A product transfer is the technical term for a remortgage with your current lender 

A remortgage moves you away from your current lender to a new lender, if the new lender can offer you a more cost-effective option. You take out a new mortgage with that new lender that will repay your current lender, closing down your old mortgage starting a new one. When your current mortgage deal comes to an end, your lender must offer you a new mortgage option at least 3 months before your current deal ends. Usually, lenders will write to you 6 months before your deal ends to detail what options they can offer you. 
 
A product transfer can sometimes be the most cost-effective option if you are changing your mortgage on a like for like basis – keeping your remaining balance and term the same. Like most businesses, it is cheaper to keep a customer than it is to find a new one, so lenders often offer preferential interest rates to existing customers for them to stay with the lender to keep you but also because it is less work for them to renew your mortgage. It is always best to check with your current lender first to see what they can offer you as an existing customer before shopping around for your new mortgage deal. 
 
Your current lender will also offer you an online valuation for your home, so you do not need to instruct a physical valuaiton which may come at a cost to you and may also slow down the process waiting for this to take place. As you wouldn’t be moving to a new lender, you do not need to amend the land registry to reflect your new lender so a product transfer would mean that you do not need to instruct a solicitor to work for you which will reduce your costs and also speed up the process. 

A cost effective option 

As well as being more cost effective in terms of interest rate and upfront costs such as valuation and legal fees. A product transfer can also save you time because you do not need a valuation or a solicitor, but you also do not need to submit a full application like you would for a remortgage. A product transfer is guaranteed providing you havent fallen into negative equity and you have maintained your mortgage payments with your current lender. On this basis you do not need to submit any documents to support an application and the case isnt underwritten so you do not need to wait for an underwriter to review your application. With this in mind, you can submit a product transfer request, and the new rate can take effect at a few days’ notice, where as a remortgage application with a new lender could take a few weeks to be approved, and the legal process of moving you from lender to lender can take a further few weeks. 
 
If your personal circumstances have changed since taking out the original mortgage, such as dropping to a part time job due to having a child, moving jobs to a lower paying job or your personal debts have increased you may not be able to move to another lender due to not meeting the lenders affordability assessment, so a product transfer will still offer you a new rate if your circumstances have changed. 
 
So, if your circumstances have changed and you no longer fit affordability or the criteria of the most cost-effective options, a product transfer with your current lender is always a plan B. If you do not intend to amend your terms i.e. borrow more money, stretch the term or you have little time before your current deal ends and moves onto the standard variable rate a simple product transfer could save you time and money. 
 
Moving onto the standard variable rate can drastically increase your interest rate which will increase your monthly payments with it. If you are getting close to that deadline, opting for the product transfer may say you a month or 2 on that expensive variable rate. This is another valid reason to investigate your remortgage early to give you time assess all options available rather than being forced into one option due to time constraints. 
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