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Original poster

Remortgage hell

61 replies

Cluelessfirstimer · 21/06/2023 09:20

Trying to remortgage and struggling. Mostly because of DPs finances. He's got himself into a mess - some his fault some not so much.
Made redundant (not his fault)
Maxed out two credit cards (half his fault - had to live while finding a job but he had other options before jumping to CCs)
Wasted the little he did have in savings (definitely his fault - decided to spend a load of money on DIY that didn't need doing )
I'm lying awake at night stressing about it. I'm a worrier anyway but this is crippling me. We have a 1 year old, waited until we were financially secure to have him and buy a house, and now i feel sick to my stomach that this is happening to us. Not just us. Thousands like us. Its fucking unfair.
DP has now taken a low paying driving role to just get by (his industry is struggling and mass redundancies are happening )My job pays ok - (62k) but with childcare and his debt repayments we are royally fucked.

What happens? We go onto the variable rate? Which we absolutely cannot afford.
Our broker is working on it but the conversation with him wasn't great.

Any advice welcome. Or maybe just a virtual hug. ..

OP posts:
yut · 21/06/2023 09:32

Ah OP I'm sorry that sounds really stressful. Has he actually defaulted on any of the debt or is it because it's affected the affordability?

Are you not just able to refix with your current lender? I don't believe that requires affordability or credit checks?

Lcb123 · 21/06/2023 09:34

Sorry, that's so hard. As PP suggested, can you do a product transfer with your existing provider? We did this last year and it was just an online form, no checks.

inloveandmarried · 21/06/2023 09:35

Can you downsize? Or rent your home out and rent a smaller property for a few years? I'm not sure of the mortgage conditions and whether this is even possible.

Sorry you are in this position. I don't expect for a moment you'll be alone in this situation.

Thinks do seem to work themselves out. The positives are your husband has seen he needed to take anything and he has done this. Many might not.

What children remember is how they felt as children. So not the 'trappings'. They recall the emotion. So watching something and hearing their parents laugh, excitement over an experience, the really important thing is to make this as ok as possible for children. Largely they take their cues from you. This means whatever happens you can protect them.

Wishing you all the best.

Original poster
Cluelessfirstimer · 21/06/2023 09:35

yut · 21/06/2023 09:32

Ah OP I'm sorry that sounds really stressful. Has he actually defaulted on any of the debt or is it because it's affected the affordability?

Are you not just able to refix with your current lender? I don't believe that requires affordability or credit checks?

Thank you ❤️ just affordability at the moment. He hasn't defaulted yet but is just about to so we are trying to scramble to get it sorted

Yes, broker did just call this morning and said he will try with current provider as he may not have to pass on any information for that so fingers crossed.

OP posts:
Callisto1 · 21/06/2023 09:36

Could you do a product transfer with your current lender? If you keep they same borrowing with the same lender they don't do any checks. It should be cheaper than SVR.

Callisto1 · 21/06/2023 09:38

I would call your lender and ask them about product transfer (mine only does it if your mortgage has less than 3 months till end). You don't need a broker for it. In fact they might complicate things.

Original poster
Cluelessfirstimer · 21/06/2023 09:39

inloveandmarried · 21/06/2023 09:35

Can you downsize? Or rent your home out and rent a smaller property for a few years? I'm not sure of the mortgage conditions and whether this is even possible.

Sorry you are in this position. I don't expect for a moment you'll be alone in this situation.

Thinks do seem to work themselves out. The positives are your husband has seen he needed to take anything and he has done this. Many might not.

What children remember is how they felt as children. So not the 'trappings'. They recall the emotion. So watching something and hearing their parents laugh, excitement over an experience, the really important thing is to make this as ok as possible for children. Largely they take their cues from you. This means whatever happens you can protect them.

Wishing you all the best.

This is lovely thank you ❤️ we are looking at downsizing but we bloody love this house. Mostly breaks my heart I feel like we are letting our son down so your words are really lovely. He is well fed and loved which as you say is the main thing

We have options, more than some have right now, but it's just so shit. You think you have gotten into a relatively stable life (never extravagant but enough to get by and afford a holiday once a year maybe) and then a total shit storm.

OP posts:
honeyandfizz · 21/06/2023 09:40

When I remortgaged my lender sent me the relevant information and products that I could transfer to. Took 5 minutes to tick a box online and the new product was set up, no new checks were made. Have you not got this option with your current provider?

Original poster
Cluelessfirstimer · 21/06/2023 09:40

Callisto1 · 21/06/2023 09:36

Could you do a product transfer with your current lender? If you keep they same borrowing with the same lender they don't do any checks. It should be cheaper than SVR.

Thank you. Yes, going to give them a call and try this (and also the above PP about trying direct - thats a good idea)

OP posts:
Original poster
Cluelessfirstimer · 21/06/2023 09:41

honeyandfizz · 21/06/2023 09:40

When I remortgaged my lender sent me the relevant information and products that I could transfer to. Took 5 minutes to tick a box online and the new product was set up, no new checks were made. Have you not got this option with your current provider?

