It will hardly come as much of a surprise to learn how Irish banks are profiting massively from the stress of first-time buyers anxious to get all their ducks in a row before they sign on the dotted line to secure their first home.
And, no, we’re not talking about interest rates higher than they need to be or about spurious charges.
Research from the people at Bonkers.ie shows many first-time buyers are paying about €10 a month more than necessary for mortgage protection cover while others are paying about €20 a month over the odds.
So what, you might say. After all, an additional €10 a month does not sound like a lot of money.
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But, as is the case with so many things, once people arrange a policy like mortgage protection they don’t tend to think about it again and don’t shop around after the fact.
So the tenner or 20 quid adds up, and over the lifetime mortgage some people will be out of pocket by close to €10,000.
What the Bonkers research does not tell us – and how could they know? – is how many people are paying over the odds for mortgage protection cover.
But if we assume just 20 per cent of the market or 150,000 people pay just €10 a month more than necessary for 25 years it makes the banks a fairly eye-watering €450 million.
And, of course, it’s money for nothing.
Obviously banks – or any other businesses – are never going to tell you their competitors offer a better value for money, so it becomes the responsibility of every single homeowner to give it a little bit more thought.
That applies particularly to those who signed up to a mortgage protection policy without giving it too much thought a long time ago today to see if there is a way they could save themselves €10 or €20 month.
The five grand they might save could well pay for a nice holiday to celebrate the paying off mortgage when that day comes.
