Switching experiences

C

Craig_David

Registered User
Messages
24
Hi all,
Having reviewed my options, it seems the best value option is with either AIB or KBC.
Has anyone recent experiences switching with either of the two in the past 12 months? How long was the process overall? Any complications/issues worth noting?

I read about some bad experiences with KBC and wondering have they improved at all or is it still a very messy process? There is more of a saving to be made with KBC but if AIB is a lot less hassle, i'd consider going with them instead.

thanks
 
I switched to KBC in September - having started the process in May. They're kinda slow but if you keep at them then they get there in the end. The rate and switchers bonus is worth it for us.

Everything was done by email, we had a point of contact - wasn't any more messy than when I first took out a BOI mortgage.
 
Similar to above we switched to KBC from BOI. Took about 4 months but we had an issue with the paper work for the house (missing PPR cert for last owner that was missed by our solicitor when we bought the house) found the customer service in general good but did need to chase. For me that involved sending in paperwork and after 3-5 days just mailing to make sure all was in order. I found the mails prompted a review of the file and it progressed things.
 
I switched to KBC recently too. I was initially hesitant after hearing reports of difficulties but it went very smoothly and I was impressed with the customer service in all my telephone and email communications. It helps if you get all the electronic paperwork in order and send it in a single bundle. It took About 4 months too from initial enquiries to finish. The rate with the current account is pretty good for me, compared with all other banks, hence the switch, which I am reluctant to do for small savings due to major effort required to switch. I dont know how serial switchers have the energy!
 
Last edited:
Any experiences from anyone who switched to AIB?
How long did it all take after getting the AIP?

thanks
 
Craig_David said:
Any experiences from anyone who switched to AIB?
How long did it all take after getting the AIP?

thanks
Click to expand...
We are just switching at the moment. We got our loan approved straight away and contracts issued within the week. That was around the end of Feb. We only sent back signed contracts last week so hoping all will be sorted in the next couple of weeks.
 
Hi, we completed the switch from aib to kbc. Low LTV and a ratio of wages to loan was about 1:1. Process took 11 months. Absolutely shocked by how poor kbc customer service was. Everything from losing documents to inconsistent requests by whoever happened to be looking at the application on any given day. A neighbour had a very similar result (hers only took 9 months).
 
AIB to Avant. Started mid December, had Xmas and some delay on getting the house valued during lockdown but we closed end of march. So 3 and a half months. The broker, the solicitor, the guy that did the engineering report (not everyone needs this), and Avant were efficient enough. We lost a little bit of time due to a discrepancy with life insurance but I thought it was smooth. Very happy to be done......for another 7 years anyway.
 
Mistyfloyd said:
AIB to Avant. Started mid December, had Xmas and some delay on getting the house valued during lockdown but we closed end of march. So 3 and a half months. The broker, the solicitor, the guy that did the engineering report (not everyone needs this), and Avant were efficient enough. We lost a little bit of time due to a discrepancy with life insurance but I thought it was smooth. Very happy to be done......for another 7 years anyway.
Click to expand...

thanks for the info, Mistyfloyd

I was idly clicking around this am, read this, and noticed the Avant Money rates of 1.95% (3\5\7 years fixed) for <60% LTV. I'm currently paying 2.75% SVR with AIB with a LTV of about 30%.
House is worth ~750k, remaining mortgage is 240k.

I have been holding off on this due to thinking that somehow, sometime Irish mortgage rates would decline down to meet the Eurozone averages but I have been waiting a long time and no sign of this happening! As the market gets ever more concentrated here, I think this is becoming less likely so the attractions of an Avant switch seem more tangible and I should just get on with it.

Newbie switcher questions:
  1. the Avant site doesn't have an awful lot of info. To kick off the process, do I just pick out a broker from their approved list and they then do all the required legwork?
  2. what are the approx switching costs? I assume I have to pay for a valuation (which is usually about 150\200). What other costs do I need to pay - I see you mention solicitor? Do I also have to pay broker fees, or do they get paid from Avant?
thanks
 
Hi Truffade
1. I did just that. Really good experience with a company in Lucan . They have a good site where it lists all of the documents required where you upload all of the files to. They review the documents, click them as reviewed and make a note if there is a follow up required. They'll do all the leg work with Avant. We paid no fees to them.

2. Solicitor average seems to be 1500. We had to pay 300 also for an engineer report on our extension (bit of a rip off but he did it immediately and we were happy to get going). The valuation I think was about 185 a particular company from a list has to do this. I'm sure some have paid less for all of the above.
 
Mistyfloyd said:
Hi Truffade
1. I did just that. Really good experience with a company in Lucan . They have a good site where it lists all of the documents required where you upload all of the files to. They review the documents, click them as reviewed and make a note if there is a follow up required. They'll do all the leg work with Avant. We paid no fees to them.

2. Solicitor average seems to be 1500. We had to pay 300 also for an engineer report on our extension (bit of a rip off but he did it immediately and we were happy to get going). The valuation I think was about 185 a particular company from a list has to do this. I'm sure some have paid less for all of the above.
Click to expand...

I finally got around to doing this - just sent off all the required info to broker and I will update once I see some action.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top