Has anyone actually switched banks to avail of a lower rate?

Copied from another thread - Brendan

I have just switched from AIB to KBC for my current account as we took a mortgage with them and wanted the reduced mortgage offer.

I have found KBC to be excellent so far, customer service is excellent as they are very responsive and helpful. Their online offering is not as comprehensive as the AIB one but it is sufficient for my needs. I like the ability to use my phone to make payments rather than having to use the AIB calculator-like card reader. The quarterly fees and transaction charges are much lower when compared to what I was paying to AIB.

KBC also provided us with free house insurance for 1 year with our mortage.

I have also switched my credit card because they offer 1% back on groceries and online purchases up to €10 a month. I clear the card each month so I'm not sure if their credit charges are higher but it made sense for me to have my credit card and current account in the same bank and to get something back on my spending.

The one thing I have found a little more difficult is to get large amounts of cash. They are a cashless bank so you can only withdraw cash on your card up to a limit of €700 a day and you can't call into a bank to get more. I recently needed to pay for something in cash and had to transfer money electronically and then visit a bank.

Overall I'm a lot more satisfied with KBC than I was with AIB.

KBC and AIB say that they are actively open to taking on customers from other lenders.

Has anyone actually moved?

Has anyone applied and been refused?

It has been suggested to me that they are only pretending to be interested, but I don't think that is correct.

Brendan

Brendan Burgess said:

KBC and AIB say that they are actively open to taking on customers from other lenders.

Has anyone actually moved?

Has anyone applied and been refused?

It has been suggested to me that they are only pretending to be interested, but I don't think that is correct.

Brendan

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I spoke to a guy in KBC a few months back, but was only offered about 60% of the amount I currently owe BOI, so couldn't go any further with it.

When we originally got our mortgage a little under 3 years ago, AIB offered us less than a third of the amount we needed so I haven't even bothered looking into switching to them (also KBC will pay your legal fees, AIB won't so the savings don't really add up).

We're single income with kids, so despite a pretty low LTV (< 60% I'd say) we're apparently not an appealing prospect to some of the banks. Considering BOIs new fixed rates as I can't see Richie Boucher making any concessions on the SVR in the near future - that guy is hard as nails

I switched in November from Bank of Ireland to KBC. My original BOI mortgage was a <80% LTV mortgage at a rate of 4.05% for a house I bought in Dublin in 2012. With the recent increase in house prices i revalued the house, and I was able to get a <60% LTV mortgage with KBC at a rate of 3.65%. This has resulted in a saving of €97 a month for me.

My legal fees for switching were about €1,200, but KBC paid €1,000 towards this. So I made back the cost of switching in two months.


I didn't find KBC very well organised, as i had to submit the same documentation to them multiple times, and they were about two weeks late in releasing the funds, due to “internal systems failure”, but we got there in the end.


However, since I switched, they have cut their rates, but only for new customers. So if I switched today, I’d get a rate of 3.55%, instead of the 3.65% I am on now. Oh well!

I visited KBC today to discuss the switching option with them. They ran the figures through their internal calculators and they believe it should not be a problem with it.

I now need to complete the application, but the only caveat on this is it must be a joint application with my wife as they don't do single applications on family homes. My wife has a house in negative equity, so that may cause a little issue for us but will see. I am also waiting on my latest mortgage statement from BOI

Once this is done they advised they will come back within a week with some news. Hopefully I will be able to update you on this at that stage.

I am on a SVR with BOI of 4.35% and the KBC rate rate is 3.55% (LTV <60%) for a house purchased in 2011. The 1k towards legal fees and free house insurance for a year should balance out any legal costs associated with moving in my case.

Hi Brendan,
I am new to your site and have to say it is very informative,
A hugh well done to you on highlighting the issue of the very high SVR's.
Just to say I have tried to switch my PPR from Dilosk over to KBC but didnt get anywhere,

I have called my bank - formerly ICS - now taken over by Dilosk and have pleaded with them to give me a lower SVR, They told me that I am one of the lucky ones as I am on a rate of 4.5% compared to their normal SVR of 4.8%.
I explained to Dilosk that we have never missed a repayment and the LTV is <60%.

