# Virgin One Account Mortgage



## M7 ATW (May 21, 2008)

Hi Everyone,

Has anyone had experience with this mortgage, if so how do you rate it?

I'm looking for my next mortgage to have a great deal of flexibility when it comes to overpayments as i really want to reduce this as much/ as frequently as possible. Due to the above, i wondered if this might be a good solution?

Thanks in advance

Matt


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## HairyG (Jun 13, 2008)

We were in the first 500 people to move to the Virgin One account when it was first launched. Got a free trip to New York as a welcome:thumb:

Our experience of it has been very good. Customer service has varied from good to excellent. Putting everything together in the one account has meant that we have minmised interest paid or even had interest recieved.

The flexibility has meant that we have paid no interest on our credit cards for the last 10 years even when we have had to use them to cover unexpected large expenses.

You do need to be disciplined though. If you are the type that spends up to their credit limit and then struggles to pay the bills then the One Account is probably not for you.

For most of our account history the interest rate charged tracked the BOE Base Rate but this is no longer the case. The actual rate charged depends on the ratio of facility to property value. Our facility is less than 50% of our property value so we are on the lowest rate. We had the property re-valued a few years ago to get that low rate. There was a valuation fee but it was not unreasonable, £75 if I remember correctly.

We have no regrets about our decision, but I have heard contrary opinions. It only really works to your best advantage if you put all your (joint?) earnings and savings into it unless you can get your savings to earn more after taxation than the interest rate (fairly difficult in today's markets).

Other banks offer to offset mortgage and current accounts but Virgin is the only one I know of that puts everything in one account, just like it says on the tin.


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

you dont need to go all the way to a Virgin One account to achieve the same thing IF you have savings....

The Co-Op Bank and Newcastle BS (and some others) all offer mortgages which you can link a SAVINGS account with, and offset the mortgage interest with the savings you have. I have one and keep my current account separate, and have saved many many £'000's of pounds in the last 5 years 

BEST OF ALL - the interest rates on my mortgage are MUCH lower than Virgin One. They charge a premium rate for their product, while I am paying BoE + 0.49% for life :thumb: 

Check out all the accounts carefully to see exactly the benefits of all of them - whether you want to offset savings, have more flexible payment plans (many offer this as standard) etc etc. There is typically a fairly significant amount of savings that is needed to make something like the One account a cost effective way to do things. I did the calculations VERY carefully and found the general amount oin a current accoutn makes very little impact on the mortgage interest paid for most people, but its the savings accounts that make a substantial difference.


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## M7 ATW (May 21, 2008)

Thanks for your comments.

It would appear that this type of mortgage may be of benefit to me, as I’ll have approximately 20-25% of the value of my mortgage in a savings account by the time it comes up for renewal, plus this has been accrued through monthly savings of my salary i.e. surplus cash at the end of each month.

It’s the lack of flexibility with my current mortgage that is leading me down this route, as I currently want to overpay either in a lump sum or monthly payments, but will incur penalties if I do so. I suppose I need to consult with a financial advisor and work out what product is best for my individual circumstances; however, I just valued your impartial opinions.


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## Aletank (Oct 27, 2005)

Bigpikle said:


> BEST OF ALL - the interest rates on my mortgage are MUCH lower than Virgin One. They charge a premium rate for their product, while I am paying BoE + 0.49% for life :thumb:
> 
> .


Which company are you with then ?


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