Halifax ISA Saver - rate change for fixed ISA

GreatGatsby22

I read on this forum about the impending rate change on June 1st, yet the "good" folk in my local HBOS branches told me they did not have this information EVEN on May 31st!! Do you guys use insider dealing, ha ha?
Anyways I already had my Halifax ISA Saver Direct (variable 4.75%) set up after a lengthy xfer from Abbey Choices ISA, with instructions at the start to HBOS to fix it right away. As I took it out for 1 year only at 5%, I wonder if I will still get this rate despite the 1-year rate today (June 1st) fallong to 4.85% ?
On the other hand leaving it in for 4 years gives a healthy 5.2% FIXED!!
I think I might just go for the whole 4 years and save this annual angst of seeking out the best rates, doing the transfers and then getting shafted by the so-called providers. Wish I had a crystal ball tho, lol! Anyone out there know the base rates for the next 4 years? Thought not
Take care...they're all after your money.

alared

Four years is a l o n g time to fix and base rates can only go up from now.

regularsaver1

i'd say not a very educated branch then greatgatsby22, i heard a while ago about this through branch, when i set the other post

richgirl

given the past 4 years, 5.2% is not so bad, above average. So maybe it will be above average for the next 4 years, offcourse there will be peaks and troughs.

meanmachine_2

richgirl wrote:

given the past 4 years, 5.2% is not so bad, above average. So maybe it will be above average for the next 4 years, offcourse there will be peaks and troughs.

Yes, but that was in a bizarre era of 1% interest rates in the US, 0% in Japan and 2% in the EU.

All of these unusual rates have now ended.

It's a risk either way, but I wouldn't fix for longer than a year in the current climate of rising rates.

Mikeyorks

GreatGatsby22 wrote:

As I took it out for 1 year only at 5%, I wonder if I will still get this rate despite the 1-year rate today (June 1st) fallong to 4.85% ?
On the other hand leaving it in for 4 years gives a healthy 5.2% FIXED!!
I think I might just go for the whole 4 years

If you've already fixed for the 1 year period .... I don't think you can simply decide to leave it in longer. You stipulate the period at the outset - then it's ....well..fixed!

thor

If you have not done so yet I think the 4 year fixed rate might be the one to go for. I really believe that savings rates will not go up for a long time unless the boe rate increases significantly. Last year we have seen saving rates cut when there has been no base rate reduction and all the banks & building societies have got away with it claiming that they are 'remaining competetive'. Why would they act differently when the boe rate goes up if they can still line their pockets without any consequences?
So anything above 5% now is going to remain a good rate for a long while I reckon.

WaltD

GreatGatsby22 wrote:

Anyways I already had my Halifax ISA Saver Direct (variable 4.75%) set up after a lengthy xfer from Abbey Choices ISA, with instructions at the start to HBOS to fix it right away. As I took it out for 1 year only at 5%, I wonder if I will still get this rate despite the 1-year rate today (June 1st) fallong to 4.85% ?

I had a similar hassle with Halifax. At the beginning of May this year, I applied to transfer in an existing mini-cash-ISA from Bradford & Bingley to a 1-year Halifax Fixed Rate ISA. The advertised rate at that time was 5%. It took until 27th May for them to open the new ISA, and then they wrongly opened it as a Variable Rate ISA Saver account at an interest rate of only 3.55%! On 1st June, they reduced the 1 year fixed rate to 4.85%. When I complained, I told them that the rate for the 1 year fixed term had been 5% on the day the account was opened, and I expected that rate to be applied to my account. I'm glad to say they have acceded to my request, and the account is now set up properly with 5% annual interest starting from 27th May.

WaltD