We've had a Woolwich Open Plan mortgage for just over seven years. On the whole we have been very satisfied.
The mortgage work by allowing you to set up a number of accounts and under Woolwich a number of saving pots, ie mini accounts that cannot be overdrawn, which can be offset agai9nst the mortgage. In simple terms this means all of these funds are taken off the mortgage total and interest is then calculated on the result.
We set up pots for a new car, holiday and for a small inheritance, which was to be used by our daughter to help her through university.
We also had a reserve that is an extra amount of money that we could borrow at the mortgage rate. In our case this was around £20,000. As you npay off the mortgage this amount increases. We now have an overdraft facility of around £70,000.
While the acount was being run by our local Woolwich branch we had only one problem. Initially our mortgage was mostly interest only, with an element of repayment. When we paid off a chunk of our mortgage the repayment element was taken off, without any notification to us.
However, as the account is online, and it is possible to transfer very easily I just do a weekly transfer to reduce the outstanding amount. This is useful as some months we are to pay off more than others.
For a couple of years things wwere tough finanicially. I had lost my job and at the same time my two eldest children need help. I was then able to allow the mortgage to increase, at the mortgage rate, which was a lot cheaper than any other borrowing.
When my mother died a couple of years ago I was able to keep quite a bit of the proceeds of her estate in one of the savings pots, until they were needed. With some of the estate I reduced the mortgage and have used most of the proceeds to help all three children get on the housing ladder.
The takeover of the Woolwich by Barclays was a little bit annoying. Overwhelmed by lots of bits of paper full of legal clauses. The service at Barclays is less friendly, less personal than at the Woolwich.
However, I am quite happy with this mortgage. It is nice to see the outstanding mortgage amount drop month by month. It is useful to be able to have the savings pots to store small funds of money. It is good that at a whim I can pay off a bit more of the mortgage.
I would not recomend this mortgage to someone who has problems managing money as there is always a temptation to keep borrowing to the hilt.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: High lending amount without extorsionate interest rates, Were allocated a personal morgage advisor. Disadvantages: High charges for returned payments (on top of the charges your bank will charge)
Ortu 05.02.2007 (05.02.2007)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Woolwich Mortgages
Nov 7th, 2008
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