Barclays is extending its ‘Switch & Fix’ feature to all existing Woolwich mortgage customers who have taken out tracker deals.
Switch & Fix allows all existing and new customers on a Woolwich tracker mortgage to switch to any current Woolwich fixed rate mortgage deal with no early repayment charge.
It is valued by customers who want to benefit from low tracker rates now but with the ability to switch to a fixed rate mortgage if they expect rates rise in future, offering the security of fixing their payments.
Switch & Fix was introduced for new tracker customers in July 2010 but now extends to all tracker customers. Customers are free to switch to any product in the prevailing range of fixed rates including, for qualifying current account customers, Barclays loyalty mortgages.
Andy Gray, head of mortgages for Barclays, said: "This is the right time to extend the Switch & Fix service to all our customers because it's still uncertain when and how quickly interest rates will go up.
“It underlines our strategy of offering value to our existing customers and making it easy and transparent for them to switch onto a fixed rate at the time they decide it is most appropriate for them.
“We know base rate is low now, so many people want to make the most of that with a tracker mortgage, but if rates go up at some point, that's when a fixed rate with set repayments will be valued.
"Since introducing Switch & Fix in the summer, we have seen a third more customers opt for trackers as this gives them a sense of security in a time of interest rate uncertainty."
