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Four in 10 Brits slip onto their lender’s standard variable rate

Christina Hoghton
Written By:
Christina Hoghton
Posted:
Updated:
18/12/2018

By failing to remortgage at the end of a deal they could be paying over the odds

A worryingly high percentage of borrowers – 38% – admit to having been on their lender’s costly Standard Variable Rate in the past, according to mortgage switching platform Dashly.

This is despite the fact that it could cost them more each month.

A surprising 17% said they have been on their lender’s SVR for up to 12 months, while 21% said they have been on their lender’s SVR for 12 months or more.

Eight out of 10 Brits believe their mortgage providers “quietly hope” they will slip onto their Standard Variable Rate (SVR) at the end of their fixed rate period.

What price loyalty?

Nearly half of those polled (47%) said they don’t think their current mortgage lender would care if they moved to another firm.

Ross Boyd, founder of Dashly, said: “That the vast majority of borrowers believe their mortgage providers quietly hope they’ll slip onto their SVR should be a serious wake-up call to UK lenders. It suggests the relationship they have with borrowers is transactional at best and dysfunctional at worst. What’s crystal clear is that very few people believe lenders have their best interests at heart but are in it purely for themselves.

“More worrying still, borrower apathy or a simple lack of awareness has seen nearly four in 10 people spend time on their lender’s much more expensive Standard Variable Rate at the end of their fixed rate period. Each month this happens people will be spending potentially hundreds of pounds or more unnecessarily.”