Ulster Bank offset mortgages are not being sold to AIB

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Maybe for some Brendan but the example we are using doesn't actually reflect the figures in my mortgage, I pay no interest at all and haven't for many years and yes in theory I could just clear the mortgage but for my own reasons I don't wish to.

But you could be right, that sort of option could work for some people, interest free mortgage and guaranteed credit line, hardly an attractive proposal to the purchasing bank though!
 
Brendan Burgess said:
I don't understand

If you have a mortgage of €200k with a savings balance of €120k which you can access any time, it is the same to you as a mortgage of € €80k which you can increase to €200k at any time?

Other than some psychological assurance that you have €120k cash in a savings account, it makes no difference.

I presume it's easier for AIB to give you an interest only mortgage of €80k and a credit line of €120k than to set up a system whereby you have two accounts which offset.

Brendan
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In your example if the person had 200k outstanding and 120K on deposit offsetting the outstanding balance, that situation might change, they might want to increase the balance in their deposit account and offset more of the mortgage. If you do away with the offsetting capability you lose the ability to do things like this.

I'm in a similar situation to monbretia in that I am offsetting the entire outstanding balance with savings. This situation works for me personally because it means I'm paying no interest on the mortgage. The ability to offset is saving me a lot more than I would earn if I just put that money in a separate deposit account. If something came up and I needed to access the money on deposit, then it's there. Having that flexibility is a very good thing.

Plus there are other features of this particular account type that are very nice, such as the ability to draw down a facility and you can also transfer the mortgage to another property if you want to as well. I personally would not want to trade this account for a standard mortgage type unless the bank was offering a fair incentive to do so.
 
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aoraki said:
In your example if the person had 200k outstanding and 120K on deposit offsetting the outstanding balance, that situation might change, they might want to increase the balance in their deposit account and offset more of the mortgage. If you do away with the offsetting capability you lose the ability to do things like this.
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But if AIB took over and €80k mortgage and allowed you to pay it down whenever you wanted, it would be the same thing as long as you are allowed to redraw it.

I am not suggesting a standard mortgage type. I am suggesting a mortgage which preserves all the benefits of your current offset mortgage. The structure is slightly different but that has no impact on you.

Brendan
 
I like the top facility with no underwriting requirement! My husband is self-employed so underwriting is just more and more difficult. If they sell to AIB etc... could the new bank allow top-ups but insist on full underwriting?
 
Hi guys,
I too have an offset flexible mortgage. In error I closed the linked current account about 2 months ago as I thought I was being " pro active".
I rang ulster today to reopen it. Got passed along and was eventually told I'd be called back.
Will they reopen it for me do you think and or does my closing of the account invalidate the offset option?
I have just in the past few days got the standard letter telling me my mort gage hasn't been sold as it's an offset and they will be in contact I'm the new year.

Thanks
 
Good question! As you voluntarily closed it it's hard to say whether or not they will reopen it. However you should still retain the facility drawdown option, although that automatically lodged to the current account, you would also have the switching option to a new house. Now you may not envisage wanting but nevertheless it's an option you have now.

You are obviously losing out on any offsetting against interest charges of any amount you held in the current account part so unless you basically kept the account practically empty that is a loss to you. I am assuming you had no other accounts also linked to the offset? There was the option to have savings accounts offset against it too, can't remember the number but more than one definitely.
 
Do the terms and conditions of the loan say anything about what happens if you close the "offsetting" account?
 
ClubMan said:
Do the terms and conditions of the loan say anything about what happens if you close the "offsetting" account?
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I'd say under "normal" circumstances that you could close/open offsetting accounts as it suited you. I last opened up some offsetting savings accounts a couple of years back without any issues.

However in the current environment where UB are focussed on closing existing Current and Savings account, if you close any offsetting accounts it might be difficult or impossible to open new ones again. I don't have access to the original T&Cs though. In a recent communication regarding the situation about Offset Mortgages they did include this line;

As these accounts are linked to your Offset Mortgage, closure of these accounts would result in the loss of the Offset benefit. If the Offset Mortgage continues to meet your needs, you should ensure that any current and/or savings accounts linked to it remain open for now.
 
aoraki said:
As these accounts are linked to your Offset Mortgage, closure of these accounts would result in the loss of the Offset benefit. If the Offset Mortgage continues to meet your needs, you should ensure that any current and/or savings accounts linked to it remain open for now.
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That seems pretty clear to me.
Close the "offsetting" account and you lose the offsetting option.
 
Has anybody with the offset tracker mortgage approached ulsterbank about trying to get a discount on paying off the mortgage. We have approached about the idea but didn’t get a positive response.
I presume at this stage as stated earlier in the thread that Ulsterbank may have to leave a presence here to deal with the remaining offset account on there books. In this case will external companies still accept direct debits from Ulster bank as our current and savings account are offset against the mortgage, currently getting notifications from companies looking to see when we are switching our direct debits from Ulsterbank.
 
