An excellent mortgage provider in the UK (and elsewhere?)
Written: Jan 16 '07 (Updated Apr 04 '08)
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Pros: Good rates and excellent customer service...
Cons: ... have to change your mortgage every 2 years to get the best rates...
The Bottom Line: NatWest Mortgages won't let you down, and Customer Service is excellent.
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| captaind's Full Review: NatWest Mortgage |
The reason we initially took our mortgage with NatWest is very simple – they were the only ones who would actually offer us one. This wasn’t because of a bad credit history, but with my wife having worked as a temp since moving up to Birmingham and myself having been previously temping while living in London, neither of us could not meet the criteria of having worked for a full year for our current employer. Therefore even though our Estate Agents had literally thousands of offers on their system, we had a choice of one. However since then I have been very happy with NatWest as a mortgage provider for several reasons, so I’m not at all sorry that we ended up with them.
At the time we got our mortgage, the base rate was 6.0% APR. The mortgage we got (which was subject to a higher than average deposit which took my whole life savings, but this was the only way even NatWest would give us the mortgage at the time) was 2.5% under the base rate for 2 years, then reverting to the base rate, with a total term of 25 years (which was chosen for convenience, not forced upon us). Obviously if you’re smart you will ring them up just before the special rate is about to finish and get your mortgage swapped over to another special rate mortgage for 2 years, and so on. With so many different types of mortgage now available the choice can seem overwhelming, but I like to keep things simple and know more or less where I stand at any given time, so I like the simple type of mortgage where you know what you’ll be paying each month (subject to changes in the interest rate). Trackers etc aren’t really for me, but NatWest certainly have the range of products to suit whatever your taste is. (At the time of writing I think the only type they don’t offer is the combined current account & mortgage, but no doubt they will in the future if these become more popular.) Now that we’re already their mortgage customers, there are no special criteria to meet and though I keep a lookout at what other companies are offering, I’ve rarely seen anything that makes me think I should leave NatWest. I’ve now updated my mortgage twice with them and it’s an easy process over the phone, then they send out the forms for you to sign and send back within 30 days. (Some people like to change mortgage provider every 2 years to get teh very best deal available, but usually I've found that the hidden costs that go with these stop them from actually being the very best deal.)
From an administration point of view I’ve never had any problems with NatWest. One thing that particularly impressed me was that when on one occasion (this has happened once in over four years) there was an error and the mortgage payment was taken out of my account a day early. The only reason I even knew about this was because they sent a letter apologising for it and stating that they would immediately refund any bank charges this might have brought about.
On one occasion our landlords tried to extort money from us illegally (they were trying to get money for external works that hadn’t even been contracted yet, we as tenants to them we’d pay when they were actually completed… we only own our place as Leasehold so unfortunately the block of flats as a whole still has a landlord). Their extremely nauseating area manager made threatening noises about “we know how to get money from your mortgage provider”, which didn’t sound likely, but we wanted to check things out so we rang NatWest. They just laughed and told us that while the landlord could indeed apply to them for money, there was no way they would get any without our written authorisation. They told us to keep them informed of any altercations with the landlords and they’d sort out any problems that arose from it as far as the mortgage goes. I’m sure this is the case with any mortgage provider but it was just another example of the high quality customer service that we have always been provided with.
I can only comment on NatWest from a UK standpoint because I don’t know whether they have branches in other countries. Based on my personal experience, I would recommend them to anyone. The rates they offer are very good – no longer are you bound to get a worse deal with a bank than a building society. The service is excellent and they have proved very reliable in all matters. Admittedly I don’t have much of a reference point for comparison but I’m giving NatWest Mortgages 5 stars.
Please note - I have rated the website according to my impression of it while browsing, but I didn't actually get my mortgage through the website so I can't comment on that particular feature of the site.)
(Thanks to mrisch for adding this to the Epinions database for me.)
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UPDATE (part of the Update 2008 Project)
When I moved house, I wrote to several companies with my new address details. Most ignored me. Natwest not only wrote back thanking me for informing them but also politely pointed out that they needed updated information from both parties on the mortgage agreement (my wife and myself), enclosed the form for us to do so, and enclosed a postage-page addressed envelope. Now that's good service (especially compared to so many other companies).
Recommended:
Yes
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