The majority of lenders will allow borrowers to make ‘over-payments’ on their mortgages. If you do decide on overpaying your mortgage, you do have the chance to clear your mortgage debt quicker which can save money on interest payments. Affording to overpay on your mortgage will mean you save thousands of pounds which in turn clears your mortgage quicker and save on the overall interest paid.

It’s a very well-known fact that if homeowners overpay even by relatively small amounts this can make a big difference to the number of interests paid back over the term. In short, the sooner you start overpaying, the better, as the additional payments over a long period of time have a greater effect.

Some homeowners find they are unable to make extra payments. Usually, this is because of the obstacles that may occur in a homeowner’s life that can affect their finances. Overpaying can be a good thing to do, however, it’s likely that you would rather spend that additional cash on more exciting things.

Put the plan into action

It’s all about remembering to make those additional payments. This option is not one that will pop into your mind on a daily basis, except perhaps when your mortgage only has a few years left to run.

If this seems like an option you want to pursue and would want to make those extra payments to maybe be able to retire a year or two early, you might be wondering how to go about it.

Firstly. you need to see whether your lender will agree to overpayments, without any penalties or associated costs. Many will allow this, however, it’s good to check first.

As a Mortgage Broker in Derby, we do strongly recommend that you create a standing order payable to your lender each month. This can be set up so the standing order can go out the same day as your regular mortgage payments. For example, your mortgage might be £500pm and is collected on the 1st of the month. You found you are able to pay an extra £75pm, so you decide to set up a standing order for £75pm to gout of your bank on the 1st along with your standard mortgage payment.

By setting up both payments to go out on the same can allow you to get into the routine of thinking your mortgage is £575pm instead of two separate payments.

You’re still in control

One advantage of setting up a standing order to a direct debit is that the payer (in this case, you) has full control, unlike a direct debit where this is the receiver. If you find yourself a little tight with money one month, you can simply log in to your online banking and pause the standing order so that it would cancel any future payments from going out until reactivated.

At the point of stopping the payments, it’s good to keep in mind the fact you have benefitted from the additional payments up until that point. As mentioned, this does not mean you cannot reactive your standing order in the future when you are more financially stable.

Depending on the mortgage, you may be able to make reduced payments or take a payment holiday if you have been overpaying for a while. If you do decide to take a payment break it’s important that you check with your lender to see if you are eligible to do this to avoid a bad mark on your credit report.

Regardless of whether you are a First Time Buyer in Derby or looking to Remortgage in Derby, overpaying your mortgage is a good habit to get into. It will result in reducing the amount of actual debt you owe each month. One of the benefits is that you don’t need to overstretch yourself, just make adorable extra payments each month that could result in reducing a year or two off your mortgage in the future.

Date Last Edited: December 6, 2023