Mortgage lenders and the Financial Conduct Authority have agreed a plan with the government.

To help people with residential mortgages (excluding Buy to Let), lenders like us, the Financial Conduct Authority and the government have agreed a set of new standards. These make sure the people affected by increasing mortgage repayment costs are treated fairly and get the extra support they need. 

It's called the Mortgage Charter. 

We'll be giving the support agreed by the Charter. And it doesn’t matter if the mortgage was taken out with a broker or not, we're giving support to all our mortgage customers.

How we can help

If your client is up to date with their payments

Swapping to an Interest Only mortgage

• Your clients who are up to date with current mortgage payments, can request a temporary switch to Interest Only for 6 months, without an affordability check or impacting their credit file
• At the end of the 6 months period, clients who have maintained their payments will be automatically converted back to capital repayment
• Requests for a repayment type change, outside of the temporary 6 months covered by the Charter, must follow the standard process
• You must have the consent of all parties before submitting the new online form.

Please note:

• You need to make your client aware of the implications and potential increased longer term cost of these changes
• The online form needs to be completed by you or your client
• As required under the Mortgage Charter, an Accord colleague will call the customer to outline the risks and provide a personalised costing, outlining the payments before completing the transaction
• A switch to Interest Only is made on an informed choice basis and we will process the request based on the information you've submitted
• You need to make your client aware that they will automatically be converted back to capital repayment at the end of 6 months, so they can plan for the increase in payments.

If your client would like to take this option, please complete the form below.

Extending the term of a mortgage

• Clients who are up to date with mortgage payments, can request to extend the term of their mortgage to help reduce monthly payments
• No affordability checks are required and there’s no impact to their credit file
• Requests for term extensions, now allowed under the Charter, should follow the current standard process using the Type Term Change application form
• Clients who have requested a term extension under the Charter can switch back to their original term within 6 months of their request. This will be completed without affordability checks
• Any requests to reduce the term outside of 6 months will be dealt with under the standard process and affordability checks will be undertaken
• You must have the consent of all parties before requesting a term extension.

If you'd like to arrange a term extension, please follow the existing process below.

If your client's coming to the end of their current deal

They can switch their mortgage deal

Any time in the 90 days before the end of your client's deal, they can choose a new product from our existing customer range. That new rate will begin when their current deal ends. 

What if the rates fall after they've switched their deal?

Your clients can request to switch to a new rate, on a like-for-like basis, up to 14 calendar days prior to their new deal starting. It’s important to note, only the rate can change. Everything else must remain the same.

Here’s an example:

• Current transfer product: 2 year Fixed at 75% LTV with £995 fee and Free valuation at 6.99%
• New like-for-like request: 2 year Fixed at 75% LTV with £995 fee and Free valuation at 6.49%

A new Switch Product Request Form must be completed by you or your client once a transfer product has been booked.

Please note:

• If a new product is chosen, we’ll cancel the existing product and issue new offer documents. If the original product transfer was submitted and accepted through the online product transfer portal, your client will not need to return the offer acceptance form in order to accept the revised offer.
• If the previous product transfer was not submitted via the online product transfer portal, the customer will need to return the offer acceptance form before the current product maturity date.
• We won't communicate any subsequent rate changes to your clients.
• You must have the consent of all parties before submitting a new form.