Changing the interest rate category

If you have a mortgage without a Dutch National Mortgage Guarantee (NHG), you often have to pay a risk surcharge on top of your mortgage interest rate. The more you borrow in relation to the value of the property, the higher the risk surcharge. We have various rate categories that we use to categorise mortgages. If your house goes up in value or if you make an extra repayment on your mortgage, your mortgage may come into a lower rate category. You’ll then pay a lower mortgage interest rate.

At the end of every month, we calculate the difference between your mortgage debt and the value of your home. This difference changes in line with your monthly mortgage repayments or any extra repayment you make, and we use it to decide whether your mortgage qualifies for a lower rate category, leading to a lower mortgage interest rate. We use the details you see on Internet Banking to calculate the difference between your mortgage debt and the value of your home. If your repayments mean that your mortgage qualifies for a lower rate category, we’ll change it for you as a service and you’ll pay a lower interest rate from the next month onwards.

If the value of your home goes up, you may be able to lower the interest rate category yourself. Go to Internet Banking and click ‘Mortgages’ followed by ‘Woning’ (only in Dutch) to check the value in our records. If the value of your home is now higher, enter the most recent property value and select ‘Tariefklasse aanpassen’ (only in Dutch) on Internet Banking.

You don’t pay a risk surcharge if your mortgage is in the lowest rate category or if you have a Home Equity Mortgage, Bridging Loan, Duurzaam Wonen Hypotheek (Sustainable Home Mortgage), or a mortgage with a Dutch National Mortgage Guarantee (NHG).

At the end of every month, we check to see if your mortgage qualifies for a lower rate category. If this is the case, we change the rate category for you as a service, so that you pay a lower mortgage interest rate. You’ll receive a letter confirming the new mortgage interest rate and monthly repayments in the first week of the next month. You’ll also notice the new monthly repayment in the amount debited from your account. Please note: we always debit monthly repayments in retrospect, which is why the amount for a specific month goes out of your account on the first working day of the following month. The rate category can’t be changed retroactively.

It can mean two things.

1. Your mortgage is already in the lowest rate category.
2. Your mortgage is not subject to a rate category, perhaps because you have a Euribor or Fortis mortgage.

If you receive a monthly provisional tax refund from the Dutch authorities, make sure you check whether it will have to be changed when you change to a different rate category. For more information, visit www.belastingdienst.nl or ask your tax adviser.

We calculate the mortgage debt in relation to the value of your home on the last working day of the month. It can take up to 4 working days to process a repayment. If your repayment is processed before the turn of the month and you qualify for a lower rate category, we’ll lower your interest rate from the first day of the next month. If we don’t process your repayment until just after the end of the month, we’ll lower your interest rate on the first day of the following month, but not retroactively.

No, an automatic calculation can only lead to a lower rate category. If you let us know about a drop in the value of your home and ask us to review your rate category, we may raise it. First check the value of your home currently shown on Internet Banking or in the app.

If we’ve approached you about arranging a ‘woonwensgesprek’, this might be because you recently notified us about the value of your home. We only need this value to make it easier to discuss your situation during the meeting and we don’t automatically process it in our systems. If you want your home’s new value to be updated in your mortgage details, you need to provide the information through the official process of changing the value of your home. Go to My Mortgages on Internet Banking and click ‘Berekenen tariefklasse’ (only in Dutch). If you need any help, please call us through the app or on 0900 9210.

We don’t automatically change the rate category for a bank-savings or hybrid mortgage every month. This is because of possible tax implications and because your net monthly costs could rise due to lower interest rates. The interest paid on the accrued value will also drop, which means that you’ll need to pay a higher deposit or premium (non-tax deductible). The value accrued is taken into account when calculating the value of your home in relation to the mortgage debt.

If you think lowering your rate category would work out cheaper, or if you’re interested in the effects of a lower interest rate and would like an indicative calculation for the new interest rate and deposit/premium, please get in touch with us:

• For a calculation of the new deposit after changing the rate category for a Meegroei, Spaargroei or Startzeker policy, please call Nationale-Nederlanden on +31 (0)70 5130433.
• For bank-savings and all other policies, please call ABN AMRO through the app or on 0900-9210. 

Our calculation will only take into account any accrued value that we can see in our records. This only includes bank-savings accounts and in some cases, the accrued value in hybrid policies.

• We inform clients about the rate category and risk surcharge in plenty of time through the mortgage offer and the interest rate offer. The enclosures with the letters ‘End of fixed-rate period’ and ‘End of interest period’ also explain how rate categories work and how you can lower them.
• You can check your mortgage’s rate category on Internet Banking, and you can also ask here for your risk surcharge to be lowered if this is possible.
• The Annual Financial Summary says: If you have made extra repayments on your mortgage, you might qualify for a lower interest rate. For more information: abnamro.nl/tariefklasse-aanpassen.
• Finally, we regularly publish information on the website and in our ABN AMRO News and Comfortable Living newsletters.