Help a Relative

trevored

There have been many posts regarding interest rates and best accounts for savings etc. and most of us who are regular readers of and contributors to MSE are now pretty savvy as to the best accounts around.

But pause for a moment & think of our elderly (and not so elderly) relatives, especially parents, grandparents and even great-grandparents who do not have access to the internet, let alone to MSE, who have out dated and very poor bank & building society savings accounts.

Remember the much publicised Halifax Liquid Gold A/c of a few years ago?

You can still get it see: http://www.halifax.co.uk/savings/liquidgold.shtml but it only gives an annual interest rate of 0.60% (0.48% after tax) and only then if you have £500+ in the account...a disgrace!!!

But how many people still have them? Hundreds I'd guess, particularly the elderly who mostly won't have access to the internet or the mobility to wander down the High Street to compare prices no doubt assuming the interest rate is as good as when first opened. Criminal!!

It’s the crafty way these organisations operate, they start off in a blaze of publicity then slowly erode their interest rates whilst removing them from view. That's why there are 1000s of people still with substantial sums of money in a/c's only paying miserly rates.

I would suggest that ALL banks & building societies still maintain such poor accounts due to the vast number of ‘customers’ who still have investments in them.

So here’s a suggestion...why not between now & the start of the new financial year (5th April) do your best to find out which banks/BS your relatives save with (try not to let them think your trying to get your hands on their money though!!) then print off the interest rates for them & let them see if they’re getting the best deal. Often all they need to do is to make a phone call to switch accounts which would result them getting much better, even if not the best, return on their savings.

Any examples you could post may well encourage others.