Welcome to. OneFamily

Transcription

1

2 OneFamily Lifetime Mortgages 1 Welcome to OneFamily Welcome to our OneFamily Lifetime Mortgages. This brochure acts as an easyto-digest introduction to lifetime mortgages and provides you with a summary of the information you need to consider. At this point, it is important to say that before you enter into a lifetime mortgage you should seek financial advice and discuss your plans with anyone affected by your decision. You should also ensure that you read this brochure and all the other information provided by your financial adviser to get answers to any questions you may have. We ve divided this document into three sections to help you quickly access the information you need. If you have any additional questions, please discuss with your financial adviser. Alternatively get in touch, we d be happy to help. Section 1 Introduction Welcome to OneFamily 1 What are lifetime mortgages? 6 Why would I need a lifetime mortgage? 8 Section 2 Process Am I eligible? 13 What costs are involved? 15 What is the process? 16 Section 3 Products Our products 20 Additional product features 22 Member of the Equity Release Council 24 How to make a complaint 24

3 OneFamily Lifetime Mortgages 3 OneFamily OneFamily is a very modern type of mutual, created following the merger of two awardwinning companies; Family Investments and Engage Mutual. Together, we re now one of the largest mutuals, serving around 1 in 12 families. Importantly, as a mutual, we re a member owned business and that means instead of paying shareholders a dividend, we invest more in the things that really matter most to our customers. So what does matter to our customers? We recognise that your family is probably the most important thing to you. Our role is to respect that and consider what financial products are relevant to today s families. That s why we re pleased to offer a range of lifetime mortgages that have features built in to help you and your family. This is a lifetime mortgage. To understand the features and risks, ask for a personalised illustration.

4 Section 1

5 6 Section 1 What are lifetime mortgages? In its very simple form, lifetime mortgages allow you to release some of the equity in your property, without the need to move. You will always retain ownership of your home, and your home will never be repossessed. Available to homeowners aged 55 or over, they work slightly differently to traditional mortgages. How much you can borrow depends on how old you are and the value of your property, rather than the amount you can afford to pay each month. With our Lifetime Mortgages, you can borrow a one-off lump sum and then you can choose whether or not you want to make monthly interest payments, whether you want a more flexible arrangement of one-off voluntary payments or whether you want to make no interest payments. You can even choose for your family to make the monthly interest payments if you want. Either way, the mortgage and any accumulated interest along with any charges, will be repaid when you die or move into long-term care using the cash generated from the sale of your home. Finally, with a lifetime mortgage you will always retain ownership of your home, and your home will never be repossessed (as long as you abide by the terms and conditions of the loan).

6 8 Section 1 Why would I need a lifetime mortgage? People take out a lifetime mortgage for a wide range of reasons. Our role at OneFamily is to consider these needs and to make sure that our products have features that could help you and your family. 1 Achieving financial security An increasing amount of people are using a lifetime mortgage to clear their existing interest-only mortgage which has come to the end of the term. Others are using the money to top up their pension and secure a better quality of living. 2 Home improvements For some people, it allows them to upgrade their existing home or to undertake essential repairs. For others, it may allow them to raise money to purchase a more expensive property. This may sound unusual as there s a perception that you should downsize when you retire, but for some this isn t possible and often, moving closer to your family means that you may have to pay more for your new home. 3 Helping out loved ones Finally, we recognise that many people use a lifetime mortgage to help their family. Perhaps it will help children to move home, buy their first property, pay school fees or just help them through an expensive time of their life. Before progressing with a lifetime mortgage it is important to understand the risks. Whilst there are many more reasons why people use a lifetime mortgage, it is important to state that there are some risks that you may face. For example, a lifetime mortgage may affect your right to state benefits and other benefits and concessions. Also, your estate will be reduced due to the lifetime mortgage, plus there could be risks associated with an increase in interest rates. Your financial adviser will be able to explain more.

7 Section 2

8 12 OneFamily Lifetime Mortgages 13 Am I eligible? To qualify for a lifetime mortgage from OneFamily, there are several key requirements: You must be aged 55 or over at the time of completion of the mortgage. You must be a home owner in England, Wales or Scotland and the property must be your main residence. You must be a UK resident You can apply as a single applicant or joint applicant if there are two of you, but you both must have full title to the property. If there is a mortgage outstanding on your property then this must be repaid before or at the start of the OneFamily Lifetime Mortgage. The mortgage provided by OneFamily can be used to clear this debt.

