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Half of mortgage holders don’t know their rate, finds survey

Cherry Reynard
Written By:
Cherry Reynard
Posted:
Updated:
02/09/2014

As the Bank of England moves closer to raising rates, almost half of UK mortgage holders are unaware of their current mortgage rate, according to new research by Keep Me Posted.

Furthermore, over a third (38%) are surprised to learn that if the base rate rises by just 1%, it could add £91 to the average UK variable mortgage payment. With this in mind, a third of UK mortgage holders (31%) believe they would either have to make significant sacrifices (20%) or think they would get into financial difficulty (11%) in the event of a mortgage rate rise of just 1%.

Two thirds of UK mortgage holders (67%) would prefer to be notified of a change to their mortgage rate via a printed letter – rising to three quarters (77%) of older borrowers. They believe that a printed letter is most likely to prompt them into taking action and shopping around for a better mortgage deal. This compares to just 22% who would like an e-mail and 5% who would like a text.

Judith Donovan CBE, Chair of the Keep Me Posted campaign, said: “There’s no doubt that at present, a large number of people stand to be affected significantly if the base rate rises, meaning many may be left struggling to afford their monthly mortgage payments. What was particularly shocking to us was the number of people that currently aren’t aware of their mortgage rate. It is also clear from our research that homeowners are more likely to react to any changes if notified via a posted letter. Companies should be aware that digital channels may not be suitable for all their customers and should be careful not to take a one size fits all approach.”