Threatening to switch mortgage

J

JulyBaby

Guest
I have an existing variable rate mortgage but Ulster Bank is offering a better rate if I switch to them. They'll even pay legal fees although you need to sign up for 5 yrs.
Has anybody received a better rate from their existing mortgage provider by 'threatening' to switch?
 
I don't think threatening a provider would work - just inform them of the UB offer and invite them to match or better it........

Sarah

www.rea.ie
 
treat your mortgage like a business and cut costs by going to the cheaper rate-no matter which bank supplies it,
you have an offer-if your bank cant or wont match it, switch.
loyalty to a bank is misplaced.
 
just switched myself and saved myself 90 euro a month - that's not counting when the tax relief kicks in. I paid legal fees myself as I didn't want to be tied to anyone for a set amount of time - by the time the first year of mortgage has passed you will have made it up. I didn't bother contacting bank for better offer - wasn't too happy with the customer service and they made it as hard as possible to switch by messing around with redemption figures. But I reckon do both - see if they can offer you better and shop around and you have the best of both worlds.
 
i am currently asking boi to match first active tracker +0.75% on home and investment portfolio
with 1million plus of debt can I get lower than 0.75?
Any experience out there with this?
 
A few years ago when I had a mortgage with the ICS I realised that I could get a better deal with the UB who approved the switch. My broker rang the ICS for me and they dropped the rate I had been paying to the UB rate. If you don't ask you'll never know!
 
markowitzman said:
i am currently asking boi to match first active tracker +0.75% on home and investment portfolio
with 1million plus of debt can I get lower than 0.75?
Any experience out there with this?
Click to expand...

In my case, I had an agreed offer from ICS at tracker of +0.9% which was the best I could get at the time. Then when First Active offered me the +.075% tracker and 5.25% money market account as an incentive to agree to move off their standard CAM product, I put the .75% question to ICS and they said No straight off. It was just after FA's new offer and they seemed to have decided that the official response was not to match it (they'd received lots of requests apparently). That was a few months ago, they may be more a bit more flexible now.
No harm in asking.
S
 
Dealing with the Ulster Bank mortgage department is not a pleasant experience, so if you do decide to switch, be prepared to give them lots of time and follow up phone calls.
 
Thanks for all the advice.
In the end I told my current lender (EBS) I was thinking of switching and they offered to switch me from std variable to tracker rate at almost what Ulster offered. It was painless, no fuss, just one signature and my monthly payment was reduced.
Worth asking!
 
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