# One Account Mortgage Shrinker



## Widget (May 7, 2002)

Is anybody using this service?

Any opinions anyone?


----------



## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

Check the interest rate against other products, like Woolwich / Barclay's "Openplan" etc.

Offsetting is definitely the way forward in terms of having quick access to your own savings etc... but I find a combination of cashback / other offers credit card for daily purchases (paid off monthly, thus no interest paid) plus a Woolwich Openplan suits my needs pretty well.


----------



## R6B TT (Feb 25, 2003)

Yorkshire Building Society and First Direct have good offset offerings too - I went with YBS, and its worked really well


----------



## jbell (May 15, 2006)

I have my mortgauge with HSBC, up to March it was a standard 1% over base. I have now changed it to a tracker which reduced it to 0.6% over base and changed my account to Bank Account Plus.

The BAP costs Â£12.99 a month but you get family travel insurance (inc dangerous sports), more current account/ISA interest, and loads of other benefits including a savings account at 10% gross for 1 year. Most importantly it gives a 0.2% discount on my mortgauge so I am now paying 0.4% over base a saving of Â£60 a month on 100k. I have left the payments the same and it is saving me over Â£9k in interest and reduced my mortgauge by 5 years.


----------



## mike_bailey (May 7, 2002)

Changes your perceptions of a mortgage - you can take far more risks with your career and not always have a fear of not being able to pay the mortgage. A friend with 3 young kids has one and gave up working in a highly paid IT job and started a home improvement business and he said he wouldn't have considered it if he had an old style mortgage. I've worked from home for years after previously overpaying into my One Account for many years and started a couple of businesses. Even though the mortgage rate is higher than I could get on the old style mortgages it's just freedom 

TIP: Virgin One has tiered interest rates depending on how much deposit you put down - 4 years ago I thought I'd take advantage of the increase in value of my property and got them to revalue my home. They lowered the interest to the lowest rate to reflect the higher value. They don't mention it in their literature but they're happy to do for a small valuation charge.


----------



## Widget (May 7, 2002)

So this is definately the way to go, but the One Account may not be 'the one'.

Thanks


----------



## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

Widget said:


> So this is definately the way to go, but the One Account may not be 'the one'.
> 
> Thanks


What Mike said about the exact way that the account works could be very useful. Offset mortgages are slightly different, inasmuch as you do have to keep paying the monthly mortgage amount. If you just want the ability to save interest over the term by using savings etc to offset, then the OneAccount may not be the best interest rate product... but the flexibility to have total control might be worth it for some people.

Have to say, I think it needs a certain amount of restraint to operate the OneAccount


----------



## R70 TTC (Nov 30, 2006)

Hi, the money saving expert website (http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/index.php) is great for advice and well worth signing up for the email newsletter. I have saved quite a few quid on a variety of things. Cheers


----------



## Widget (May 7, 2002)

I'm going through a silly phase at the moment where I want to pay off my mortgage. The monthly repayments are by no means a strain, I just fancy getting shot of it and wanted to know the quickest way around it.

Selling the Cayman S and using my savings would do the job but then I'd be left with no car and no savings. Which isn't an ideal situation.

This offsetting malarkey seems to be the solution, but as mentioned, it's a different way of thinking.

What would you do in my situation?


----------



## Wondermikie (Apr 14, 2006)

jampott said:


> ...Have to say, I think it needs a certain amount of restraint to operate the OneAccount


 :lol: it does, I've had one for 18 months now, it's a definite benefit if you keep money in the bank, but it does get a bit confusing sometimes although you can set up different "e-accounts" to try and keep track of it all.

To make the most of it you'll also need another credit card, which you use for everything through the month including cash, and then pay it off at the end of the month. If you use the Mastercard that comes with the One Account the balance clears once a week so you don't get the same benefit.

What's the hurry to get your mortgage paid off?


----------



## R6B TT (Feb 25, 2003)

I opted for a separate offset option because I had a reasonable lump of savings to offset, but the main reason was I didn't want my bank having ALL my financial affairs under their control - now, I have effectively a low mortgage balance / interest payments but instant access to a hefty wedge of cash if I needed it at mortgage rate.


----------



## acme (May 7, 2002)

Wondermikie said:


> To make the most of it you'll also need another credit card, which you use for everything through the month including cash


Be careful with that. Don't forget that cash withdrawals are usually charged at a higher rate of interest immediately. There is no interest free period on cash advances.


----------



## Wondermikie (Apr 14, 2006)

acme said:


> Wondermikie said:
> 
> 
> > To make the most of it you'll also need another credit card, which you use for everything through the month including cash
> ...


Cheers that makes more sense, as I set a direct debit to pay off everything but I've still been paying some interest, but only like Â£2.50 or Â£3.00 each month so not bad.


----------

