Hi
Hope someone can help. I am coming to the end of a two year fixed rate in August.[3.39%] I'd like to stick with my current lender if poss,as I'm self employed and my earnings have dropped quite a lot since I took it out, so I thought it might be easier to stay with them. Can anyone advise me on what is the best way of approaching them to get a new good deal..and how much time in advance? Should I start now?
Thanks

I would start now sorted, I recently had a letter from my lender saying my current deal would end in some month's time but I needn't wait until then to go and talk to them about what they could offer me.

Might be an idea to have a look around at some of the deals you might get if you were to switch, then when you go to see them they will know that you've been looking around and are more likely to offer you something competitive to keep your custom.

I know my first lender didn't bother even trying to offer me incentive to stay with them, but the ones I'm with now said they were very surprised at that when I joined them, and that they tried to keep people with them.

Good luck, I'm sure you'll be okay, and if you do end up switching it's really no hassle whatsoever. All my new lenders did at the time was send a surveyor round to check the valuation (which might not be applicable now as at that time I had little or no equity as house prices had been stagnant for a couple of years after I bought it), and I didn't have to pay anything.

Thanks QS, I think I'll start now. Cheers.

See what your current lenders will offer. Read the best buy tables to see how that compares. Pay attention to the arrangement fees - there's a huge variation in the rates - and that's pretty much all there is to it. We stayed with our lender and didn't even need a survey.

I have the same advice as the others. Do some research on what you could get elsewhere, and then speak to your current lender (direct - not through a broker)

About 3 years ago my 2% discount came to an end. I rang them up to ask what they could do about it and they offered to carry on the discount rate just like that - no new redemptions or anything. All I had to do was write in to them and put it in writing.

I ended up selling the place about 6 months later and sure enough there were no redemption penalties or anything.

Also bear in mind it usually costs a lot to remortgage so the rate has to be worth it on a new mortgage to be worth the hassle.

I didn't have to pay any arrangement fees when I switched at all, it cost me nothing to switch lenders.