Are savers frantically opening up fixed accounts?

Berty

Thanks Squibbler for the info. I can stop pulling my hair out now lol :T .

~Chameleon~

Squibbler wrote: »

Yes - I called them tonight. I opened a fixed rate BM bond after hours last night and they assured me this morning that the bond only officially closed this morning. Anyone applying up to yesterday will get the paperwork and advertised rate through.

Thanks for this useful information. I applied at the weekend and still waiting for the paperwork to arrive this week. I'm assuming now that the bond has closed that our initial deposit will be the one and only deposit we can make into this account.

I don't suppose you know what the time limit to deposit money is please?

I'm really hoping my Icesave money will be back in my current acc in time to send them a cheque

ETA: Just called BM and they have a recorded message stating that anyone who applied for the fixed rate accounts before they closed will still be able to open the account at the rate offered providing they return both the forms and a cheque by 30th November :T

oql61

Squibbler wrote: »

Yes - I called them tonight. I opened a fixed rate BM bond after hours last night and they assured me this morning that the bond only officially closed this morning. Anyone applying up to yesterday will get the paperwork and advertised rate through.

I opened one up at the beginning of october and deposited £200 only. Does this mean I can't deposit any more cash? What was it that people were saying about having till the end of november to deposit cash.

I am confused.

KingL

Each BM fixed term deal is an 'offer' that they fund with a certain amount of ringfenced cash. When they are approaching a certain limit of applications they will choose to withdraw that offer and you can't pay further funds into your fixed rate account after that point and they won't accept any new customers into that fixed rate offer.

On the current one, they have closed it to new applicants (i.e. if they haven't already sent you an application form you can't come in). For those that have received application forms, they have until the end of the month to send in funds. By extension, those who already have these bonds only have until the end of the month if they want to add further funds and get the guaranteed rate. After that - doors closed to new funds.

They will likely make a brand new 'issue' later on, but with substantially reduced interest rates.

~Chameleon~

KingL wrote: »

On the current one, they have closed it to new applicants (i.e. if they haven't already sent you an application form you can't come in). For those that have received application forms, they have until the end of the month to send in funds.

Just want to clarify that those who applied either online or by telephone prior to them withdrawing the accounts will receive the paperwork within the next 6 days, and have until 30th Nov to complete and return with deposit cheque.

TDPIX

Yes, I did.

I realised Sunday morning that the majority of my savings were kept in a variable account (with Abbey), hence I scrambled around online looking for a 1 year fixed rate account.

For some reason (i.e. after ringing them), I found out that I could only open a new (fixed rate) account with Abbey if they sent me documents to my home address (and I'm at Uni, and my parents are on holiday, so this wasn't practical) - OR if I went into branch tomorrow. But I was told on the phone that all their fixed rate offers were being cut the following morning, which was obviously useless. I needed an account that day, not a slashed-rate one the following day.

So I ended up going with Halifax (got a nice 5.80% fixed rate for a year, via Bank of Scotland) - can withdraw up to 4 times in a year, too. Plus I did it over the phone and had my account open within minutes.

I know there are better offers out there, although I could only potentially go with Abbey, Halifax and NatWest (I have accounts with them already) and I'm boycotting NatWest, so Halifax was my only choice (after Abbey).

KingL

Yep, thanks for clarifying. New applicants need to have already asked them for an application form to be eligible.

Also worth considering, for brand new BM customer that it is possible that they might also make you jump through some hoops re: proof of identity after they have received your application form. (they do identity checks online and if you don't pass those, they then ask you to send them a bunch of proof of id docs ).

I don't know, but I imagine that'd also need to be done by the end of the month, so don't delay in sending your application form back....

Edit: Deleted nonsense. If they want proof of id they will ask for it along with the application form.

gunnaknow

That doesn't sound good KingL. Are you sure that they don't do the online ID check before sending you the form? I presumed that I must have already passed their ID check because they sent me the form, without any instructions to send ID docs. I was planning on sending my form to them at the end of the month, so that I could transfer my saving into a chequing account on the 1st dec without being penalised a month's interest. I guess I better ring BM to ask if they might ask for ID at the last minute and not give me more time.

KingL

Yer sorry, I was having a mental aberration and was talking nonsense there. You are right about the sequence of checks. Have struckout the inaccurate bits.

sheilanick

I already have Isa's with Halifax about £35000 in total.

I have a further £45000 which I was going to invest in the Saga fixed rate bond at 6.85% and I have the application form ready to return..BUT am I right in thinking that there is a link between Halifax and Saga, which may affect the £50000 compensation limit? In which case, should I restrict my investment to under £15000?