Here, on the consumer pages of Irish Country Living, we frequently highlight the benefits of switching. New customers get great deals and loyalty is rarely valued, whether we are talking about gas and electricity or TV and phone packages.

Switching mortgages is a bit more complex, but the mindset of switching must be having an impact on consumers, as experts at MyMortgages.ie have reported a flurry of activity in the mortgage switcher market since the beginning of the year. This is on the back of a busy 2017 too.

In the first half of last year, 1,319 people switched or remortgaged. It is expected this number will grow to at least 1,500 in the first six months of this year, if not more.

Joey Sheahan, head of credit at MyMortgages.ie, says: “We have experienced a three-fold increase in the volume of enquiries received since 2 January 2018 from mortgage holders all over the country wondering if they might be eligible to switch lender and avail of cheaper rates.”

The media highlighting savings has been credited as one of the reasons behind this, as well as the fact that an increasing number of mortgage holders seem to now be aware of the fact that switching lenders to avail of a better rate might be a viable option for them.

“Changes in the way lenders operate have meant that many only charge a very small, if any, breakout fee from fixed-rate mortgages, so what was once a significant monetary hurdle to switching is now obsolete, in many cases.”

However, there are rumblings of changes to the legislation, with predictions that Fianna Fáil will ban bank incentives to switch, leading to a race to switch.

So how much can you really save?

Mary and John O’Keeffe have 28 years left in their mortgage. They have €390,000 outstanding, at a loan-to-value rate of <80%.

  • Option 1: Keep existing mortgage
  • At a rate of 4% on a variable rate, the couple are paying €1,931.
  • Option 2: Switch mortgages
  • By switching to a four-year fixed rate of 2.6%, they reduce their monthly payments by nearly €300, meaning they pay €1,635 a month.
  • Over the remaining term of their mortgage, that is a saving of €99,000.

    Time to do your homework on how much you can save. CL

    What’s in the meat in your sandwich?

    A slice of bread, a lick of Irish butter, a little cheese and then to fill up that sandwich with your meat du jour.

    A study undertaken by Ignite Research shows that one in three Irish people eat sandwiches once a day, with 24% opting for chicken as their filling. However, while many of us will put a huge focus on buying an Irish steak, how much emphasis do we put on the country of origin of prepacked meat? The research among 1,000 Irish consumers for Homebird found buying Irish is important to 71% of Irish consumers.

    In all, 50% of Irish consumers would not knowingly buy meat products that have travelled between 601 and 1,000 miles (for instance, from Germany), and almost 80% would not knowingly buy meat products that have travelled between 1,001 and 2,000 miles (for instance, from Ukraine).

    In regards to country of origin, a further 56% say meat should be both farmed and produced in Ireland to receive a “produced in Ireland” label. However, according to Safefood, a significant proportion of chicken is in fact imported from farms on mainland Europe and is only produced and packaged in Irish factories.

    There still continues to be a lot of confusion regarding country of origin and, digging down into the area of sandwich meat further, where is your deli meat coming from?

    Does your local deli highlight the country of origin of their meat? If so, let us know by emailing cleahy@farmersjournal.ie.

    Homebird published the research findings today as the brand marked its Food Miles campaign, an initiative designed to highlight food origin, the story of Homebird and the low food miles of the brand.

    Brittany Ferries announced recently that they are now setting sail to northern Spain.

    Brittany Ferries embrace the Spanish vibe

    The term “taking the horse” to France is getting a bit of a revamp, as Brittany Ferries announced recently that they are now setting sail to northern Spain.

    Starting in April, the route, departing from Cork, will land in Santander. You’re just over an hour’s drive to Bilbao and over two hours to the foodie destination of San Sebastian, the Spanish home of pintxos. And if you fancy a bit of a road trip, get yourself to Madrid in four hours. It also means you might be able to bring an extra bottle or two of cheap Spanish wine home with you.

    The ship, to be named Connemara, will carry around 500 passengers with space for 195 cars, and Brittany Ferries expects a 50-50 between passengers and freight carried. The new service from Brittany Ferries is expected to be on sale by the end of January.

    Read more:

    More to food labelling than meets the eye

    Take the confusion out of mortgage cover