mulben

seems you have a good case for the banking ombudsman
Trade Practices Act

Unasked for credit cards

Section 63A of the Act prohibits a corporation from sending a credit or debit card to a person unless that person has requested the card in writing or the card is no more than a renewal or replacement of an earlier card.

Unasked for goods and services

Section 64 of the Act prohibits a corporation in trade or commerce from demanding or asserting a right to payment for unsolicited goods or services, unless the corporation has reasonable cause to believe that there is a right to payment.

Wendy

The mortgage I had with them never got reduced when the interest rate went down - I had it for 5 years. The interest rate I paid every month went down, but the payment stayed the same - which meant I would have paid the loan off quicker and saved money.

On one occasion I wanted the reduction in payments, so had to ring them and ask for it. You should check your terms and conditions of your loan, as I think you were probably lucky to get the automatic reduction previously as I don't think that is standard practise for them.

I also got a product summary thingy (terms and conditions) sent to me once a year. Any changes they had made were then covered for

By paying over the odds on our mortgage (with just the reductions in interest rates being paid off the mortgage by leaving the loan payments alone) was going to reduce our loan term from 30 years to 16 years...a massive saving of 14 years of payments. We did pay fornightly as well though, so that was an extra months payment a year too

From the way you are coming across in your posts it seems you think that the interest you pay hasn't been reduced, when this is not the case. The payment hasn't been reduced, but the interest has - you are just paying more towards paying off the debt that you were before each month. (maybe I'm reading your posts wrong?)

It's irrelevant to me now though as I left him and he re-mortgaged to pay me my half of the equity. I now rent so pay someone elses mortgage
Yes, that is wrong of them if that's the case.

I was on an offset mortgage, and part of the package was a credit card (which we never used and destroyed). The product had an annual fee which was waived for the first year - are you sure that's not what's happened?

From their site: http://www.commbank.com.au/personal/...s/compare.aspx

To be eligible for Wealth Package, you must have an initial 'total home lending balance' of at least $150,000 and pay an annual package fee of $350, debited to any Commonwealth Bank transaction account or Commonwealth Bank Credit Card. Wealth Package terms and conditions available on application.

1. Ongoing annual fee waiver is available on one eligible Commonwealth Bank credit card account only while you remain eligible for Wealth Package. Concession applies to Platinum Awards, Gold Awards, Awards, Low Rate, Low Fee Gold, Business Awards, Business Gold Awards and Business Platinum Awards credit cards.

2. One year waiver applies to the annual fee in the first year if you apply for the card at the same time as your home loan. Excludes business liability credit cards, corporate cards and personal liability Business credit cards without Awards.


I hope you manage to get it all sorted out.

sonlymewalter

They changed the rules and haven't denied it. They used to automatically reduce my payments when IR's were low and increase if high. Now they tell me when it's increased (so i can put more into the account where it's paid from to cover payment) however they admitted they stopped reducing the payment as the rules have changed. They decided to stop reducing payments "unless a customer rings them" whereas before this happened automatically. They haven't disputed they made the rule change without advising first - and that's my issue. As a customer I agreed to one thing and the bank did something else. They shouldn't be allowed to change the rules without me agreeing first - but apparently they think they can


It's not much better at all. It's only better if you stay for the life of the loan and it's only much better if this suits your circumtances and it's only much better if you (as a customer) have agreed to it

Hallelulya....... Thank you. Finally someone who get's it

Banks play on the long term logic of it all and sell this as an advantage as initially their explanation looks credible The issue is smoke screened by the fact there are many variables which make it not as black and white as it first seems - customers buy into it thinking "ahh well...I guess I gain benefits overall cos it reduces the prime mortgage payments and knocks years off at the end"....when in fact pending certain variables overpayment can be a disadvantage to certain customers who's circumstances change.

Banks are far smarter than that. They tell you "ohh if you pay more off your loan you knock X amount of years off your mortgage" which sounds credible and can be true but not in all circumstances. They aren't in it to reduce the term of your loan or let you pay less overall, they do it to get as much money from you today, which is worth a fraction of its worth in years to come. They also know most people *submit* well before the end of the term of the loan cos the chances of staying the long term are not high (most people move house & banks and therefore they payout the loan which means their few years of overpayment is not as valuable as they first thought as they do not benefit anywhere near as much for finishing the loan early). This means the amount you gain by submitting your loan early is negligable if you don't intend to stay the life of the loan. Which means it's not of benefit to all customers

Overpayment can be of benefit....but not always. It depends on the value to each customer of the overpayment Vs the less interest they pay over the term of the loan as a result of this overpayment. It might be better for a customer to not overpay (and reduce) their loan but instead pay less today and catch up years later when their circumstances improve. There are so many things to take into consideration to decide the pro's and con's.

Anyway my point is not how it works as I understand how my mortgage works and how this fits with my long term plans. My point is i was not told of the changes (the bank must have made the change for my good) and my point is that i thought there might be more of you in the same boat who might benefit from this awareness. There might be some who might not benefit..but then that's your choice based on your circumstances

Anyway....you got it mate

sonlymewalter

Thanks mate. This is why I think they will come back and waiver the fee cos she sure didn't sound convincing on the phone that what they did was OK

sonlymewalter

Mine did, then all of a sudden it stopped which is my point

So given you submitted your loan earlier (due to splitting up with your OH..sorry about that too mate) did you work out if you benefitted from increasing the loan repayment short term Vs what you had to pay back when you paid out your loan before the end of the term? Would you have benefitted more from paying less initially?

You are reading my posts wrong or I am not writing them clearly This is not what I think...see the last posts for clarification mate

yeh...sorry about that hon

Thanks mate

sonlymewalter

Just to put this thread to bed....

Got an email from the bank. Fee waivered and from now on it will be decreased / increased with rate changes, unless I change this agreement with them. Result

Just goes to show if you can be arsed and you're a good customer they'd rather be sensible then lose yer custom

noice

Tr1boy

Good work mate