abbey's paltry isa return 0.1%

[sunshine54]

my Abbey isa statement last year showed £460 interest.
this year only £12. No letter telling me i'm was taken "off the hook and put into the keepnet"
is this part of the OFT investigtion?
i wan't to cash it in and take my money elsewhere, i know i'll loose the tax advantage but at 0.1% who cares

[koopa_coffee]

Don't close the account, just transfer it to another provider so you retain the tax advantages.

[scottishblondie]

Unfortunately it's a common practice these days to drop interest rates after a year, and they don't have an obligation to tell you about it. It catches an awful lot of people

Don't know anything about any OFT investigation, but at this point I don't think there is anything much you can do other than a strongly worded complaint and taking your ISA elsewhere. There are some listed on the ISA top picks at 3% that accept transfers.

[Zelie]

Yes, the rate stated is usually just for 12 months. After that you have to transfer into their newest version or go elsewhere. It's pretty much the same for all ISA providers. Make a note in your diary for every March to remind yourself to transfer!

[sheslookinhot]

Originally Posted by sunshine54

my Abbey isa statement last year showed £460 interest.
this year only £12. No letter telling me i'm was taken "off the hook and put into the keepnet"
is this part of the OFT investigtion?
i wan't to cash it in and take my money elsewhere, i know i'll loose the tax advantage but at 0.1% who cares

It takes 5 mins to check interest rates every couple of months.

[Ifts]

Originally Posted by sheslookinhot

It takes 5 mins to check interest rates every couple of months.

Or take out a fixed rate ISA that way you know they cant drop the rate until it matures, just keep a note of the maturity date when the rate usually does plummet and transfer out to a better product.

[PC Gabriel Kent]

What was the OP expecting? 5% or 6%!!! Hello there is like a global recession and 2 years worth of financial meltdown. It is all very well moaning as per opening message but newspapers, branch, internet all have interest rates. What you really mean is 'i couldnt be arsed to check the rate'.

[Zelie]

Originally Posted by PC Gabriel Kent

What was the OP expecting? 5% or 6%!!! Hello there is like a global recession and 2 years worth of financial meltdown. It is all very well moaning as per opening message but newspapers, branch, internet all have interest rates. What you really mean is 'i couldnt be arsed to check the rate'.

Well I suspect the OP wasn't expecting a huge interest rate but was more puzzled by why it was so low when s/he had signed up at a much higher rate. It's generally not made explicit that most ISA rates are introductory only and it's easy to miss that bit of information in the small print and then get worked up at apparently being swizzed. Fortunately there is a whole messageboard of helpful people out there to give us all a bit of financial advice from time to time.

[jh2009]

I sympathise with the OP. Im sure hes seen the news over the past year and doubt he was expecting 6% but not 0.1%.

I check the rates i have regularly, keep up to date with current affairs, but i can understand those who don't or can't.

ISAs were designed for long term saving, and rates should really reflect this. Why should you have to keep reviewing it annually or more frequently?

I also feel desperately sorry for older customers. Many of them have no access to the internet and belong to a generation where loyalty was rewarded. Changing bank/savings accounts is alien to them and their reward for their loyalty is 0.1% interest. For those in ill health, shopping around for rates just isnt a priority, and they also get penalised.

I know its our responsibility partly to check rates, which i do, but in my view to those who can't, its a polite and respectable form of theft.

[sunshine54]

Originally Posted by PC Gabriel Kent

What was the OP expecting? 5% or 6%!!! Hello there is like a global recession and 2 years worth of financial meltdown. It is all very well moaning as per opening message but newspapers, branch, internet all have interest rates. What you really mean is 'i couldnt be arsed to check the rate'.

why should i need to keep a check on abbey's rates?
why are they so pitiful against the BOE rate?
my isa is a abbey easy isa open since 2005
interest credited annually:
2006 -2007 £382
2007-2008 £583
2008-2009 £427
2009-2010 £12

yes i now interest rates are lowesr this year but i should be getting 2% not 0.1% !

[Farway]

Originally Posted by sunshine54

why should i need to keep a check on abbey's rates?
why are they so pitiful against the BOE rate?
my isa is a abbey easy isa open since 2005
interest credited annually:
2006 -2007 £382
2007-2008 £583
2008-2009 £427
2009-2010 £12

yes i now interest rates are lowesr this year but i should be getting 2% not 0.1% !

It may be unfair, but life can be, just get on & move the ISA to somewhere else, and if you cannot see the need to check interest rates now & then either fix rates or take whatever the banks care to give you and stop complaining

[rb10]

Originally Posted by sunshine54

why should i need to keep a check on abbey's rates?

Because when you opened the account, you agreed that Abbey could change the interest rate that they paid you - it was a variable rate account.

So unless you want to get a surprise when interest is paid, it's a good idea to keep an eye on how much they are paying you.

Originally Posted by sunshine54

why are they so pitiful against the BOE rate?

Simply because it's a very basic ISA that's not widely marketed by Santander any more, so they focus their higher rates onto the other accounts.

And it's only actually a fraction below the BOE rate (which has been 0.5% for over a year).

