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Do I need to stay with my bank for a minimum period, and what does clawback mean?
Bayley Clarke · Mortgage broker on the road · Last checked 3 September 2026 · 3 min read
The short answer
No. You don't need to stay with your bank for a minimum period of time, providing you're on a variable rate. On a fixed rate, breaking it early can mean break costs.
Clawback is the other side of that freedom. It's the terms on which your broker was paid: if the loan is repaid or moved inside 12 months, the bank takes every dollar of that commission back, and generally half of it between 12 and 18 months. It doesn't cost you anything, but it's why I'd rather hear about a change from you than from the discharge team.
The two minute version. The rest of this page is the detail underneath it.
Variable: leave whenever you like
On a variable rate there's no minimum period. You can refinance, sell or pay the loan out at any time, and the only cost is a standard discharge fee. That's the freedom you're paying for on a variable loan, and it's why I say we date lenders, we don't marry them.
If you're on a fixed rate, of course, if you break it there may be break costs applicable. So you've got to be careful. Break costs are the bank recovering what the fixed rate cost them to fund, and they can be small or very large depending on how rates have moved. Always get the figure before you decide.
What clawback actually is
Clawback is the terms on which your mortgage broker was paid for your loan at settlement. The terms are generally that if the loan is repaid or you switch lenders within 12 months of settling, the bank comes after and recoups every dollar of commission they paid the broker. After 12 months and before 18 months, generally the broker cops a 50% clawback. After 18 months, sometimes 24, the broker is in the clear.
None of that is charged to you. It's between the bank and the broker. But it does mean a broker who sets you up with a loan you want to leave in six months has worked for free, which is a fairly strong incentive to get it right the first time. The rest of how I'm paid is on how does a mortgage broker get paid.
What I ask of clients
If you're working with a broker, be upfront and transparent when you're thinking about changes to your loan, because it can affect how the commission they were paid originally lands on them. Of course, at the end of the day you've got to look after yourself, and some things are unavoidable. Life happens, jobs move, houses sell.
But if you involve the broker in the next chapter for you and your loan, they're going to be more than happy to support it. Nine times out of ten the change you're thinking about is something I can do for you anyway: a reprice, a top-up, a switch. That's the conversation I'd rather have.
The honest bit: don't stay for my sake
If leaving your bank is the right thing for you inside 12 months, leave. I'll wear the clawback. What I'm asking for is a phone call first, because the change you want is usually one I can make happen without you having to go anywhere.
The only thing I'd genuinely push back on is a fixed-rate break without seeing the break cost. That one can hurt you, not me.
Thinking about a change to your loan?
A 30 minute call. Tell me what's changed, and I'll tell you whether it's a reprice, a top-up, a switch or nothing at all, and what each one costs before you touch anything.
No cost to you. The bank pays me when a loan settles. ยท How I get paid
Next question
Repricing versus refinancing: which one should I do first?The change you want is usually one of these two.
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