Planet Rugby Forum

Mullet 2 wrote:The main driver for keeping our rates higher than the EU average is lack of competition.

And that isn't changing anytime soon given the regulations we now have in place.

danthefan wrote:KBC announced rate cuts today. Quite a significant one on their 5 year fixed, about half a percent.

MunsterMan!!!!! wrote:

anonymous_joe wrote:

MunsterMan!!!!! wrote:

Duff Paddy wrote:The new Setanta insurance loading comes in today - at a time when car insurance is creeping up to crazy levels again.

I won't claim to understand the insurance industry but how the fark can this keep happening? Its total bullshit. Is it because the government set a precedence and now have to back any others that fail. What is stopping people just setting up a company to fail, run with the cash and get baled out?

The fact that they'd likely go to prison and/or be bankrupted.

Institutional creditors who've been duped would hunt down a dodgy insurer to the ends of the earth.

That lad from the AA was doing a hit job on lawyers the other morning on Pat Kenny and had to admit that the insurance industry refusing to share information to new entrants might be an issue in Ireland.

Long story short is that the barriers to entry here are insane, and the insurance industry is quite content with that. Further to that, the Central Bank is 100% on their side. Prior to the Dáíl investigation into premia, the Central Bank had said it had nothing to do with the insurance industry itself. Meanwhile, whilst the Central Bank was praising them, the EU has started investigating their massive anti-competitive prices.

The real issue is that they can no longer make easy money from investing their capital in the property market and haven't come to terms with that yet. That fueled a massive price war between them all over a decade ago that was one of the many factors which led to Quinn collapsing.

Cheers AJ

I've always wondering why in the EU, why we, in Ireland, don't have access to more than a few underwriters.

camroc1 wrote:

Mullet 2 wrote:The main driver for keeping our rates higher than the EU average is lack of competition.

And that isn't changing anytime soon given the regulations we now have in place.

It's our legal system which stops banks foreclosing, forcing the banks to carry relatively high bad debts.

So far as interest rates are concerned, why do you want to fix ?

Do you want certainty of payment ?, that is you know you can afford that payment now and want to lock it in, rather than trying to make a few bob on interest rate movements?

If so, lock, and just ignore rate movements whilst you're fixed.

Duff Paddy wrote:

camroc1 wrote:

Mullet 2 wrote:The main driver for keeping our rates higher than the EU average is lack of competition.

And that isn't changing anytime soon given the regulations we now have in place.

It's our legal system which stops banks foreclosing, forcing the banks to carry relatively high bad debts.

So far as interest rates are concerned, why do you want to fix ?

Do you want certainty of payment ?, that is you know you can afford that payment now and want to lock it in, rather than trying to make a few bob on interest rate movements?

If so, lock, and just ignore rate movements whilst you're fixed.

That’s a lot of money to be paying for the luxury of knowing the repayment won’t change!

Duff Paddy wrote:It’s not that straight forward cammy. It’s the length of the fixed rate that I’m asking about. What factors do people think will prevail. It looks like there’ll be a short term interest rate war between the Irish banks. Add in the pressure from the lefties for Irish banks to fall into line with European banks. Longer term the base rate looks certain to rise. It’s a question of timing - I’ll split some of it off to variable of short term fixed to allow me to pay off lump sums if I have them.

camroc1 wrote:I don't know whether it's apocraphyl or not, but I've heard that there are only tree or four enormous factories in the far east that actually make TVs these days and they just suit and badge them as specced by the big consumer goods companies.

camroc1 wrote:

Duff Paddy wrote:It’s not that straight forward cammy. It’s the length of the fixed rate that I’m asking about. What factors do people think will prevail. It looks like there’ll be a short term interest rate war between the Irish banks. Add in the pressure from the lefties for Irish banks to fall into line with European banks. Longer term the base rate looks certain to rise. It’s a question of timing - I’ll split some of it off to variable of short term fixed to allow me to pay off lump sums if I have them.

If the UK fall out of the EU watch interest rates rise.

If Russia increases its 'war' in Ukraine, watch interest rates rise.

If Trump thrashes the US, watch interest rates rise.

If Trump ramps up to na world trade war, watch interest rates rise.

But then I'm an engineer, and make decisions based on the balance of probabilities, and not a spiv, who makes money out of interest rate changes.

alliswell wrote:Why can't I get decent couscous in tesco anymore? Seems all they have is gluten free sandy shite

Duff Paddy wrote:Lads can we talk about mortgage rates - thinking of fixing for five years, risky?

Leinsterman wrote:Anyone interested in a quick win investment?
Easy idea - buy a container and then fill it full of canned food and hide it across the pond. We'll make a fortune selling the contents next April.

camroc1 wrote:

alliswell wrote:Why can't I get decent couscous in tesco anymore? Seems all they have is gluten free sandy shite

Try Lidl or Aldi.

Macsimus wrote:

Duff Paddy wrote:Lads can we talk about mortgage rates - thinking of fixing for five years, risky?