Had a look at booklets and other than losing the option of offsetting funds in the current account I can't see any other issue with closing the current account, now that would be a big issue to me but if someone never used the current account correctly to it's full benefit it might not be a big deal. The other benefits such as tracker rate/facility drawdown/transferability should remain.

When the accounts was renamed Offset from CAM in 2006 they made the current account and mortgage account independent of each other, prior to that if you paid the mortgage then the current account closed too, after 2006 current account could remain open when mortgage was finished so should work other way around as well.
 
TK Max said:
Has anybody with the offset tracker mortgage approached ulsterbank about trying to get a discount on paying off the mortgage. We have approached about the idea but didn’t get a positive response.
I presume at this stage as stated earlier in the thread that Ulsterbank may have to leave a presence here to deal with the remaining offset account on there books. In this case will external companies still accept direct debits from Ulster bank as our current and savings account are offset against the mortgage, currently getting notifications from companies looking to see when we are switching our direct debits from Ulsterbank.
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That's the sort of question no one in Head Office is going to answer or be able to make a decision on and if they intend to do it no one will know until last minute and papers will probably have the news before staff!

As regards the dd's etc I have switched those to another bank while still maintaining the current account and a savings account offset against the mortgage, only the actual mortgage repayment comes out of it now so you could do that but of course it's a nuisance!

If they have to retain a presence here to run these mortgages and current accounts bearing in mind they would then need to provide the full banking service on the current account part such as dds/debit card/standing orders etc which I imagine is a lot more than some of the other banks who left had to deal with and is more than just being a service to answer queries on existing mortgages then I would be looking to switch my direct debits back to my current account with them. I can't imagine that happening though, that's basically running a mini bank for the offset customers only.
 
Monbretia said:
That's the sort of question no one in Head Office is going to answer or be able to make a decision on and if they intend to do it no one will know until last minute and papers will probably have the news before staff!

As regards the dd's etc I have switched those to another bank while still maintaining the current account and a savings account offset against the mortgage, only the actual mortgage repayment comes out of it now so you could do that but of course it's a nuisance!

If they have to retain a presence here to run these mortgages and current accounts bearing in mind they would then need to provide the full banking service on the current account part such as dds/debit card/standing orders etc which I imagine is a lot more than some of the other banks who left had to deal with and is more than just being a service to answer queries on existing mortgages then I would be looking to switch my direct debits back to my current account with them. I can't imagine that happening though, that's basically running a mini bank for the offset customers only.
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Thanks for the reply
We will probably have to arrange something for our direct debits soon enough as well.
Just wish they would let us know what’s happening at this stage.
Do you know what the official date now for Ulsterbank exiting the Irish market, I thought it was March 2023
 
I wonder could these mortgages be managed from Ulster Bank in Belfast if Ulster Bank does finally close the doors in Dublin?
 
See I think there is more to managing them than just managing them as such, if it was just the mortgages then maybe but the attached current accounts are a bigger issue I would have thought, surely access to the banking system is required to run the features of a current account? I don't know, I'm just pondering!
 
ClubMan said:
That seems pretty clear to me.
Close the "offsetting" account and you lose the offsetting option.
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It's probably clear in the normal circumstances.

It's not clear in the unforeseen circumstances of the withdrawal of UB from the Irish market accompanied by all the publicity telling people to close their accounts.

Brendan
 
Thanks very much for your reply guys on the offset current account closure. They did call me back which I missed but will keep trying. As an aside I do have a savings account ( very little in it) with them which isnt linked to the offset mortgage. If they refuse to reopen my current account I'm going to ask them to link the savings to the mortgage instead.
In any event I'm going to play the confusion card and say with all the furore over their move that I thought closing the account was the thing to do and was advised by their branch staff.
I'm just wary that they could come back and now say that it's not technically an offset mortgage anymore as ive no offset facility in place.
I will certainly relay the outcome here,

Thanks again
 
Indebadbooks said:
Thanks very much for your reply guys on the offset current account closure. They did call me back which I missed but will keep trying. As an aside I do have a savings account ( very little in it) with them which isnt linked to the offset mortgage. If they refuse to reopen my current account I'm going to ask them to link the savings to the mortgage instead.
In any event I'm going to play the confusion card and say with all the furore over their move that I thought closing the account was the thing to do and was advised by their branch staff.
I'm just wary that they could come back and now say that it's not technically an offset mortgage anymore as ive no offset facility in place.
I will certainly relay the outcome here,

Thanks again
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It's still an offset mortgage so doubt they could try that one, as you already have the savings account that's great if they would link that one instead of the current account, doesn't give you the functions of a current account but at least you can benefit from offsetting any money you can afford to put in the savings account.
 
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