They told me the reason they can’t give a lower SVR was due to "validation", I then asked to speak to a manager there as the agent was unable to explain what "validation" meant. The manager just talked about the cost of funds, etc and that the credit committee voted no to my request.
I then called KBC and enquired about switching over to them, and moving my current acc also in order to get a rate of 3.65% .
They were very interested until they heard we had a few BTL's with BOI which are in NE even though we have never missed one repayment on them.
Am I right in saying that due to having BTL's with NE with BOI, we are now stuck with Dilosk for our PPR paying this ridiculously high SVR.
Is Dilosk part of ICS still as I see on their letters they are called ICS Mortgages, and if something does happen whereby the government miraculously intervenes would Dilosk be regarded as one of the banks that would have to abide by the lowering of the SVR.
I for one would be on for marching against the high SVR – Do you think anything will happen for us 300,000 people on SVR’s.
Can you see anything being done at all ? Once again THANKS for highlighting this issue and its great to know that there is someone on our side, I hope your campaign starts to gather momentum at a rapid pace. Living in hope here.

sundance said:

Hi Brendan,
I am new to your site and have to say it is very informative,
A hugh well done to you on highlighting the issue of the very high SVR's.
Just to say I have tried to switch my PPR from Dilosk over to KBC but didnt get anywhere,

I have called my bank - formerly ICS - now taken over by Dilosk and have pleaded with them to give me a lower SVR, They told me that I am one of the lucky ones as I am on a rate of 4.5% compared to their normal SVR of 4.8%.
I explained to Dilosk that we have never missed a repayment and the LTV is <60%.

They told me the reason they can’t give a lower SVR was due to "validation", I then asked to speak to a manager there as the agent was unable to explain what "validation" meant. The manager just talked about the cost of funds, etc and that the credit committee voted no to my request.
I then called KBC and enquired about switching over to them, and moving my current acc also in order to get a rate of 3.65% .
They were very interested until they heard we had a few BTL's with BOI which are in NE even though we have never missed one repayment on them.
Am I right in saying that due to having BTL's with NE with BOI, we are now stuck with Dilosk for our PPR paying this ridiculously high SVR.
Is Dilosk part of ICS still as I see on their letters they are called ICS Mortgages, and if something does happen whereby the government miraculously intervenes would Dilosk be regarded as one of the banks that would have to abide by the lowering of the SVR.
I for one would be on for marching against the high SVR – Do you think anything will happen for us 300,000 people on SVR’s.
Can you see anything being done at all ? Once again THANKS for highlighting this issue and its great to know that there is someone on our side, I hope your campaign starts to gather momentum at a rapid pace. Living in hope here.

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I too have the same issue with Dilosk. Although while on the phone today i mentioned of switching to KBC and the person I was speaking to said be sure to come back to them before switching. My wife and I have 1 BTL in negative equity of around €100,000 so KBC probably wont be interested as we also have a 2 children with my wife on carers leave for another few months but going back full time in April. Both public sector employees but the BTL probably snookers us.

I now feel we are at the mercy of DILOSK who could up the SVR at any stage.

sundance said:

Am I right in saying that due to having BTL's with NE with BOI, we are now stuck with Dilosk for our PPR paying this ridiculously high SVR.
Is Dilosk part of ICS still as I see on their letters they are called ICS Mortgages, and if something does happen whereby the government miraculously intervenes would Dilosk be regarded as one of the banks that would have to abide by the lowering of the SVR.

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Hi sundance

Thanks for your encouragement. I am delighted to see some people getting worked up by this.

As I understand it, Dilosk took over ICS from Bank of Ireland. So that is why they use that name. I am not sure that you will get anywhere with Dilosk. They presumably know that you are in negative equity and so they can exploit you as you can't move.

Have you tried AIB and ptsb? I think you will get the same answer, but give them a shot. And you could also try Bank of Ireland. I presume that they are not barred from competing for Dilosk customers?

I don't expect the government to intervene because no one is putting any pressure on them.

pguyo said:

Although while on the phone today i mentioned of switching to KBC and the person I was speaking to said be sure to come back to them before switching.

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This is very insulting to you. If you have only one BTL in NE and if you have plenty of equity in your PPR, it makes no sense to turn you away. Having said that, a lot of the lenders' decisions make no sense.

