Standard Life Mortages (Standard Life)

Member Name: polydeuces

Product:	Standard Life
Date:	10/08/08 (97 review reads)
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It is interesting reading the reviews how many people are dissatisfied with their mortgage provider. If I can detect a pattern it is that it is the traditional mortgage provider like the Halifax, the Bradford & Bingley about whom most people have complained. The High Street banks seem to fare just as badly. I also notice another factor is that once the mortgage provider has got your business they take you for granted and over a period of time your mortgage gets less and less competitive.

It should perhaps be a warning to some of these traditional mortgage providers that the mortgage market has moved on and some of the practices which they could get away with a few years ago will not be tolerated now. People who have mortgages are far more likely to remortgage now than at any time. It is also true that those who have expensive branch networks are merely wasting money if they do not use those branches to get value by connecting with their customers. It is simply not good enough once a mortgage company has got your business to write to you once a year to let you know what you owe now.
Another significant change has been that many of the building societies are no longer mutual organisations (ie owned by their members) and the benefits of mutuality have been lost. I have recently left Bradford and Bingley completely dissatisfied with them after demutualisation. A windfall of £500 worth of shares is no compensation when poor uncompetitive mortgage rates can cost you many times that. One of tye mot significant changes has been that the practice of only crediting all one years payments at the end of the year has been exposed and newer lenders and products should see an end to this practice.

It is the new providers like The Standard Life Bank who are leading the way with products which are competitive and crucially fair to the borrower. Interest is credited and calculated daily so you get the benefit of any overpayments immediately. You can reduce your balance by overpaying at any time which for those with endowments who are facing a shortfall in their endowment performance can reduce the capital required to balance that deficit out. If the reverse happens and you wish to increase the amount you have borrowed and need to repay you can increase it subject to an agreed limit which is established based on your ability to pay and the value of your house less the amount borrowed.
On the flexible mortgage I have recently taken out with Standard Life Bank there was even a 6 month discount though I would have been happy even if it was not there. After dealing with the Bradford and Bingley the most important thing for me was to deal with an organisation with some integrity.

The Standard Life Bank website www.standardlifebank.com has all the details and you can work out your mortgage based on what type of mortgage you want and the payment method. You can initiate the process on line as well though subsequently telephone calls will be required. After your application has been processed you will get an initial offer subject to certain legal conditions. Standard Life Bank will arrange valuations and solicitors at reasonable rates to complete the legal parts like Land Registry etc. They will of course check on your credit worthiness and seek a statement of earnings from your employer. The only difficulty I have had is with Bradford and Bingley who dragged their feet answering letters presumably to keep the mortgage with them going as long as possible. My contempt for the Bradford and Bingley now knows no bounds.
If you are in a position to remortgage I would recommend the Standard Life Bank which is a mutual organisation.

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