I went to the One Account website and was impressed by how much it looks like I could save on my mortgage. My savings are about £30000, my mortgage is £78000. Having the current a/c with them as well seems to make sense.
Are these types of mortgages a good idea for this situation (where I'm happy to leave the savings alone) and if so, is there a better lender for this than the One Account. I've seen a lot of offset mortgages but not with the current account as well.
Many thanks, Ed.
Are these types of mortgages a good idea for this situation (where I'm happy to leave the savings alone) and if so, is there a better lender for this than the One Account. I've seen a lot of offset mortgages but not with the current account as well.
Many thanks, Ed.
=========== When I was looking for one of these I found that the barclays offset mortgage had significantly lower interest rates than One, dunno if thats still the case. Also Intelligent Finance were doing one and probably still are. Woolwich also do one (they are owned by barclays) and have the same deal as Barclays, though its entirely different systems that are used, but to cut a painful story short, in my and several friends experience , it was much easier arranging and using it with barclays.
I think they're a good idea. I've got a Natwest one account. My only criticisms would be that your account number isn't on your card (annoying), their online banking requires[1] the use of Javascript and Java (hence I won't use it - IMO any banking/finance site should require you to turn them off) and Natwest branches can't do much for you, AFAICT they can't even pull up your account details.
[1] This might have changed but I have my doubts.I was in a similar situation to you - I'd suggest that when you take out a mortgage you don't tell them about all your savings. They're not too keen on small mortgages, especially from someone who's already demonstrated a good ability to save. (This is what I was advised when I took out my mortgage)
AIUI the Barclays offset mortgage allows you to put any cash ISA holdings into an ISA that is offset. This is swings and roundabouts - I chose to keep my ISA separate because the interest that it earns is extra money in the ISA that you can't otherwise pay in but, of course, you will be paying more in interest on your mortgage than it is earning in the ISA. So if you expect to hold your ISA for a lot longer than you have a mortgage then it's probably better to keep it separate. OTOH, if you anticipate you will have a mortgage for a long time then it's probably better to offset it or even take the money out of the ISA wrapper if the mortgage you go with doesn't support using an isa to offset the loan.
(Barclays online banking requires neither Java, nor Javascript and works with pretty much any browser - I haven't tried lynx but I wouldn't be surprised if it did work. Can't say if that's also the case for their offset mortgage which I think is really Woolwich)
Tim.
(Barclays online banking requires neither Java, nor Javascript and works with pretty much any browser - I haven't tried lynx but I wouldn't be surprised if it did work. Can't say if that's also the case for their offset mortgage which I think is really Woolwich)
Tim.
===== Depends whether you have a Barclays account or a Woolwich one. If you have a Barclays account, the fact your mortgage is with Woolwich is effectively transparent, and your online banking is html same as if you didnt have an offset mortgage (its just another subaccount within your overall online banking account), it doesnt need javascript etc. Couldnt say what the Woolwich online banking system uses.
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