Remortgaging with HSBC

[dodi1978]

We currently have a five year fixed-term mortgage with HSBC, which runs until May 2017.

If you have got a Mortgage with HSBC and have recently remortgaged with them, could you please explain to me what the process was like? How long did it take, what was involved? Was a new survey required, and what level of survey?

I am also concerned that I'll be on maternity leave next year, and my two months with the lowest salary (SMP only) will be in March/April. I will go back to work full-time, but my childcare costs will increase due to having two at nursery / childcare. I am worried about how this will be considered at remortgaging stage, and whether my mortgage will still be considered "affordable" based on outgoings.

Any experiences would be highly welcome!

You don't need to remortgage I'd you don't want you - usually after a fixed term you revert to the standard rate

Thanks for your answer!

I know, but given the uncertain times (Brexit), I think I'd feel more comfortable on a new fixed-term deal. This being said, I just calculated that the standard rate would save us £100 a month, which we could actually overpay... and that would then shave more than 2 years of the mortgage!

We came to the end of our fixed rate with natwest and remortgaged with them.

It was mostly done online & they sent out documents for us to sign. It took about two weeks. There was no proof of earnings needed or credit checks.

Fluffy - that's interesting. I was under the impression that proof of earnings and a new survey is always required.

I know I should just call and ask, but don't want to draw to much attention to my upcoming maternity leave....

If you are staying with the same lender then this is not technically remortgaging but 'switching rate'. Unless you are increasing the money borrowed most lenders will let you switch rate without asking for proof of income. If you are increasing the money borrowed and/or moving to a different lender (which may be cheaper) then this is will be a full remortgage application with proof of income and house value required. My fix ran out mid way through my mat leave and I switched rates with the same lender and wasn't asked for proof of income.

You also don't need a survey with switching rate only with a remortgage application.

Yes, we have. HSBC have very strict lending criteria. Even though our monthly payment was going down we had to have a full affordability check, survey, proof of earnings etc.

I once had to get the wages dept to write a letter for someone I manage who was remortgaging on mat leave. They wanted confirmation of her anticipated salary.

I am sure you don't need a survey etc when a fixed rate comes to an end if you stay with that lender.
You just switch 'rates'
No need for wage calculations as the amount you are borrowing is the same surely?

Thanks for all replies!

Spaghetti - did you switch to a different HSBC rate or did you remortgage with them after having been with a different provider?

We don't expect our monthly payments to go up as we are not borrowing more. Rather, we have paid off a bit of capital in the last few years, so our LTV should be better now, so I'd hope that we pay less!

Gosh! And I thought the Halifax were a pain in the arse to deal with.
Great that you have been able to pay off a bit of the capital

Nope. We were with them and stayed with them. It didn't make any sense to us but there you go.

We did knock four years off the term but that didn't increase the payments as the rate was going down. We also moved 'down' to the 60% mortgage bracket from 75% so maybe that was why they wanted a survey.

They aren't like some of the other lenders. My friend is a mortgage advisor at Natwest and she couldn't understand the hoops we had to jump through.

I'd revert to the standard rate and then look at remortgaging when you're back from mat leave. The bank of England have just cut interest rates so it's unlikely to be a bad idea to be on the standard rate in the time period you're looking at.

We have recently re-mortgaged with HSBC (switch from NatWest) for a very low 2y fixed rate (believe still available - check Moneysupermarket). Natwest could not offer us anything close to that. We saved a lot on our monthly mortgage payments BUT....

The process was VERY painful. Even though we applied through a Mortgage Advisor. Had to fill in many forms again, send additional proof of income etc etc etc . Two different law/conveyancing firms were involved on behalf of HSBC and it was almost impossible to get in touch with them on the phone and they didn't reply on our e-mails. You supposedly can check the status of your application online, but do not believe it/rely on it. We did and it was a big mistake. On the day of expected completion (having spent ages waiting in the phone queues with 3 different parties - HSBC + 2 firms) , we eventually found out that funds were not transferred by HSBC because they were still waiting for some documentation from one of the 2 firms. 3 days and another dozen of phone calls later, we eventually completed.

As I said, we have saved money so suppose that was a price for that...

Good luck to you! Hopefully, ours was just one off nightmare, not their normal way of work.

I should have mentioned that no actual survey was required in our case - they did it online (whatever it involves). We are in SW area and prices are still rising, also a relatively low LTV, so no risk for them.

Thanks, everyone!

I did call them now. They said that, unless the mortgage term is changed (which we are not planning to) or we want to borrow more, switching rates is straightforward and doesn't involve credit checks or surveys. It can even b done online.

So I am hoping to go with that! They'll write to us 3 months before the end of our mortgage term.

I think switching to another provider would have to mean biiiig savings, considering the cost involved in new surveys etc. I don't mind being on the standard rate for a while (as things stand, it would save us £100 a month which we'd try to overpay), but in the long run, I'd be more comfortable with a fixed rate again.

But, yes, conveyancing - when we bought 4 years ago it was also a pain... company who did it incontactable etc. Had some fees refunded in the end though as an apology

We're with santander. Free legals and free survey. We stayed with them and transferred to a new rate last month. Totally painless process. Only had a new survey as we requested it as they had valued it as a four bed rather than a five originally and we didn't say anything at the time. Whole process completed in under two weeks, including the survey appointment, with excellent communication throughout via email and text from the adviser.
Even getting the mortgage originally was a breeze and I'm self employed.

This might sounds stupid, but if you go onto a standard rate, would the repayments be the same every month or variable?

Tea the payments would only change if the rate was changed by the bank and you would be given a bit of notice if this was going to happen. Standard variable rate is only as variable as a tracker. It doesnt just change from one month to the next.

HSBC are a nightmare to deal with but, if you persevere and constantly pester them, their rates are very very good. We just applied for a smallish (by London standards) £875k mortgage and they were very very slow. But I called them every single day for an update. When it got passed to the underwriters, I called them every single day. When the valuation got instructed, I called them every single day. They're very quick to say no, but don't give up. I had very harsh conversations with two separate underwriters who just couldn't explain why they kept saying no. It then went to a senior underwriter who signed it off while I was on the phone within a few minutes!! But now the mortgage has been approved, but it took some effort. Was it worth it? For a saving of almost £1,000 from the current mortgage....yes it was.

Now I await the joys of the legal work, but at least it's approved.

They have very good rates....I'm paying less than 1.75%, so don't give up just because they have stupid policies and systems....the actual people you deal with are VERY nice and VERY helpful as they can be, Bearing in mind they have to work with ridiculous policies that are illogical.

We have recently remortgaged with HSBC (although a buy to let). It involved giving them a ring, receiving a letter to sign, paying the fee and voila. If you change banks you'll need to go through valuations, interviews and all the paperwork.

I thought I would go beserk remortgaging with HSBC, one of the most tiresome drawn out procedures ever. We were only adding £25k to original mortgage. My dh had banked with them for 30 years and had business accounts etc and still we had to have 2 very lengthy face to faces and numerous emails were exchanged and phone calls. We had mortgages for 20 years too and never missed a payment.

Honestly interest rates have been so low for so long and they are unlikely to raise in the near future so you may as well drop to the standard variable rate and overpay as much as you can to benefit from the reduction to your capital borrowings.