Interesting.. we must have! Maybe the broker is getting in the way a bit. Will call then direct today

OP posts:
SunshineThelma · 21/06/2023 09:42

honeyandfizz · 21/06/2023 09:40

When I remortgaged my lender sent me the relevant information and products that I could transfer to. Took 5 minutes to tick a box online and the new product was set up, no new checks were made. Have you not got this option with your current provider?

Common misconception - this is a product transfer, not a remortgage.

yut · 21/06/2023 09:54

OP can you login online and see what the lender will offer you directly? Nationwide and NatWest do it online, really easy you just click the new rate, no checks in my experience. The broker seems to be unnecessarily stressing you out (hope you're not paying for him??), stay with your lender and take some time to sort out your finances (well your partner!) during this fix to give you more options next time. Rates for staying have been more competitive in recent years anyway.

yut · 21/06/2023 09:55

(By "more competitive" I mean more than they used to be generally rather than guaranteeing they'll be cheaper than someone else)

Original poster
Cluelessfirstimer · 21/06/2023 10:00

Thank you! Yes I now feel like the broker is stressing us out a bit unnecessarily here now after reading all this advice (which I didnt know)
Going to go online directly to our lender now.
Yes, totally agree it's worth staying with them for now until he gets his shit together

Thank you all so much. Put my mind at rest a little.

OP posts:
wineymummy · 21/06/2023 10:04

Is your husband claiming spousal tax allowance on your earnings?

belladonna22 · 21/06/2023 10:06

Sorry to hear you're going through this OP. The government is putting a lot of pressure on banks right now to work with homeowners who are struggling with payments, so I would suggest you phone your current lender. You can explain your situation, and they should be able to work with you on potential options to bring down your monthly payments such as extending the term of your mortgage, temporarily switching to interest only or perhaps pausing repayments.

This is a major political issue right now so banks are pretty motivated to help people keep up with their mortgages and stay in their homes.

Good luck!

Onegingerhead · 21/06/2023 10:09

Many people commented already but I will second going for your current lender. Why going through the broker? No need at all. No checks required when you go for product transfer with your current lender either, takes 10 min or so, and I think (my be wrong) they will also almost definitely give you the best rate on the market. Mine, HSBC, was the best of all the options that I saw on Moneysupermarket...

belladonna22 · 21/06/2023 10:18

Onegingerhead · 21/06/2023 10:09

Many people commented already but I will second going for your current lender. Why going through the broker? No need at all. No checks required when you go for product transfer with your current lender either, takes 10 min or so, and I think (my be wrong) they will also almost definitely give you the best rate on the market. Mine, HSBC, was the best of all the options that I saw on Moneysupermarket...

Agree - the broker will only get paid if you switch through him/her. I'd just work with your bank directly as they are likely to offer you the best deal in your current situation and can offered tailored support vs the off-the-shelf products your broker is recommending.

Tryingtomoveisdrivingmecrazy · 21/06/2023 10:23

Echo what other posters have said - I was able to re-fix with existing lender via a very simple online form. No checks at all.

Blarn · 21/06/2023 10:25

I have no advice for the mortgage but we were in a similar situation a few years ago where a spectacular series of unfortunate events around things we had planned for (higher rent and dd2) lead to our savings pot being used up and bills going on credit cards. So stressful but as PPs have said, your son will enjoy trips to the playground, picnic teas in the garden on a blanket in the living room, you playing little games with him. It is awful to feel like you can't provide the big days out but when they are so small its knowing they are loved that is important. And things will improve, they always do.

MooMooSharoo · 21/06/2023 10:27

Last time we remortgaged we stuck with the same lender as they didn't do new affordability checks. My DH is a contractor and hadn't had a contract for 18 months. I'd recently started up as self employed too. We could afford the mortgage, but the appearance of our finances would have been tricky, so we just took a (long) fixed rate mortgage with the existing lender.

I'm not sure, however, whether this is still quite as easy nowadays with the increases in rates. Our remortgage gave us a repayment that was similar to what we were already paying. If a remortgage now is coming out at a much higher monthly payment, I can imagine even an existing lender will want to do checks.

I'd look in to consolidating DP's credit cards in to a personal loan if you can, or move them on to an interest free card if he can get one. If you've got equity in the property you could try and include it in that, but that is a very expensive way to clear the debt.

Spirallingdownwards · 21/06/2023 10:27

As others have said an online transfer of product with your own lender should not need a broker.

Further Martin Lewis has been working with mortgage lenders to allow "relief" such as Interest only payments or extending terms etc so these may be worth looking at in a couple of months if things are still tough

Badbadbunny · 21/06/2023 10:28

wineymummy · 21/06/2023 10:04

Is your husband claiming spousal tax allowance on your earnings?

He would have to be earning less than the personal tax free allowance (£12.5k) to be able to do that. Even though OP says he's taken a low income job, he'll be earning more than that even if part time if working over around 23 hours per week. If he's working full time, he'll definitely be earning more than his tax allowance and therefore ineligible.

Oooiwanna · 21/06/2023 10:29

Could you remortgage in just your name so his debts won’t be part of the picture? Virtual hug too. It’s so unfair right now x

TwoBlueFish · 21/06/2023 10:30

If you stay with the same lender then they don’t usually do another financial check.