Wow, I got my first diamond!!! thanx to everybody for the comments! Oh well I got something out of ...
Wow, I got my first diamond!!! thanx to everybody for the comments! Oh well I got something out of George Wimpey!
Member since:11.10.2002
Reviews:55
Members who trust:19
I have been an abbeybanking customer for a many moon now! ... A very happy abbey customer, I hasten to add!!!
The first time I plucked up the courage to take that giant step onto the property ladder, I was young, naive and a little bit wet behind the ears!!
My mortage advisor (from the estate agent) sorted all the technical stuff for me, at the time, the best mortgage around was with the Abbey.
As most mortgage advisors tend to, he clevely got me to sign up for an attractive endownment linked abbey mortgage, with a great rate!!
Don't worry the wet behind the ears
teen, soon learnt to kick the endownment to the kerb, but the one thing I have to thank that advisor for is my abbey mortgage.
Pretty soon after I took this mortgage out, I lost my job, leaving me in a financial difficulty, Abbey National were superb, I never once got threatining letters from them or anything, I talked to them, and they wanted to help me keep my house and much as I wanted to keep it!
Since having my mortgage with them, I have taken out two home improvementloans, on both occasions, I went into the branch to see the financial advisor, who was extremely helpful, and everything is done on the computer, so you can see what they are entering, and then when its done they print it and get you to sign it!! (no form filling ... greeeeeeeat!!!). Also they have the ability to over-ride things at their discretion, if things dont initially come out as you would have liked.
I have constantly reduced my mortgage term, all done by a simple phone call (again no form filling!!)
There have been two occasions where I have had a problem with them. The first was when I kicked the endownment policy to the kerb, I went into the Abbey and changed to a repayment. Unfortuanately (or maybe not), they actually didn't process it, so after about 9 months, I reaslised that my payments hadn't increased that much (it was a time of interest rates changing a lot), so I queried it, and they forgot to process the change, so to ensure I didn't lose out, they actually credited my account with all the additional payments I should have made if they had done it!! (£800 in my favour!!) damm I should have left it a lot longer!!!
The 2nd occasion, I had finished a product and taken on a new one, they took a long time to process the offer, (in fact it took almost 3 months), they were too busy focussing on new customers!! SO after a small (!!!) whinge from me, they backdated the offer to my application date, and credited my account with the overpayments i had made!
That was 10 years ago!! In that whole 10 years I have always kept my mortgage with abbey. I have listed below the pro's and cons of abbey
*** Pro's *** 1) They do not have lots and lots of additional charges that some mortgages have. Unless you get into severe arrears.
2) You don't have to go into the branch to deal with them, a lot of the time you can just deal with the mortgage centre over the phone (for those who prefer to go into a branch you can)
3) They offer new build properties a great deal with no completion deadline! (great opportuinity to take advantage of current low rates)
4) They offer a huge variation in products, so they should have something to meet everyones needs.
5) You are free to change product as soon as product ends (no tie ins)
6) Great rates on home improvement loans (and no masses of forms to fill out)
*** Cons *** 1) Their variable interest rate is slightly higher than average, so their discount mortgages are not as great as some other mortgage lenders
2) They offer better rates to new customers than existing customers (where as mortgage companies like Nationwide offer exisiting and new the same)
All in all, I still advise anyone to shop around when chosing mortgages, but for me service is sometimes as important as the deal. And abbey have always offered me a great service, which is quick, simple, approachable, flexible, and the important thing is they listen!!!
I dread the day that the deal they offer me is so poor, that I have to seriously contemplate going somewhere else!!! Until then Abbey you have got my vote!!!
check out their mortgage offers on www.abbeynational.co.uk
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whay I think I going to work for them in January karen
Kukana 21.12.2003 12:29
We had our mortgage with the Abbey (or ANBS as it was in those days!!) and were always very pleased with them. We continue to have a bank account with them, and operate it almost totally online. They may not always be absolutely the best value, but their service is wonderful - and they're certainly not the most expensive either. Sue
emmorticia 20.12.2003 19:53
Oh god, I've got to go through the whole mortgage thing within 12 months....aaargghh!! E x
Dec 20th, 2003
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