If you switch to BOI you can get a 3% 5 year fixed and 3% of the mortgage amount in cashback. 2% up front and an extra 1% after 5 years so long as you have / open a current account with them. Pretty hard to beat. Works out better than UB's 2.6% 4 year fixed which is the next best imo. They're ripping off anyone who stays on their standard variable, but you can always fix or switch again in 5 years if that's still the case. Anyone staying on those kind of high SVR's only has themselves to blame.

ticketlessinseattle wrote:

Macsimus wrote:

Duff Paddy wrote:Lads can we talk about mortgage rates - thinking of fixing for five years, risky?

If you switch to BOI you can get a 3% 5 year fixed and 3% of the mortgage amount in cashback. 2% up front and an extra 1% after 5 years so long as you have / open a current account with them. Pretty hard to beat. Works out better than UB's 2.6% 4 year fixed which is the next best imo. They're ripping off anyone who stays on their standard variable, but you can always fix or switch again in 5 years if that's still the case. Anyone staying on those kind of high SVR's only has themselves to blame.

same deal by BOI on 10 year fixed for 3.3%...signed up for it. happy days..theyre really pushing fixed rates no brainer, rates are only going one way

camroc1 wrote:

Duff Paddy wrote:It’s not that straight forward cammy. It’s the length of the fixed rate that I’m asking about. What factors do people think will prevail. It looks like there’ll be a short term interest rate war between the Irish banks. Add in the pressure from the lefties for Irish banks to fall into line with European banks. Longer term the base rate looks certain to rise. It’s a question of timing - I’ll split some of it off to variable of short term fixed to allow me to pay off lump sums if I have them.

If the UK fall out of the EU watch interest rates rise.

If Russia increases its 'war' in Ukraine, watch interest rates rise.

If Trump thrashes the US, watch interest rates rise.

If Trump ramps up to na world trade war, watch interest rates rise.

But then I'm an engineer, and make decisions based on the balance of probabilities, and not a spiv, who makes money out of interest rate changes.

paddyor wrote:

camroc1 wrote:

Duff Paddy wrote:It’s not that straight forward cammy. It’s the length of the fixed rate that I’m asking about. What factors do people think will prevail. It looks like there’ll be a short term interest rate war between the Irish banks. Add in the pressure from the lefties for Irish banks to fall into line with European banks. Longer term the base rate looks certain to rise. It’s a question of timing - I’ll split some of it off to variable of short term fixed to allow me to pay off lump sums if I have them.

If the UK fall out of the EU watch interest rates rise.

If Russia increases its 'war' in Ukraine, watch interest rates rise.

If Trump thrashes the US, watch interest rates rise.

If Trump ramps up to na world trade war, watch interest rates rise.

But then I'm an engineer, and make decisions based on the balance of probabilities, and not a spiv, who makes money out of interest rate changes.

It's not at all clear to me that interest rates would rise in most of those scenarios.

If Trump trashes the US economy then increasing interest rates would increase the streght of the € which might not be the best bet.

IF the eurozone economy growth continues rates will rise.

ticketlessinseattle wrote:

Macsimus wrote:

Duff Paddy wrote:Lads can we talk about mortgage rates - thinking of fixing for five years, risky?

If you switch to BOI you can get a 3% 5 year fixed and 3% of the mortgage amount in cashback. 2% up front and an extra 1% after 5 years so long as you have / open a current account with them. Pretty hard to beat. Works out better than UB's 2.6% 4 year fixed which is the next best imo. They're ripping off anyone who stays on their standard variable, but you can always fix or switch again in 5 years if that's still the case. Anyone staying on those kind of high SVR's only has themselves to blame.

same deal by BOI on 10 year fixed for 3.3%...signed up for it. happy days..theyre really pushing fixed rates no brainer, rates are only going one way

Duff Paddy wrote:3.3% is a high rate - makes a difference of a 150-200euro odd a month on a decent sized mortgage versus Ulster bank 2.3% for 2 years then shop around to fix again would save you some cash.

danthefan wrote:

paddyor wrote: It's not at all clear to me that interest rates would rise in most of those scenarios.

If Trump trashes the US economy then increasing interest rates would increase the streght of the € which might not be the best bet.

IF the eurozone economy growth continues rates will rise.

It's not clear to anyone what'll happen, you'd need a crystal ball to know. My inclination would be to fix for a longer term anyway even though the rates are higher. 3.3% for 10 years mentioned above, would jump at that.

Duff Paddy wrote:3.3% is a high rate - makes a difference of a 150-200euro odd a month on a decent sized mortgage versus Ulster bank 2.3% for 2 years then shop around to fix again would save you some cash.

Duff Paddy wrote:3.3% is a high rate - makes a difference of a 150-200euro odd a month on a decent sized mortgage versus Ulster bank 2.3% for 2 years then shop around to fix again would save you some cash.

danthefan wrote:

Duff Paddy wrote:3.3% is a high rate - makes a difference of a 150-200euro odd a month on a decent sized mortgage versus Ulster bank 2.3% for 2 years then shop around to fix again would save you some cash.

