Scrupulous ISA providers list?

gwapenut

Having just noticed that Chelsea building society have slashed their 2nd gen postal 30 ISA by about 0.4% within 2 months of it being sold, whereas to my suprise NatWest e-ISA stayed stable for some 6 months + before dropping 0.25%, I wondered if it was worth starting a thread or table of which savings providers to avoid based on unscrupulous conduct?

Sure, the savings rates are variable ... however you do expect the introductory carrot to be maintained for a little while for existing savers at least. Frankly, I am disgusted at the Chelsea's conduct, regardless of any changes induced by their merger with the Yorkshire, and would never sign up for such an account again. I did check around before applying for the product but such information is hard to come by.

alastair_h

They are within their rights doing this with variable rate ISA's, to be honest it's pretty much standard way most operate. Just keep an eye on them and move to a more competitive provider when they drop off or choose a Fixed Rate ISA.

gwapenut

I know they're within their rights, but 2 months is not "decent" behavior, even big bad banks like NatWest seem to honour a 6 month timescale beore pulling less of a dirty trick.

But moaning about it is not the point of this thread. I am suggesting that some kind of table illustrating how quickly and by how much given providers have historically shafted their savers, may save pain fo those wishing to transfer substantial ISAs in the future.

10_66

gwapenut wrote: »

Having just noticed that Chelsea building society have slashed their 2nd gen postal 30 ISA by about 0.4% within 2 months of it being sold, whereas to my suprise NatWest e-ISA stayed stable for some 6 months + before dropping 0.25%, I wondered if it was worth starting a thread or table of which savings providers to avoid based on unscrupulous conduct?

Sure, the savings rates are variable ... however you do expect the introductory carrot to be maintained for a little while for existing savers at least. Frankly, I am disgusted at the Chelsea's conduct, regardless of any changes induced by their merger with the Yorkshire, and would never sign up for such an account again. I did check around before applying for the product but such information is hard to come by.

Problem is, most are guilty of reducing their rates when they've satisfied themselves.

martinman3

There is a list of the cash ISAs with the most consistent rates over 18 months.
http://moneyfacts.co.uk/compare/savings/cash-isa/18-month/

Standard Life Cash Savings Cash ISA Direct Access 2.65% £1 None

Monmouthshire BS Cash ISA 2 2.50% £10 30 Day

Earl Shilton BS 90 Day Cash ISA 2.45% £10 90 Day

Harpenden BS Simply ISA 2.25% £1 Instant

Newbury BS Notice Cash ISA 2.10% £50 60 Day

Principality BS e-ISA 1.80% £1 None

gwapenut

Think Standard Life (savings?) are being bought by Barclays so don't think I'll rely on them for conssitency in the longer term ... though they've been very consistent so far

Baldur

martinman3 wrote: »

There is a list of the cash ISAs with the most consistent rates over 18 months.
http://moneyfacts.co.uk/compare/savings/cash-isa/18-month/

Moneyfacts also used to publish a 36-month table for consistent Cash ISAs, that appears to have been consigned to history now.

Generally, the most consistent accounts have not been anywhere near the best rates available to savers who are prepared to watch rates.

gwapenut

It's fair enough being prepared to watch rates to get a higher return, however I think 2 months before a rate is slashed by more than 10% goes beyond what most people would require as decent behaviour.

It is this kind of skullduggery by cowboys such as the Chelsea that I would like to be highlighted!

If you have to transfer an ISA every 2 months the loss of interest when transferring far exceeds any interest rate gain.

Hmmm, suppose I should remember what I said earlier "But moaning about it is not the point of this thread" before I start getting myself into too much of a vendetta!

alastair_h

gwapenut wrote: »

I know they're within their rights, but 2 months is not "decent" behavior, even big bad banks like NatWest seem to honour a 6 month timescale beore pulling less of a dirty trick.

I've heard of the banks been accused of many things, however "decent behavior" was never one of them. That's how they make their money, by tempting people in and dropping the rate when they hope no one is looking. It pays to keep an eye on things not rely on the banks sense of fair play.

Mithos

Yes I got my letter a week ago.

In fairness they have given us a large amount of written notice over a month before the rate goes down in fact, looking around there isn't much better out there, and this is the first type of Chelsea account I've ever had where there was no stated "maturity" in the terms and conditions.

Finally I don't see how the rates on any of their variable rate accounts can be significant higher than the Yorkshire counterparts, it just wouldn't make sense to have part of the business being hugely more attractive than the other.

Bad luck I guess. Had my Postal 30 since March last year and this is the first change in interest rate.

gwapenut

OK in the interests of balance I should say that although I have now transferred away from the Chelsea, they have handled the transfer efficiently and generously.

They seemed to backdate the 30 days notice to the date I wrote my email of complaint threatening to transfer away (rather than posting a letter actually giving notice as per the terms of the account). My fund was also transferred to M&S within one week of the 30-day-notice date. So while I do not like how they marketed / followed up this account, their behaviour otherwise has been good.