Abbey RS: You fixed your monthly contribution!

DUS

Hi,

last December, I signed up for one of the RS from Abbey. I´ve been paying GBP 250 into the account since then. I made 12 payments of 250 only to realise that I needed to make 13 payments rather than 12. Yes, my fault, I had forgotten about the T&Cs. So I made a 13th payment of 25 (twenty five) quid last night.

I went to an Abbey branch this morning and asked for my pass book to be updated. The Abbey girl checked the book and said that I made a mistake. I asked. "Really?" :-) She replied: "You only paid 25 pounds into the account and therefore your breached you agreement with Abbey." I asked: "Why did I breach any agreement?" She replied. "It´s a fixed RS and you signed up to pay 250,-- each month and not 25 as paid in in December." I replied: "Isn´t the fixed RS account about the interest rate being fixed rather than my monthly contribution?", she shook her head, walked away for 10 mins and came back with what the said were the T&Cs that confirmed that I would have had to pay in 250 rather than 25. "Oh dear", I thought, and asked "Are you really sure? Isn´t it about the interest rate being fixed rather than my monthly payments?". She looked in disbelief as to why I could ask such a silly question and said: "No, you are wrong. You will now have to wait and see at the end of January as to what the consequences of this breach of contract will be." Assuming she was wrong, I asked: "If I paid in another 225 pounds now, would that help?", she said: "No, because this would then be your 14th payment.". Aaargh!

Ok, I must admit, I feel guilty about "forgetting" the 13th payment which will now mean I will only get the interest credited in 30 days from today. However, pleeeeeeeeeeease tell me, that this lady was absolutely wrong about the "you fixed your monthly payment" story. Assuming that she was indeed wrong, I wonder how Abbey employees can be sooooooo poor and give absolutely wrong advise / info to customers.

DUS

Lokolo

Interest rates can change regularly. So if you’re a committed saver and want the security of knowing exactly what return to expect, the Fixed Rate Monthly Saver will give you peace of mind and a great fixed rate for 13 months. When you save a fixed amount between £20 and £250 per month by standing order

From Abbeys website.

Careful_ly

We have lots of regular saver accounts and I keep notes of terms and conditions on a spreadsheet.
My next Abbey regular saver matures on 1.3.10 and that didn't have a fixed payment required, infact as the rate was low (5%) for the first few months I only funded with the minimum £20.
In my experience lots of Abbey staff have no idea on their products, and I am sure you will have no problem with what you have done.

HTH

Ps Your account will still mature on 1st January, funds should be available to withdraw on 5.1.10

ctdctd

Lokolo,

Which bit of the Abbey site does your quote come from?

The current Fixed Rate Monthly Saver Issue 12 says:-

"Rate - Enjoy a great fixed rate of 4.00% gross/AER for 13 monthly payments. If you pay in less than £20 per month you will receive a rate of 0.10% gross/AER for that month only. If you pay in more than £250 per month you will receive a lower rate of 0.10% gross/AER on your savings balance for that month and the remainder of the term.

Save any amount between £20 and £250 each month by standing order. This regular savings account rewards you for leaving your money untouched. You will receive a lower rate of interest in any month in which you pay in less than £20. See terms and conditions for further details."

Lokolo

http://www.abbey.com/csgs/Satellite?appID=abbey.internet.Abbeycom&c=Page&canal=CABBEYCOM&cid=1210610626399&empr=Abbeycom&leng=en_GB&pagename=Abbeycom%2FPage%2FWC_ACOM_TemplateA1

If that link works?

rb10

Although it does say a fixed amount on the page that Lokolo linked to, I don't believe that this is correct.

The Terms and Conditions (of the current issue - yours may be different) do not say anything about the amount needing to be fixed.

I would be wary of putting any more money in - the T&Cs do say a standing order each month - that is singular, not plural.

But I think that you can be confident of getting the full interest rate at the end of the term. What you have done is certainly in line with the current T&Cs.

DUS

Careful_ly wrote: »

Ps Your account will still mature on 1st January, funds should be available to withdraw on 5.1.10

Oh, that´s a nice surprise! I thought I had to wait for the end of Jan for the money to be withdrawn/transfered to one of my other accounts. So if I take the money out on the 5th I won´t lose any interest and the interest will be credited at the end of Jan (30 days after my 13th payment on Dec 29)?

LittleVoice

DUS wrote: »

Oh, that´s a nice surprise! I thought I had to wait for the end of Jan for the money to be withdrawn/transfered to one of my other accounts. So if I take the money out on the 5th I won´t lose any interest and the interest will be credited at the end of Jan (30 days after my 13th payment on Dec 29)?

I'm jumping in without having checked the full T&C just had a look at the website but, if you had to make 13 payments (in 13 different calendar months) and you opened the account in December 2008 then the current note on the website says that "interest is credited after the end of the 13th monthly payment".

It seems to me that they got carried way with "monthly payments" and should have written "after the end of the 13th month". So I think you should receive the interest no later than the date in January 2010 that you opened the account in December 2008.

Having said that, I seem to recall that one of my gripes with Abbey in the past was that I had a RS where the capital and interest disappeared for a couple of weeks! Eventually it turned up (no explanation of why they couldn't trace it in the meantime) and no compensation for the loss of access to my money. Just another of the reasons why Abbey isn't getting any more of my money - whatever the rates they may offer.

Careful_ly

Dus
Your interest will be paid at the beginning of January.

The way they operate their monthly savers is that you open the account without funding, then you set up a standing order for the following month, and make 13 payments, and it matures on the 1st of the following month and the interest is added at close of business on that day. So it makes no difference what date the account is opened or funding date.

I think that because tomorrow is a bank holiday and followed by the weekend that interest will be credited after close of business on the 4th. So if you go into branch on 5th you will be able to draw on the capital and interest.
HTH

Speculator

Careful_ly wrote: »

Ps Your account will still mature on 1st January, funds should be available to withdraw on 5.1.10

Why Tuesday the 5th? Also, many Abbey branches will be open 9 to 4pm on Saturday 2nd Jan so will the funds be available for withdrawal on Saturday?

Speculator

Ignore my previous post, you've already answered my question.