Halifax Regular Saver - advice please on gross interest

Munro_Bagger

Hello everyone! I'm looking for some advice please on the final amount I received in my Halifax Regular Saving Account. I thought I'd end up with more in terms of gross interest, and would dearly like to know if I've been diddled, or if I'm just very stupid! Details are as follows;

18/07/08 - account opened 10% p.a.
18/07/08 - opening CR £30
20/08/00 - CR £30
22/09/08 - CR £30
22/10/08 - CR £30
20/11/08 - CR £30
22/12/08 - CR £30
21/01/09 - CR £30
20/02/09 - CR £30
20/03/09 - CR £50
22/04/09 - CR £50
20/05/09 - CR £50
22/06/09 - CR £50
Total £440.00
Gross INT £20.76
-20% tax £ 4.15
Total £456.61

I've checked all my literature and the certificate of investment that I received on 18/07/2008 - the certificate states "10% p.a." and the accompanying booklet states "Paid annually on the anniversary of the day we receive your opening deposit". There was no mention of AER on web, in the booklet, on the certificate or during telephone conversation with customer service bod on end of phone. In fact, I don't remember there being any mention of AER on the web-page either!

I sat down and went through the figures and came up with the following, which is an £18.59 difference from that given by the Halifax;

Total £440.00
Gross INT £44.00
-20% tax £ 8.80
Total £475.20

I spoke to a Customer Service bod on 22/07/09, and was told that the account was subject to AER interest, and as such, it was accumulated monthly and then added together - interest was not paid on the accumulated savings at the year end. Am I barking up the wrong tree here? Does anyone think I've got a leg to stand on, and if so, what should I do?

Many thanks

Trying_to_be_good

Rest assured, you have been paid the correct interest. You didn't have £440 in the account for the whole year, so they won't pay you interest on £440 for the whole year. They pay you interest on the money you had saved with them, for the length of time it was with them.

Try a forum search for the (many) other people who have asked this question, and the replies already given, and prepare yourself for some flak.

noh

And read this:-
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-regular-savings-accounts#dont

jem16

Munro_Bagger wrote: »

I sat down and went through the figures and came up with the following, which is an £18.59 difference from that given by the Halifax;

Total £440.00
Gross INT £44.00
-20% tax £ 8.80
Total £475.20

You have worked out the interest as if you had £440 in for a whole year whereas you only had £30 in the account for a whole year.

Have a read through this thread.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1799061&highlight=regular

InMyDreams

Munro_Bagger wrote: »

There was no mention of AER on web, in the booklet, on the certificate or during telephone conversation with customer service bod on end of phone. In fact, I don't remember there being any mention of AER on the web-page either!

The AER rate is given on accounts that pay monthly so that you can compare them with accounts that pay annually. With an annually paying account the AER will be exactly the same as the annual interest stated anyway so it would have been pointless mentioning it.

Bottom line is (as others have said) the 10% was p.a. (which you were aware of). p.a. = per annum or per year. That is, to get the full 10% on any amount, it needs to have been in the account for a full year. Any amounts that have been in the account for less than that time will attract interest pro rata. They are still earning 10% p.a. though. Just like if you work for £10 per hour but only work for half an hour. You would only earn £5, but your rate is still £10/hour.

YorkshireBoy

InMyDreams wrote: »

The AER rate is given on accounts that pay monthly so that you can compare them with accounts that pay annually. With an annually paying account the AER will be exactly the same as the annual interest stated anyway so it would have been pointless mentioning it.

The regular saver information on their site is absolutely riddled with the "AER" wording, from the product information screen, to the summary box, interest rate page, etc, etc.

I'm really surprised the OP didn't see it.

InMyDreams

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

I'm really surprised the OP didn't see it.

Well obviously I didn't go and check. But my point was that it was a red herring anyway. He was under the impression that he was getting 10% and he did, AER or otherwise.

2Sheds

I had the Halifax 10% deal, but as I had £5k in another account I opted for the 12% deal they offered last summer.

Needless to say they only paid out at 10% and I had to chase them up for the other 2%. They blamed a system error, beware

dollywops

Myself, DH, DS and DD all opened regular savers last year, each saving £500 pm and all depositing £5,000 in a nominated account to gain the 12%.

DH and I saved from 18.7.08 to 18.7.09 and we each got £386.80 gross.
DS and DD saved from 16.7.08 to 16.7.09 and each received £383.19 gross.

Am I missing something here?

We only just got back from holiday yesterday and I thought I saw a thread about different amounts last night, but now I can't find it, so I posted here.

YorkshireBoy

dollywops wrote: »

Am I missing something here?

Did you all deposit by the same method? Maybe clearance times/BACS delays played a (very small) part?

dollywops

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

Did you all deposit by the same method? Maybe clearance times/BACS delays played a (very small) part?

We all had SO's from our Abbey current a/c's.

Clearance times could have played a very small part, but where I am baffled, is that the kids' accounts were started 2 days before ours and yet we earnt more interest.

I might pop into our local branch with DS's paperwork and mine, and see if an advisor can fathom it out, but I sincerely doubt it. I think I need to spend time deciding where we should all put our monies, seeing as we are now earning 0.5%.