Owning your own home

@stevo_com Have you put together your fittingly wardrobe yet? What was the quality of the panels like? Was the laminate well adhered, not chipped anywhere, etc.? Did you get the paintable doors and if so, were they indeed easily paintable?

Look back through the DIY thread, a few photos in there. It was all good stuff. Higher quality than IKEA, paintable finish took F&B eggshell very well. There was one damaged spot but I don't know if it was them or me. If I had've spotted it before I put it together, I'm confident they would have replaced the panel no questions. They replaced one of the doors that hadn't been predrilled.

I highly rate them as a company. Their prices went up recently, but there's always a 15% off sale, and if you contact them on the day you're ready to order, you can usually get a bit more. I got 30% off during a 20% sale.

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Very tidy! Thanks for the review, much appreciated. I have lost track of what is on which home/diy/extension threads.

Could I have the name please?

I'll DM you mine too, she's wonderful.

Any recommendations for a broker/financial adviser to sort life insurance/critical illness cover so the mortgage gets paid if anything nasty happens, seems the popularity of Mike at Crystal clear means he's too busy.
Might try direct with the likes of Axa but it's easier if an expert does their thing.

Colin has been my go to for mortgages, remortgages, and life insurance. He is a broker/advisor but gets his 'fees' from the products he advises. I have been very happy with his work over the last 8 years.

https://thefinancehouse.co.uk/

I can't remember who has the crystal ball at the moment - currently got a remortgage agreed at 4.79%. Latest rate I can get is 4.34%, but I'd have to cancel the 4.79% deal and there's a couple of days in between where rates could change. Should I jump?

Why not just go direct to Aviva or someone like that. That is what I did, it is pretty straightforward (unless you have medical complications I suppose)

@souldoubt thanks will give them a call.
@eskay tricky as an issue with being discharged by NHS verbally ‘you are fine no further appointments or consultation needed’ but having no letter as proof, long story with a shite GP surgery with abysmal record keeping/communications.

If you need written documentation of your interactions with clinicians, contact the hospital (I presume) where you were seen in clinic, talk to their PALS team and make a "subject access request" for the relevant letter(s).

Not sure I understand the situation...

Couple of days in between what?

On the surface, if the 4.34% is available today, then it will be available on Friday unless something goes seriously awry.

Yeah, this is not really a macro crystal ball question, it's about the T&Cs of the new offer and how far you have to get through the process for them to "lock" the rate. I don't really understand why you would have to relinquish the old rate before locking the new one, but your broker could tell you.

I'm tied in to one bank - takes time to cancel the existing deal apparently.

On the surface, if the 4.34% is available today, then it will be available on Friday unless something goes seriously awry.

Thanks, will hold you to this.

Not sure I can handle such responsibility, this week tbh!

The ombudsman is pretty consumer-friendly so I think it's unlikely they'd leave you in a worse position than your current offer. Particularly if you have that statement from them in writing.

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Re life insurance I went direct with Aviva through top cashback and am set for £600 cashback after 6 months payments. Rinse and repeat every few years with different providers

Thanks for the detailed info, will pass that on to my partner.

I got 5.5% fixed for 5 years a few months back, and now I'm finally looking at exchange it seems high. Not much to be done now though.

To clarify, it seemed bloody high at the time. But also was the going rate. Things seem to have topped-out shortly after, and fell a bit.

How long til you exchange?

Maybe a week

Yeh that would be a bit tight!