Originally Posted by sunshine54

my isa is a abbey easy isa open since 2005
interest credited annually:
2006 -2007 £382
2007-2008 £583
2008-2009 £427
2009-2010 £12

So it looks like they offered decent rates for at least three years - which is a lot more than most banks and building societies would do now. That looks pretty good.

Originally Posted by sunshine54

yes i now interest rates are lowesr this year but i should be getting 2% not 0.1% !

You can in fact get much higher than 2%.

See here for a list of the best paying ISAs that accept transfers in - that way you can keep the tax-free status and get a much higher rate.

Take this as a lesson for the future: if you choose a variable rate, ensure you check the rate every few months to ensure that it doesn't drop. It only takes a few seconds to do, they all publish their rates online.

[jh2009]

Originally Posted by rb10

Because when you opened the account, you agreed that Abbey could change the interest rate that they paid you - it was a variable rate account.

So unless you want to get a surprise when interest is paid, it's a good idea to keep an eye on how much they are paying you.



Simply because it's a very basic ISA that's not widely marketed by Santander any more, so they focus their higher rates onto the other accounts.

And it's only actually a fraction below the BOE rate (which has been 0.5% for over a year).



So it looks like they offered decent rates for at least three years - which is a lot more than most banks and building societies would do now. That looks pretty good.



You can in fact get much higher than 2%.

See here for a list of the best paying ISAs that accept transfers in - that way you can keep the tax-free status and get a much higher rate.

Take this as a lesson for the future: if you choose a variable rate, ensure you check the rate every few months to ensure that it doesn't drop. It only takes a few seconds to do, they all publish their rates online.

Legally abbey have done nothing wrong................ But morally im going to repeat the fact that all banks that keep launching new accounts and reducing the interest on old accounts are just rather polite versions of common criminals!

MY gran is an example. Shes 90. Saved all her life, but has as much interest in the internet as my dog. She doesnt drive so just walks to the local shop each day. And comes from a generation of loyalty to her banks. So when I've told her repeatedly to review her savings, unless i force her down the bank at gun point, or get her declared insane and take control of her money, she leaves it where it is and it carries on getting 0.00001%!

I keep a view on my savings accounts, but i dont agree with people on here who think those who don't (or realistically can't in many cases like my grans) deserve all they get when they get fleeced!

[PC Gabriel Kent]

At 90 she probably aint too fussed what rate she gets.

[jack of all]

Originally Posted by jh2009

I sympathise with the OP. Im sure hes seen the news over the past year and doubt he was expecting 6% but not 0.1%.

I check the rates i have regularly, keep up to date with current affairs, but i can understand those who don't or can't.

ISAs were designed for long term saving, and rates should really reflect this. Why should you have to keep reviewing it annually or more frequently?

I also feel desperately sorry for older customers. Many of them have no access to the internet and belong to a generation where loyalty was rewarded. Changing bank/savings accounts is alien to them and their reward for their loyalty is 0.1% interest. For those in ill health, shopping around for rates just isnt a priority, and they also get penalised.

I know its our responsibility partly to check rates, which i do, but in my view to those who can't, its a polite and respectable form of theft.

I could not agree more, To many people the existnce of a government tax incentive and a limit on the permissable investment has instilled upon the less savvy of us that an ISA is the first port of call for low/moderate long term savings. This gives a false confidence to the more vulnerable and I feel strongly that some moral balance should be enforced. ISA's should be protected from the on the hook then robbed 12 months down approach that other investment accounts offer that are OK for those who are up to chasing the rates and are happy to administrate. Yes it's just a feeling, but I feel it amounts to a confidence been created by the government and then exploited for many of the vulnerable among us.

[Mickygg]

Originally Posted by PC Gabriel Kent

At 90 she probably aint too fussed what rate she gets.

Pretty ridiculous comment. How is this any help??? Fyi my grandfather is 95 and he cares what rate he is on.

[PC Gabriel Kent]

Why would he care? The rate does not matter if they have a large sum of money does it. They never spend any of it anyway so what is the point of it?

[Mickygg]

Originally Posted by PC Gabriel Kent

Why would he care? The rate does not matter if they have a large sum of money does it. They never spend any of it anyway so what is the point of it?

Not worth a proper answer. Another stupid point. Ever heard of living off interest and having to spend lots of money to be in a home???? 'They' never spend it, you don't have a clue.

[Spark]

I have just found out what interests I have earned this year, I have earned £0.97 on £1200, last year I had £17.55 on £700.
I earn more interests with my current bank account ,than with my Isa which suppose to be a saving account, even though I am paying taxes on the interests I am earning with my current bank account. (Both my Isa and bank account are from the same bank).
I am not bothered that much as I haven't got much in it, but still "take the mickey" came into my mind when I saw the pennies.
I have just reached the "why bother at all" mood. I will not spend my precious time checking the rates and moving from account to account, nor do I have enough savings to make much difference anyway.

[PC Gabriel Kent]

Originally Posted by Mickygg

Not worth a proper answer. Another stupid point. Ever heard of living off interest and having to spend lots of money to be in a home???? 'They' never spend it, you don't have a clue.

Whats wrong with living off the capital? Why the obesession of living of the interest. Times are tough so deal with it. You do not have any clue at all.