Does anyone here have a One Account?

[PeckaRolloverAgain]

Could you share your thoughts on it?

Is it going to "shrink" your mortgage as they claim it will?

Are there cheaper offset mortgages around?

Anything you can share will be useful as we are considering this at the moment!

Thanks

We do - but I understand nothing at all about it other than when the statements come through dh seems to think we're suddenly very flush. I switched off when he explained it too me. But he's very....(musn't say tight, musn't say tight)..careful with his money so wouldn't do anything financial without much pondering.

His redundancy money is in the pot too so that's making a big difference atm. Our mortgage was never huge though.

I have an offset mortgage with building society, it uses current account as well as savings accounts (funds with them of course) to offset against mortgage and we get a bi-annual statement showing a with and without viewpoint - best thing since sliced bread!

If you have a lumpy income vs expenditure profile then they're great. About half of dh's income is via an annual bonus so we get effectively a great rate of return whilst the money is sitting there for half the year or so. We also get in lump sums from shares etc which we'll use for school fees in the future and again it is a fairly effective way to earn a 10% gross return (if you're a higher rate tax payer).

They're not so beneficial if your income and expenditure is more regular and unless you actually get some real benefit from the offset facility - you can generally get a better mortgage interest rate on a standard term loan. If you have significant savings which are in cash not shares, then it may work, but it is ideal for self-employed or people with bonus schemes.

We have a smartmortgage with First Direct (who are our bank for all other purposes too), primarily for convenience. I can have any number of accounts linked to it, so I have one large negative balance (the mortgage), our cheque account, and then a number of specific savings accounts all netting together.

We also have a FirstDirect Offset mortgage, & it was a lifesaver when DH went self employed as we could automatically reduce payments to interest only, and can now overpay again.

Have just been offered 5.49% fixed for 3 years which is a good rate, and can overpay without penalty as offset.

I don't like the idea of everything in "One" account as like to keep a current acc separate & earmark savings, but benefit from the offset interest & flexibility.

Generally you need a lot of discipline with an offset mortgage as you can draw back the money you have paid off on your mortgage quite easily.
Additionally Offset mortgages are best if you have plenty of savings which can be used to offset against your mortgage, usually about £20,000 minimum other wise you are better off going for a lower rate mortgage and overpaying on that. If you have a current account and generally are in credit each month but not to any great amount it will not make a great difference to your mortgage.
Woolwich offset mortgage is quite simple as it is linked to your current account and you can have saving pots linked to the mortgage. The monthly statement is quite simple.
The One account includes credit cards as well and that is more complicated.
Some web sites have offset calculators which are quite handy.
As usual I always say speak to a mortgage broker.

HI if you want some help click here enter your details and I will see what I can do.

if you have leftover monthly salary/savings it is an excellent idea
We're getting one when we get our savings going a little better.

we've had one since 1999 and couldn't do without it. we're both self-employed and the flexibility allows us to be able to live from month to month. it was also very handy when i was ill for 15 months and our income fell. we now need to make up the deficit, and you do need to be disciplined to do that as previously stated.

i'm not sure they are the cheapest mortgages around - ours is 6.1% and we're on the cheapest available interest rate with our mortgage provider.

We would be over paying by about 400 each month as well as putting in any lump sums throughout the year

So why not get a mortgage with a low interest rate and no tie ins which will let you make overpayments as and when you wish? It's alot simpler.