While most people would benefit from some of the features of a flexible mortgage, such as daily interest calculation, a full lifestyle mortgage is certainly not for everyone. Below are some factors to consider when assessing whether or not a flexible, current account or offset mortgage is right for you:

• Almost half of all UK workers take home a variable amount of income each month, with many millions of workers also getting a monthly, quarterly or annual bonus. If you are likely to have spare cash at some point in the future or on a regular basis, than using it to contribute to your mortgage can be better for you financially than many of the other ways you have of spending it.
• Similarly, established homeowners on a settled income who find themselves living in the comfort zone and spending well within their means often find that overpaying on their mortgage each month is one of the best uses for their spare salary.
• The higher rates of pay that many contract workers obtain allows some of them not to work for the whole year, perhaps working for 9 months and then taking 2 or 3 months off, for example. For such people, the ability to change the terms of your repayments can be very useful.
• 13 percent of the UK working population are self employed, many of whom often get paid in lump sums on the completion of a piece of work or contract. The flexible approach to repayment can be particularly useful in such instances, as can the drawdown facility in helping to smooth seasonal variations in income.
• Flexible mortgages are particularly appealing to those with a long-term view of their mortgage. The benefits of flexible mortgages can be seen most clearly over the life of the product. If you are keen to find short-term savings, then it may well be best to look at some of the alternatives.
• If you think it is likely that you will want to trade up to a more expensive home in the future, the option of overpaying can help you increase your equity in the home more quickly, thereby giving you a larger deposit when it comes to moving.
• This type of home loan can have a strong appeal if you are considering a career break at some point in the future, but do not wish to lose your homeowner status. A flexible mortgage allows you to start budgeting early and overpay, so that you can afford to take time off from your repayments at a later date.
• Other borrowers may foresee the likelihood of extra expenses in the future, such as the cost of raising children, extending their house, adding a conservatory or starting a business. The built-in credit facilities or valuation review can provide a relatively low-cost method of obtaining finance for such eventualities.
• Some borrowers that are planning for retirement and who don't have a lot of monthly expenses enjoy the option of reducing their mortgage debt while in a relatively cash rich financial position.
• In certain circumstances, the features of a flexible mortgage can be of particular benefit for buy to let investors, as outlined on the previous page.
• Current account or offset mortgages offer a neat solution for homebuyers who have savings in different accounts, but who are unhappy with the low returns their money is generating.
• Current account or offset mortgages are a highly tax efficient way of paying back a mortgage, particularly for those who pay the higher rate of tax on their income. If their money was held in a savings account, the interest would be taxable at their highest rate of tax, but in a mortgage-linked account, it is essentially 'earning' the mortgage rate of interest and reducing the mortgage capital without any tax burden whatsoever.
• Finally, for the financially sophisticated who are disciplined with the money, there is arguably no more effective a way to pay off your mortgage and minimise the overall interest bill than with a flexible mortgage.

The potential pitfalls of a flexible mortgage are such that there is sometimes a more suitable product for you:

• Interest rates are not as low as with the most competitive discounted rates, so if you are looking for a way to minimise your payments in the short term - which a great many buyers are - it is often better to look at other options than a flexible mortgage.
• For this reason, a flexible mortgage is likely to be unsuitable if you are unlikely to take advantage of the different features that it has. If you are never likely to overpay or deposit a lump sum, then there will be little financial benefit in taking out such a mortgage as the rate of interest can usually be beaten elsewhere.
• Flexible mortgages, and current account or offset mortgages in particular, require a certain amount of financial discipline if you are to get the most out of them. If you don't feel confident that you can always spend within your monthly budget, then the more rigid approach of a traditional mortgage may be more suitable. A flexible mortgage is not best used as an emergency source of cash when your salary runs out near the end of the month.
• If you are the sort of person who often only pays off the bare minimum from your credit card bill, you may also be better off with a more rigid loan. There is not such a pressure to make a certain level of repayments with a flexible mortgage and as has already been stated, underpaying can end up costing you a small fortune in the long run.
• Similarly, if you are likely to overuse the drawdown, underpayment and payment holiday features, this can cause serious problems down the line. Such features can end up being expensive in terms of the long-term interest payable on the mortgage as they are essentially adding to your mortgage debt in real terms - something that can hit you hard should interest rates rise before you make up the difference by overpaying.
• Many advisors prefer not to recommend flexible mortgages to younger first time buyers, due to their relative unfamiliarity with making regular payments on a mortgage. Another reason that flexible mortgages are not as popular recommendations for first time buyers is that they offer little genuine protection against increases in the interest rate. Given the difficulty that many young buyers have in getting on the housing ladder, many are pretty stretched financially once they have done so. Fixed or capped rates ensure that the monthly outlay is fixed at a certain level for a period of time without, regardless of what happens to interest rates in general. If interest rates go up with a flexible mortgage, you will be required to increase your repayments to stay on your repayment schedule. While it may be possible to keep your repayments at the original level, this would mean you are underpaying and therefore adding to your interest bill.