Interest Rates

[EileenH]

I have a mortgage with RBS which is variable. The minute any interest rates have gone up, the following month,my mortgage has gone up. Now, with the rates at their lowest, the bank has sent me a letter to say that they have decided that my rates are low enough, therefore, they are not going to pass this drop onto their customers. Has anyone else experienced this with other lenders? I'm quite sure that the minute the rates are increased I will have an increase in my mortgae even though it wasn't passed onto me in the first place! What makes me angry is that their staff are receiving these big bonuses. Without their customers there wouldn't be a RBS.

[four eyes]

welcome to the real world,its a cold one.

[Hume]

we're with Nationwide on a tracker deal, so the cuts have been contractual. Our rate is BoE Base plus a differential.

There is a floor of 2.75% plus differential, which comes in to play if Base rate is below 2.75%. Not an issue I thought 15 months ago when Base was 5.75%!!

But, to Nationwide's credit, the floor was waived on the first occassion Base rate dipped below 2.75%. A very popular move, which brought them some good press. Despite the FSA stating the floor was unenforceable, I wouldn't have liked to try and argue it - it was cleary in the KFI when I took the deal out.

So the latest 2 cuts down to 1.5% and then 1% have had no impact, but I'm still glad I took the tracker when I did.

[Beachcomber]

We're currently "between mortgages" but before we sold up earlier this year we were with HBOS. They'd more or less followed the BoE's reductions up until the last one before Christmas when they wrote and told us more or the less the same thing.

The banks are reticent to lend now, of course, because with such a low interest rate they won't make much money by return. Hypocrits, the lot of them.

[EileenH]

My mortgage is an 'Offset' which means its tied to a bank account and they deduct what you have in the account and only charge interest on the balance. RBS letter to me stated that they felt I was getting a good enough deal. What is annoying me is that the minute the rates go up they put my mortgage up! It should work both ways. The only thing thats stopping me from moving to another bank is that the staff in their branch here are second to none and give me 100% customer service when I visit their branch.

[bill]

I Now, with the rates at their lowest,

As you say EileenH,so give a thought to us oldies who after a lifetime of being prudent we now find that there is no real interest to be had on our savings.Though our mortgage is paid off it was done when interest rates were at all time highs.So we have lost out twice.

[EileenH]

I too paid a mortgage when the interest rates were at their highest ( around 1990). I try to put money in our savings account each month. When I went into the bank a few weeks ago I discovered my savings account was getting only 0.35%! But the staff in the branch opened a new savings account for me with higher interest and transferred my savings into that. I had no idea the rates had dropped so low on this account.

[Tom B]

Maybe we should start a Kintyre Forum Credit Union - Bill/EileenH - I'd happily pay you 5% interest on my overdraft rather than the 10%+ authorised overdraft I'm still paying to Nationwide....seriously, one to look in to.........

"A credit union is a cooperative financial institution that is privately owned and controlled by its members. Credit unions differ from banks and other financial institutions in that the members who have accounts in the credit union are the owners of the credit union and they elect their board of directors in a democratic one person-one vote system regardless of the amount of money invested in the credit union"

more - http://www.scottishcu.org/view_company_ ... info_id=13

and here - http://www.moneymadeclear.fsa.gov.uk/pd ... ns_ink.pdf

[Hume]

I Now, with the rates at their lowest,

As you say EileenH,so give a thought to us oldies who after a lifetime of being prudent we now find that there is no real interest to be had on our savings.Though our mortgage is paid off it was done when interest rates were at all time highs.So we have lost out twice.

sorry bill, more bad news for you today - base rate has halved to 0.5%

[bill]

sorry bill, more bad news for you today - base rate has halved to 0.5%

I'm not bothered Hume as I'm going to win £85,000,000 on the Euro Lotterry tomorrow night.

[Hume]

I'm not bothered Hume as I'm going to win £85,000,000 on the Euro Lotterry tomorrow night.

give it to me when you do and I'll pay you 5% interest pa. Better than you'd get in any bank! Can't say fairer than that!

Just don't come looking for it in 20 years!

[Kevin Mc]

sorry bill, more bad news for you today - base rate has halved to 0.5%

I'm not bothered Hume as I'm going to win £85,000,000 on the Euro Lotterry tomorrow night.

No, I'm going to win the Euro Millions

Probably £5.80, but better than nothing. Just...