Brendan

We are in the process of switching from AIB (LTV 50%>80%) to PTSB (LTV <50%) , availing of PTSB €1,000 legal fee contribution.

I Offered AIB the chance to reduce our rate to their LTV<50%, but they declined, only offered their fixed rates which we did not want!

When we built our house our valuation (AIB approved valuer) gave us a LTV of 54% 3 years ago due to recession hit on house prices, so AIB jumped us from our original pre build valuation of LTV<50% (1 year previously) up to the LTV50%>80% rate, even though we were 4% over the LTV treshold during a house price hit recession.

I will never bank with AIB again!!!! Robbers!!

KBC is not an option as I need access to a Branch for current a/c, and I do not live near one of their Hubs!

Hi Marley,
I wouldn't let the fact that you do not live near a KBC hub stop you from switching to them. I don't live near one either.
When i switched to them, i had to open one of their current accounts and mandate my salary into it to get the better mortgage rate.
To get access to my wages, I simply do an electronic transfer on the day i get paid, and send my salary back to my old current account, which is with PTSB.

Marley said:

When we built our house our valuation (AIB approved valuer) gave us a LTV of 54% 3 years ago due to recession hit on house prices, so AIB jumped us from our original pre build valuation of LTV<50% (1 year previously) up to the LTV50%>80% rate, even though we were 4% over the LTV treshold during a house price hit recession.

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Hi Marley

The pre-build valuation has nothing to do with it. Presumably they use the valuation in force when you draw down the mortgage.

So you will be saving around 0.36%. How big is your mortgage? AIB has treated customers more fairly than other lenders in that they passed on cuts to the back book. I wouldn't be jumping to ptsb too quickly unless it's a huge mortgage.

Brendan

I have again been onto Dilosk about my 4.35% SVR. Our LTV is approx 60%. I told them KBC will take on the loan at 3.55-3.6% subject to valuation and sitch of my current account and they said they dont want to loose any business and sent me out a Mortagage Modificatiin Request Form. I only got approval over the phone from KBC. I have filled it out and putting it in the post today. Fingers crossed for a reduction or else I am off!

I received correspondence from AIB today.

Basically, if we want any of the LTV rates, we simply indicate which one - < 50% / 3.85% in our case - sign it, and return it.

They will then, presumably, let us know if they need a valuation or not.

D.

Dinarius

What sort of rate are you on at present? Are you currently on a Loan to Value Rate or a Standard Variable Rate? When did you take out your mortgage?

Brendan

I tried to switch from Danske/Pepper to PTSB recently. I thought (correctly as it transpires) that they would reject the application, despite the fact that it would be well secured (circa. 35% LTV) and met the new Central Bank requirements, because the number of children I have would fall foul of the bank's own inflexible/non-scaling income rules. The switch would have shaved 0.7% off my SVR saving me some money and would have been handy money for PTSB.

PTSB gave me approval in principle, might see if I can get anything out of KBC - last time I asked they couldn't offer me enough to switch. TBH, I'd be happy sticking with BOI if I can get them to drop their rate - switching is a hassle.

Brendan Burgess said:

pguyo

That is very encouraging. Dilosk is the former ICS bit hived off from Bank of Ireland.

I presume it is your home as distinct from a buy to let?

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I have been offered a 0.4% discount over the full term of the mortgage after. Down to 3.95% SVR but it's still well shy of 3.6% with KBC....

We received our offer documentation from AIB the other day.

An LTV of <=50%, which is what we would be eligible for, would be 3.85%.

Interestingly, both 2 and 3 year fixed are 3.8%. What does this say about how AIB views rates moving?

I think that they may rise, but then those on trackers will be contributing more.

Alternatively, rates may stay the same, but AIB's need to screw those on variable to subsidize those on trackers may be easing, and the SVR may be lower in a year or two.

Any views?

Thanks.

D.

after ringing BOI a few times and being referred for review they eventually told me to get lost
(well, they offered my their 2 year fixed rate but I'm not fixing for 2 years)

so I'm going to move to PTSB - I can get 1 year fixed @ 3.49 and then onto variable which is currently 3.7. PTSB will pay 1K towards the legal fees so the move will cost me about 400.