9 OneFamily Lifetime Mortgages 15 What costs are involved? When taking out a lifetime mortgage from OneFamily, there are some charges that you will need to pay. Valuation fee This is payable at the time you submit your application and will cover the cost of an independent valuation on your property. Completion fee This covers the administration costs involved with setting up your lifetime mortgage, and includes the legal fees that OneFamily will incur. It s only payable on completion of the mortgage, so if you don t proceed with the mortgage then this won t be charged. Your solicitor s fee Your solicitor will charge you a fee for providing you with independent legal advice. You ll be responsible for agreeing these fees. Your financial adviser s fee You may be charged a fee by your financial adviser. They will declare this cost when they first meet with you. Other fees There are also some other fees that you may incur. These include an early repayment fee (ERC) if you repay the loan earlier than expected. This ERC is explained fully in the Key Facts Illustration and Offer Letter that your adviser will provide you with. All other charges are outlined in our Tariff of Charges. Again this will be provided to you if you proceed with an application.

10 16 Section 2 OneFamily Lifetime Mortgages 17 What is the process? Before you proceed, it s important that you discuss this with your family and consider all of the options that you have. A lifetime mortgage is a long-term commitment. There may be other suitable alternatives such as moving home, applying for a government grant or other state benefits, or more short-term loan arrangements. You must also ensure that you are happy with how the lifetime mortgage works and the terms and conditions associated with it. You need to understand how it may impact your rights to state benefits. Finally, it will also impact any inheritance that you leave to your beneficiaries. You need to discuss your situation with a suitably qualified financial adviser as they ll be able to listen to your needs and research your options amongst a wide range of mortgage providers. It may be that a OneFamily Lifetime Mortgage isn t right for you. Only your financial adviser will be able to tell you this Having researched the market, your financial adviser will recommend the most appropriate solution and will summarise all the important details that you need to know, including the costs that are involved. If you re happy to proceed then you ll need to complete an application form. Your financial adviser will help with this. At this point you ll also need to pay for the valuation fee. Once we receive the application form and the valuation fee, we ll appoint an independent valuer who will contact you to arrange a convenient time to visit your home and conduct the valuation. You ll also need to appoint your own solicitor. They will be responsible for making sure that you understand fully the implications of taking out a lifetime mortgage. If you don t have a solicitor then you can contact the National Solicitors Network whose members can provide you with independent legal advice on lifetime mortgages. The Network can be contacted on or you can text your postcode to to receive information about solicitors who are local to you on their panel. Alternatively you can choose to use the services of a member of the Equity Release Solicitors Alliance (ERSA) Whichever solicitor you appoint, they ll ensure that you understand the terms and conditions of the mortgage and will provide impartial advice. Once we ve carried out the valuation on your property, and considered your application, assuming everything is acceptable, we ll send you an Offer Letter. This will confirm the amount that we will lend to you, and if applicable, the amount of interest that you can afford to pay each month. We ll also send a copy to your solicitor and financial adviser. Once your solicitor receives the information from us, they ll contact you to discuss the Offer. Our solicitors will also carry out the necessary checks on your property and will liaise with your solicitor for the required information. Once all the legal checks have been made, your solicitor will ask you to sign a Mortgage Deed and a Certificate, confirming that you re happy that you understand the features of the mortgage and any implications. Finally, once all this has been completed, we ll release the cash to your solicitor who will arrange for the funds to be released to you. After that we ll send you a Welcome Letter and if you ve chosen to make regular interest monthly payments then these will start.

