That is very interesting and something I have not heard of before.
I see that St Raphael's CU offers such a loan
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There is no mention of a need for shares, so that is good.
I checked the calculator and it gave the results for a 20 year loan,so that is good. But it does say "term and maximum amount may be restricted"
But the terms and conditions are vague.
It says that "life cover may be required" so that might rule out your savings.
"Cost of Legal fees carried by borrower" - this could refer to the CU's legal fees - you would need to check that out. Banks have their own in-house solicitors and don't charge you. The CU would have to get the paperwork checked or they might rely on your solicitor.
Your existing life cover
Our circumstances subsequently (in 2008) allowed us to make a sizeable capital repayment on our mortgage and reduce the term from 30 to 15 yrs. I considered altering the life policies in place in the interim but to be honest about it, it didn't seem worth the hassle.
I think you will find it a lot more hassle changing the mortgage to the Credit Union.
If you have reduced the term to 15 years, I am guessing that you reduced the balance by about 50%? So you have cover for around €140k. So you are giving up cover by switching to the CU. So the saving of €70 is overstated.
The life insurance premium is usually the same for the whole of the term.
If the life cover is fixed, this means that it is terrible value at the start but great value when you are older and you should not cancel it.
If the lifer cover is reducing balance, then it becomes poor value as you get older and maybe you should cancel it.
One of us required a medical due to a pre-existing medical condition and an extra premium is payable on that policy on top of what might be considered normal.
You need to check how much life cover for €68,000 would cost you today for a 15 year term to see how much the CU "free cover" is worth.