What are you even asking for here? You seem to disagree with everyone who replies no matter what their answer is. You obviously know best.

Duff Paddy wrote:

danthefan wrote:

Duff Paddy wrote:3.3% is a high rate - makes a difference of a 150-200euro odd a month on a decent sized mortgage versus Ulster bank 2.3% for 2 years then shop around to fix again would save you some cash.

What are you even asking for here? You seem to disagree with everyone who replies no matter what their answer is. You obviously know best.

I’m talking out the options - I am interested to hear the counter arguments from people like Maximus who know what they’re talking about, and also interested to see what other posters have done. Now fudge off.

camroc1 wrote:

Duff Paddy wrote:

danthefan wrote:

Duff Paddy wrote:3.3% is a high rate - makes a difference of a 150-200euro odd a month on a decent sized mortgage versus Ulster bank 2.3% for 2 years then shop around to fix again would save you some cash.

What are you even asking for here? You seem to disagree with everyone who replies no matter what their answer is. You obviously know best.

I’m talking out the options - I am interested to hear the counter arguments from people like Maximus who know what they’re talking about, and also interested to see what other posters have done. Now fudge off.

Does Macsimus have a large mansion fronting onto Lake Geneva, and a villa in Villefranche ? (No offence Max). Because unless you actually make money out of your forecasts yo0ur opinion is like anyone elses.

What I would say is that banks rarely lose.

ticketlessinseattle wrote:

Duff Paddy wrote:3.3% is a high rate - makes a difference of a 150-200euro odd a month on a decent sized mortgage versus Ulster bank 2.3% for 2 years then shop around to fix again would save you some cash.

obviously I'm guessing that in 5 to 10 years time rates will be a lot higher than 3.3%

camroc1 wrote:

Duff Paddy wrote:

danthefan wrote:

Duff Paddy wrote:3.3% is a high rate - makes a difference of a 150-200euro odd a month on a decent sized mortgage versus Ulster bank 2.3% for 2 years then shop around to fix again would save you some cash.

What are you even asking for here? You seem to disagree with everyone who replies no matter what their answer is. You obviously know best.

I’m talking out the options - I am interested to hear the counter arguments from people like Maximus who know what they’re talking about, and also interested to see what other posters have done. Now fudge off.

Does Macsimus have a large mansion fronting onto Lake Geneva, and a villa in Villefranche ? (No offence Max). Because unless you actually make money out of your forecasts yo0ur opinion is like anyone elses.

What I would say is that banks rarely lose.

camroc1 wrote:

Duff Paddy wrote:

danthefan wrote:

Duff Paddy wrote:3.3% is a high rate - makes a difference of a 150-200euro odd a month on a decent sized mortgage versus Ulster bank 2.3% for 2 years then shop around to fix again would save you some cash.

What are you even asking for here? You seem to disagree with everyone who replies no matter what their answer is. You obviously know best.

I’m talking out the options - I am interested to hear the counter arguments from people like Maximus who know what they’re talking about, and also interested to see what other posters have done. Now fudge off.

Does Macsimus have a large mansion fronting onto Lake Geneva, and a villa in Villefranche ? (No offence Max). Because unless you actually make money out of your forecasts yo0ur opinion is like anyone elses.

What I would say is that banks rarely lose.

CM11 wrote:

camroc1 wrote:

Duff Paddy wrote:

danthefan wrote:

Duff Paddy wrote:3.3% is a high rate - makes a difference of a 150-200euro odd a month on a decent sized mortgage versus Ulster bank 2.3% for 2 years then shop around to fix again would save you some cash.

What are you even asking for here? You seem to disagree with everyone who replies no matter what their answer is. You obviously know best.

I’m talking out the options - I am interested to hear the counter arguments from people like Maximus who know what they’re talking about, and also interested to see what other posters have done. Now fudge off.

Does Macsimus have a large mansion fronting onto Lake Geneva, and a villa in Villefranche ? (No offence Max). Because unless you actually make money out of your forecasts yo0ur opinion is like anyone elses.

What I would say is that banks rarely lose.

I think this is an archaic viewpoint cam, especially in light of what we've specifically seen in Ireland over the last 10 years.

There are a hugh amount of people 'winning', I would have thought, on trackers at the moment, for example.

While the economy is more stable, I don't think you can use previous metrics to easily forecast future outcomes.

Duff Paddy wrote:

danthefan wrote:

Duff Paddy wrote:3.3% is a high rate - makes a difference of a 150-200euro odd a month on a decent sized mortgage versus Ulster bank 2.3% for 2 years then shop around to fix again would save you some cash.

What are you even asking for here? You seem to disagree with everyone who replies no matter what their answer is. You obviously know best.

I’m talking out the options - I am interested to hear the counter arguments from people like Maximus who know what they’re talking about, and also interested to see what other posters have done. Now fudge off.