Fix rate with existing bank during switch?

C

Chino123

Registered User
Messages
18
Hi all,

I'm in the middle of a switch from BOI to AIB and getting worried about missing out on rates.

Currently on SVR with BOI 3.9% (having just ended 2.9% fixed) and moving to AIB 5yr green rate of 2.15%, offer letter has been issued to solicitor yesterday but there are still an unknown number of weeks to go before switch actually happens. The process with AIB has been painfully slow so far and I'm sure to expect this won't improve in the final stage.

My question is should I re-fix with BOI as a hedge against AIB raising their rates prior to the switch happening or will I likely face a breakage fee if all still goes ahead as planned?
 
Chino123 said:
My question is should I re-fix with BOI as a hedge against AIB raising their rates prior to the switch happening or will I likely face a breakage fee if all still goes ahead as planned?
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If you decide to go this route (re-fix now with BOI but continue process of switching to AIB), there are a couple of risks:
  • You might become liable for brokers' and/or solicitors' fees if you abandon the switch (which you might want to do if rates increase too much). Check with your broker and/or solicitor if you would be liable for fees in such a situation.
  • As you realised, if you re-fix with BOI now there might be a break fee when you finally leave BOI. If you do fix with BOI, you could post periodically in the switcher thread during the switching process and ask for an updated estimate of your break fee (or contact BOI to get the break fee quote). You could abandon the switch to AIB if the break fee is getting too high.
But AIB's 2.15% rate is a lot lower than BOI's best rate, so it's possible that it will still make sense to switch even if AIB increase their rates.
 
Paul F said:
If you decide to go this route (re-fix now with BOI but continue process of switching to AIB), there are a couple of risks:
  • You might become liable for brokers' and/or solicitors' fees if you abandon the switch (which you might want to do if rates increase too much). Check with your broker and/or solicitor if you would be liable for fees in such a situation.
  • As you realised, if you re-fix with BOI now there might be a break fee when you finally leave BOI. If you do fix with BOI, you could post periodically in the switcher thread during the switching process and ask for an updated estimate of your break fee (or contact BOI to get the break fee quote). You could abandon the switch to AIB if the break fee is getting too high.
But AIB's 2.15% rate is a lot lower than BOI's best rate, so it's possible that it will still make sense to switch even if AIB increase their rates.
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Thanks Paul, I will likely have some solicitor costs now as they will have started work on it, I've no broker fees as I went direct.
I would lose the valuation fee of €150 as well as pay the potential break fee if I were to re-fix with BOI. I think I'm just going so sit tight on the variable rate with BOI and hope that the rest of the switch moves quickly and I might get luck and secure the 2.15%
 
When some of the other lenders have increased their fixed rates this year, they've made allowances for people who have already got fixed rate loan offers. "If you already have a formal loan offer with the old rate and you draw down no later than XXX date, we'll honour the old rate for you." Hopefully AIB would do the same for you.
 
Hi Chino

I think you should switch to AIB anyway. You might as well be with a decent lender over the longer term.

Sit on your solicitor to make sure he does what he has asked.

As Liam says, once you have a letter of offer, they will probably honour the rate, but not if the delay is on your side.

Brendan
 
Things are moving along but slowly, the valuation is now complete and has been submitted to AIB and I have life cover and home insurance sorted and matching what's needed for AIB. My solicitor advised they are waiting on the deeds from BOI and were requested at the start of the month.
Anyone have a recent timeline of how long it took BOI to issue their deeds for a switch? I've tried calling BOI deeds section but the wait times seem to be ridiculous after two attempts.
 
Wholesale rates are really high now around 2.7% for 5 years. These have risen 1% in the last few months. And theres a fair chance that they could fall to around the neutral rate of 1.5-2%? Youd have to check that carefully yourself the break fee. Boi are unethical and expensive but their 10 year is .1 over Aibs 3.2 and Aib afaik dont do cashback.
 
Just got word today that AIB have issued funds to my solicitor, I'm over the moon to have secured the 2.15% but its been a long frustrating process, almost as stressful as when we first purchased the house.

I said I'd come back and give an update for anyone thinking of or in the process of switching to AIB.

First submitted the online application on 17th July and funds Issued 13th October so just shy of 3 months. I was on the ball and anything that was asked for was provided either same day or the next. AIB seem to take 3/4 days to review anything uploaded so this can really drag out if you make a mistake and upload the wrong thing or are missing anything.

A couple of tips:

Request copies of salary certs (on the AIB template) as soon as possible as HR departments can be slow to provide these.

Ensure you provide a copy of marriage cert to the branch if using ID in maiden name, lost 2 weeks here due to pure incompetence of nobody in the direct mortgage team being able to explain why the ID wasn't accepted (even though I'd uploaded a copy of marriage cert with all my documents when I first applied) and no communication back from the branch.

Engage your solicitor early if you are very confident of approval as they can have a head start on requesting the deeds from your exisiting lender, this is a very slow process at the minute as there is a huge increase in switchers. It took around 3 weeks for this and party to blame on my solicitor as they didn't initially send the fee to BOI.
 
Chino123 said:
Just got word today that AIB have issued funds to my solicitor, I'm over the moon to have secured the 2.15% but its been a long frustrating process, almost as stressful as when we first purchased the house.

I said I'd come back and give an update for anyone thinking of or in the process of switching to AIB.

First submitted the online application on 17th July and funds Issued 13th October so just shy of 3 months. I was on the ball and anything that was asked for was provided either same day or the next. AIB seem to take 3/4 days to review anything uploaded so this can really drag out if you make a mistake and upload the wrong thing or are missing anything.

A couple of tips:

Request copies of salary certs (on the AIB template) as soon as possible as HR departments can be slow to provide these.

Ensure you provide a copy of marriage cert to the branch if using ID in maiden name, lost 2 weeks here due to pure incompetence of nobody in the direct mortgage team being able to explain why the ID wasn't accepted (even though I'd uploaded a copy of marriage cert with all my documents when I first applied) and no communication back from the branch.

Engage your solicitor early if you are very confident of approval as they can have a head start on requesting the deeds from your exisiting lender, this is a very slow process at the minute as there is a huge increase in switchers. It took around 3 weeks for this and party to blame on my solicitor as they didn't initially send the fee to BOI.
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thats super. can i ask how long the deeds took to arrive? Our solicitor had requested from UB back the end of August and still no sign of them
 
dwyershane said:
thats super. can i ask how long the deeds took to arrive? Our solicitor had requested from UB back the end of August and still no sign of them
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Took around 3 nearly 4 weeks and that was with me calling and chasing BOI during this time. BOI advised they could see my solicitor had requested them but didn't include the release fee initially which was going to further delay things. The person I spoke to said they would see what they can do but there were 100's of requests in front of me, I think they took pity on me and pushed it to the front of the queue . I found I had to be very proactive to help the process move along
 
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