Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 11:52:15 GMT
From: "The Blue Max" 
Newsgroups: uk.finance
Subject: Re: Buying a house right now. How safe?


"Tim"  wrote

> Isn't it interesting how, if people had continued to pay the monthly
amount
> which was required in the "8% interest" scenario, even though interest
rates
> had fallen to less than 6% (ie had they begun to overpay, but only up to
the
> amount that they were expecting to pay each month at the outset) - then
they
> would have paid off the mortgage *quicker* than intended, had *no*
shortfall
> and been *better off* !!
>
> But no - people allowed falling interest rates to let them pay less on
their
> mortgages, and *spent* the savings instead - and then later cry
> "complaint!".

Absolutely.

The only people with real grounds for complaint are those who were sold a
repayment mortgage. They lost out on the free option retrospectively
embedded in an endowment - i.e. get a return of either UK interest rates, or
with-profits fund growth, whichever is the higher. Nice one.