11 Section 3

12 20 Section 3 OneFamily Lifetime Mortgages 21 Our products As mentioned earlier, all our Lifetime Mortgages provide you with a one-off lump sum that s yours to do whatever you like with. You ll find some more information on the next page which your financial adviser will be able to explain in more detail. Lump Sum Interest Roll-up options With these products you don t need to make any payments through the life of the mortgage. Instead, the interest and any charges, are added to the loan each month. The minimum amount that you can borrow is 10,000, however the maximum amount will depend on your age, house value and whether you re borrowing as a single or joint applicant. You may also be able to choose to borrow a greater amount, however this may impact the interest rate that you will be charged. Finally, the mortgage will normally be repaid when your home is sold, usually following your death or when you move into long-term care (or in the case of joint borrowers, when the surviving partner dies or moves into long-term care). The amount that will be repaid will consist of the original loan amount, plus any accrued interest or charges. Any remaining equity in your property will belong to you or your estate. Lump Sum Voluntary Payment options Our Voluntary Payment options are similar to the Interest Roll-up options, in that you don t have to make any interest payments throughout the life of the loan. However, with these options you can, if you wish, repay 10% of the initial loan amount each year, free of any early repayment charge. This can either be as a one-off payment, or you can choose to make several smaller payments throughout the year. All other features of these products are the same as the Interest Roll-up options. Lump Sum Interest Payment options Unlike the Interest Roll-up Lifetime Mortgage, the Interest Payment options allow you the ability to pay some, or all, of the interest each month for a period of your choice. The minimum amount of interest that you can pay is 25 and the maximum is the whole of the interest. These products will be subject to affordability checks, and we ll be looking for evidence that you can afford to make the monthly payments. If for some reason, you decide you no longer want to make the monthly payments, then we will not repossess the property. Instead we ll work with you to find the best solution and offer you the ability to switch to one of our other products. Please talk to your financial adviser who ll be able to help you understand this further. Again, all the other features of these products are the same as the Interest Roll-up options.

13 22 Section 3 OneFamily Lifetime Mortgages 23 Additional product features The following features are available on all our products: Choice of fixed or variable interest rate If you select a fixed interest rate, then it will be fixed for the duration of the mortgage and won t change in line with any market changes. Retain ownership With any of our Lifetime Mortgages, as long as you abide by the terms and conditions of the mortgage, you will always retain ownership of your property. If you select a variable rate, then these will be fixed each year and will be based on the consumer price index (CPI). Each year we ll contact you to inform you how the interest rate will change and if appropriate, the impact of any monthly interest payments that you have chosen to make. Your home will not be repossessed As long as you abide by the terms and conditions of the mortgage, we will not repossess your property throughout the life of the mortgage. Downsizing protection At some point in the future, you may decide that you want to sell your property and move to a smaller home. If you decide to do this after five years of having the mortgage with us, then you ll be able to repay the mortgage, free of any early repayment charge. Regulated Lifetime Mortgages and OneFamily are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. No negative equity guarantee We guarantee that when your property is sold for the best price reasonably obtainable, if the proceeds after solicitor and estate agents fees are not enough to pay the amount owed to us, we won t ask you or your beneficiaries to pay the shortfall. Guaranteed portability Whilst we offer the downsizing protection feature, you may decide to move home and keep the mortgage with us. With OneFamily, we guarantee that if you move to a new property that is acceptable to us, you can move the mortgage and retain the same terms and conditions. If you move to a property that is lower in value, then it may mean that you have to repay part of the mortgage. This is described in more detail in the Key Facts Illustration that you ll receive.

14 24 Section 3 Member of the Equity Release Council OneFamily is a member of the Equity Release Council, which means that we adhere to a strict code of conduct. To find out more, please visit their website at How to make a complaint Here at OneFamily, we are serious about resolving any complaints that you have. If you want to make a complaint then please contact us by: [email protected] Telephone Post OneFamily Lifetime Mortgages 64 Victoria Street, Floor 9, London, SW1E 6QP What we ll do If we receive a complaint, our complaints department will confirm that they have received it within 5 working days. We will then investigate the complaint and try and deal with it within 4 weeks. However, if after 8 weeks we haven t been able to resolve your complaint or we haven t sent you our final response, then you can write to the Financial Ombudsman. The Financial Ombudsman can be contacted at: Post Financial Ombudsman Service Exchange Tower London. E14 9SR Telephone [email protected] If your complaint is about your financial advice, please contact your financial adviser. OneFamily Lifetime Mortgages Limited, registered number , is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) registered number OneFamily Lifetime Mortgages Limited is a subsidiary of Family Assurance Friendly Society Limited (FAFSL). FAFSL and all its subsidiaries are registered in England & Wales with registered offices at West Street, Brighton BN1 2RL, United Kingdom.

15 COGULM To find out more about OneFamily Lifetime Mortgages, or our other financial products, please visit