sammyh

iTrader: (1)

I am coming to the end of my tie in period with my current mortgage provider and I am thinking of going for the Virgin one account.

Anyone tried this account? is it any good? or are there better alternatives?

Cheers
Sam

globbits

Hullo

Yup - I'm with Virgin and can thoroughly recommend it. The process of changing over is really quite painless and very quick. Service afterwards is good.

The only area where the system is a bit of a downer is this whole principle of pots - you know - where you can pretend your money's in different places. The web service has now been updated, so you can set up pots online, but it doesn't appear on your statements or anything like that.

So, if you keep track of your pennies anyway, the Virgin system's fine. If you're planning on using it to manage your money for you, it's not quite so great. In either case though, it's far better than either Woolwich or IF. I'm very pleased with it.

Richard

Huge

I've got a mortgage & savings 'pots' with IF. Remortgage process was easy & cost free!

Looked at similar with Virgin but worked out more expensive.

Make sure that you know what you're likely to want out of the package first before choosing. Not all packages are as good as each other, especially if you want to use one to run your current account too.

Hugh

Dave P

also looking at doing a similar thing with SMART at First direct.

dnb

I have a Virgin account as well - saving us a fortune in interest and allowed me to buy a Scoob with cash

The down side is that you always feel guilty when spending money, as the statement comes back showing a HUGE -ve number!!

Watch out for their interest rate - it is a graduated scale which goes down when you own more % equity in the house (to 50% equity), so try to get the house revalued with a high value!!

I started this mortgage with Virgin, so I don't know what they are like for transfers. They were very good during the setting up, and their telephone service is very good. The internet bit is not the best though, and can be flaky on some ISPs. (although this should be being sorted)

Good luck

MarkO

Virgin are basically Bank of Scotland. I've been with them for 5 years, and they've been very good - extremely flexible, and very helpful.

ronny555

looked at the Virgin One account but decided to go with First Direct Smart account - mainly due lower interest rate.

First Direct will only lend to a maximum of 80% to value.

Had my Smart mortgage for 6 months - been great, saving s**t loads of cash.

Goldfinger

Sam - I've got a Woolwich Open Plan mortgage, very similar in principle to the Virgin One a/c ... not sure what the current deal is but all I had to pay to switch from my staff mortgage (I work for a high street bank) was £25 telegraphic transfer of funds, it took c. 8 weeks end-to-end.

I'm very happy with it, is very flexible and would thoroughly recommend it IMHO

Cheers
Phil

sammyh

iTrader: (1)

Thanks all, I will take a look at the woolwhich as well

JV

I'm looking around for the same sort of thing. I found www.moneyextra.com very useful. You can compare a claimed 6500 different mortgages.

Gordo

I have one and can thoroughly recommend it - excellent customer service, clear and understanadable monthly data (which you can access any time on line. So good I have stayed with them even though I now have a separate mortgage (wanted the comfort of a fixed rate on the new house).

Didn't understand the interest point - surely you want the rate as low as possible?

Gordo

Chris L

I used to be with First Direct - and they were very good - best bank I've been with. I only moved because at the time, they didn't do the flexible mortgage. I went to Virgin and they have also been very good.

The only problem I have is it too easy to spend money (I blame Sal personally)! So you do need to be quite disciplined in how you run your account.

For anyone also considering this type of mortgage, do also bear in mind this story on moneyextra.com

Chris