FIX with BOI or switch?

Ok we have been fortunate enough to have bought in 2013. My fixed rate expires start of september with BOI onto a variable rate. I think our house has gone up in value by about 50 - 60 thosand based on other homes in the area for sale..

I am in two minds whether to switch to KBC or fix with BOI for three years at 3.6 percent..then switch as LTV will be allot more in 2018 with a 25 year mortgage left.. We arent on massive income but did save during the boom hence the mortgage and I do want to over pay the mortgage by saving lump sums or paying extra a month i think with BOI you can pay 65 a month on top of fixed repayments..I personally despise BOI and their arrogance and tried everywhere else for the mortgage in 2013 but blessed to have bought when we did..

i am skeptical of kbc and their lowish variable rate of 3.55 or 3.69 percent based on LTV also find it strange they are a cashless bank in general, who is to say in a years time they wouldnt bump up the variable rate to 4.5 percent.

I know we are in a win win situation with our home once we pay every month am I jumping to quick to switch should we wait another few years..

Yes that is what I am asking on..i am not sure whether variable rates will fall by 0.9 percent but dont want to get trapped either paying 3.6 percent and then see variable rates below that..why are bank of ireland encouraging people to fix whats the real reason??. I got the impression on the phone that they would bite my hand of to get me to fix again when I said I would think about it.

plu not sure If I trust KBC either..

In general banks want you to fix to tie you to them, if you fix for 3 yrs then that's 3 yrs that they don't have to worry about you going elsewhere, it's usually as simple as that.

mmm hard to know what to do thanks..i hope AIB enter the switcher market soon

eamo15 said:

mmm hard to know what to do thanks..i hope AIB enter the switcher market soon

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Comes down to the sums and your position.

1. Today you can save by going on fixed rate.
2. If Variable drop soon , your gamble, loses you a little.
3. If variable don,t drop , you have done ok.

By locking in for 3 years you give yourself certainty , no point in 2nd guessing !

What you think of BOI is irrelevant (but true)
KBC from what I hear are honourable enough.
AIB ,have gone bust twice in my life.

I am in a very similar situation. Bought in 2011. Initially with 2yr Fixed Rate mortgage with BoI. Moved onto standard variable rate at 4.5%. LTV 50%. Not happy.
In my workplace today we had numerous financial institutions in selling and promoting their wares. (BoI, AIB, PTSB, EBS, Ulster Bank)
I played the room against each other. Nothing like a bit of competition.

I spoke with BoI and was very clear that the rate that they have me on is not acceptable. I do not want to fix. I also told them that unless they drop my rate I will have no hesitation in switching and that I was going to speak to each of the other financial institutions in the room and tell them that I am unhappy with BoI. They have taken that on board and have said they will go away and do a review and get back to me. I will let you know what they come back with. I am not holding my breath though.
I then worked the room within earshot and line of sight of the BoI representative to ensure they heard and saw.

So this is what the others said:

AIB: Will meet with me and review. Non-committal until review but circa 3.6 or 3.7%. Will not contribute to legal costs.
Ulster Bank: Will email me tomorrow with details. Again non-committal until review but circa 3.6 or 3.7%. Will provide €1500 as cash for me to cover legal fees. If I switch and am on 3.7% for example and a new Ulster Bank customer comes on board at 3.5% I can avail of the cheaper rate also as an existing customer.
EBS: Will email me tomorrow with details. Again non-committal until review but circa 3.6 or 3.7%. No mention of helping with legal fees
PTSB: Will email me tomorrow with details. 3.7% (3.76% APR). €1000 assistance towards legal fees.

At the moment I would have to say that Ulster Bank are in the lead for me. But let's wait and see what the rest come back with.
Need to find out what, if any, catches there are with accepting the legal fee assistance from Ulster Bank or PTSB. Does it tie me into a fixed period of time with that institution?
But it is obviously more about long term savings than a nice shiny carrot in the short term.

Any particular reason for excluding KBC from your review? They currently offer the lowest published variable rate for low LTVs and offer pretty generous incentives to switchers.

Hello Vince it would be very interesting to hear how you get on you have a very good ltv at 50 percent im a little behind you at roughly 64 percent..im just doing my homework on our situation as fixed rate term with BOI up in two months and I know we are in a good position to negotiate a better deal. In another few years i recton my LTV will be below 50 percent but not happy with BOI variable rate.

There would usually be a clawback clause in the loan offer re the legal fee assistance, so that if you switched again within a certain time scale you would end up repaying the fee as it would be added to the amount to clear the loan.

Sarenco said:

Any particular reason for excluding KBC from your review? They currently offer the lowest published variable rate for low LTVs and offer pretty generous incentives to switchers.

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@Sarenco Only excluded KBC as they were not one of the visiting financial institutions to my workplace yesterday. I will of course be considering them in the mix too.

vince out of interest why not fix with BOI for 3 years fixed ? whats your thinking on the matter? do you believe variable interest rates will drop below 3.6 percent in the next 3 years??

eamo15 said:

vince out of interest why not fix with BOI for 3 years fixed ? whats your thinking on the matter? do you believe variable interest rates will drop below 3.6 percent in the next 3 years??

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you can get 3.55% from KBC already.

shweeney said:

you can get 3.55% from KBC already.

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I want flexibility. I particularly want to overpay on my mortgage to clear it asap.

So after two days these are the responses I have received:

BoI: My current mortgage provider. The one that should be interested in keeping my business. The one that promised to review my situation and get back to me. 2 days and counting and no response to date.
AIB: They have asked me to drop in at my own convenience to discuss.
Ulster Bank: Emailed me today with details on application process, interest rate details etc. And with flexibility to sit down and discuss further at a time of my suiting.
EBS: Still no email or phone call after two days. They had agreed to phone me between 11am-1pm the next day.
PTSB: They reached out the next day via email asking me to send on any questions I may have and asking if I wanted to arrange a meeting.

6 weeks and still no response from Bank Of Ireland.
Today I have instructed my solicitor to act on my behalf and all documentation is now in place to switch to KBC.