable rate customers took this sort of action the banks would need to respond. However, as suggested above it would be extremely difficult to get such a coordinated response from a significant element of VR mortgage holders. Despite many contrary opinions the populace at large is generally unwilling to take this type of non-confirming action as the fear of severe consequences outweighs the annoyance at the banks.
People power would be effective in such a situation but would require a high level of adherence to a non payment commitment in order to be effective. It may also need to be bank specific in order to isolate the more truculent banks eg BoI!
 
Could not agree more with Ger Flemings point about the campaign needing re-booting. I also agree with Todos words re getting people active but as I've discovered the inactive people unfortunately are turning out to be the active people's enemy for me therefore I also agree with Gerry Cannings suggestion that you Todo be proposed for president if you can get the inactives involved, I'll second you. Re my own attitude I have previously mentioned pickets and organising a public meeting in the Midlands but so far both have been scuppered by the inaction of the large % of SVR holders. If anyone feels we have the numbers to organise strategic picketing ill be glad to help out but we'd obviously have to meet, organise and publisise this which is of course a risk we'd have to weigh up first re numbers willing to do it etc. I personally would go for a mortgage strike despite the credit rating issue but only if we had enough people willing to do it as I'm getting sick of the banks and politicians laughing at us. I emailed 3 of mine last week and as usual got no reply re the FF bill and from what I've seen from other posters none bothered to turn up. How we use the upcoming election to our advantage will probably have to be discussed at a meeting which if im correct was mentioned as a follow up action at the balls bridge meeting, either in the former of candidates or a lobby group etc. Whatever hope we have to get those dastardly politicians to listen to us pre election seems to be our only chance with the honourable exception of Michael McGrath and to a point Brian Hayes, the reason I say to a point is that he didn't do anything for us while junior finance minister.
 
Unfortunately it looks like most of the people affected can't be bothered to act or support this sort of campaign.
Some of them are more likely to take a day off, get the bus to Dublin and march against a charge costing a couple of hundred a year rather than tackle this much more costly issue.
Brendan and others in the campaign can only do so much to raise awareness and try to get results.
But if most of the people directly affected can't be arsed then there's not much that can be done...
We're a nation that likes to moan but not actually do anything practical to deal with the issue.
Present company excepted of course...
 
Perhaps a better route to take would be a one big switch initiative so that credit ratings weren't impaired.If, say, 10,000 people with reasonable LTVs were to switch to one lender who had a rate slightly lower than the best rate on the market at the moment (this should be feasible given the volume of switchers) it might make the others sit up and take notice.
 
I've often wondered if ad hoc lump sum overpayments cause a bank a headache? Wouldn't have to be much, a few euro a week or month... Not outside the terms of most variable mortgages? If enough people did it as a form of legitimate protest? I'll exploit the fine print of my mortgage terms until you stop exploiting me with punitive interest rates.
 
Dealing with BoI recently I was told that customers making piecemeal repayments throughout the month (even if they add up to the scheduled repayment) caused serious problems for the lender.
But I don't really believe that since it should all be automated anyway?
And if somebody was doing that they'd need to be careful that they don't rack up transaction charges - especially given that (with BoI at least) you can't do a simple thing like manually transfer/pay from your current account to your mortgage account - you have to do it by DD or phone debit card payment etc.!
But if you have your current account with, say, PTSB you CAN pay your BoI mortgage online. And you avoid BoI's current account charges.
 
I would like to be president of something!!!!

The real question is how many people are actually willing to get involved.

I feel we need a register of those who are willing, even just an email address.

I have the technical background to collect this information over the web if there was a way to to get the word out to all the variable rate customers.
 
Holding back payment weakens the mortgage holder's rating etc .I think that what is needed is protest(s) with enough people turning up on the day ( and on a day that working people can attend). For sure the Government will do nothing unless they are rattled- they were shaken with the water campaign.
There is still time before the Budget and election to get some action from politicians.
Could we try to make a list made of who will support whatever is decided to influence the Minister and then move forward -Strength in Numbers ? It is hard to understand how more of the 300,00+ SVR mprtgage holders remain passive through all this.
 
I think the biggest issue is reaching all of the svr mortgage holders.

Is social media the way to go, twitter, facebook etc, this is an area I'm not strong in.

I find it hard to believe the majority are willing to except paying through the nose.

Do people believe that protesting works? We can have a referendum about what age you can become a president at, why can't we have one for fair svr rates for all consumers.
 
Im in negative equity on SVR with ptsb.
I just accepted our high mortgage for years.But lately its really frustrating me.
I think the main problem is that people on a svr that can switch couldnt be bothered because it is hassle.
I think if onebigswitch could help it would be the best bet.If we could get them to help so it wouldnt be hassle for anyone.We then would need to find everyone on svr to get them to sign up.I think we need to advertise like onebigswitch do and more.I would go door to door to get people to sign up becuase people just arent bothered,unless we're in their face at their doorstep.There needs to be competition on the market.
We have to act fast,before the elections.
Im going to ring onebigswitch this week to see what they say.
I do think we should have as many protests as possible before the election.
I have never been part of a protest before,can we get started.
 
The banks don't care at all. I switched my bank a/c from AIB to PTSB to avoid the charges, I'm sure many more did also but it never made AIB or any of the others drop their bank charges.
I really think the government should be doing more re variable rate mortgages and it will be an issue for me when the next election comes around. I'd certainly go to a midlands meeting or a march to protest.
 
summersday said:
I'm sure many more did also but it never made AIB or any of the others drop their bank charges.
Click to expand...

You are mixing up two completely separate issues here.

Mortgage holders are being fleeced by lenders. They are charging around 2% more than they should be which is costing borrowers around €300 a month more.

Current accounts cost money to run and I suspect that €100 or so a year which the banks charge, do not nearly cover the costs of running those accounts. I am astonished at the number of people who get excited about bank charges and do nothing about their mortgages.

Brendan
 
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