Coventry First Account vs A & L Premier Direct Account

LondonCanuck

Does anyone have an account with The Coventry Building Society?

I see on MSE "Coventry First* account, a hybrid current/savings account which pays 5.35% interest on all balances up to £250,000." Which seems to be an ongoing rate instead of the 6% by A&L only in the introductory period which could be a better deal in the long run...

Also, A&L only pay 6% on the first £2,500 and .1% thereafter.... Coventry pay 5.35% up to £250K

Any thoughts/experiences on this?

Moggles_2

I think you'll find the Coventry First rate includes a 0.85% bonus for the first 12 months.

That said, this rate is payable on balances up to £250K, so for those earning around £50,000 pa or more, it's possibly the better deal.

Dan29

Yes I moved from A&L to Coventry a few weeks ago, as I'm about to receive a lump sum from selling a property. So far the customer service experience is light years ahead of A&L which is a pretty shoddy bank IMHO. However if you move to A&L you can get £90 referral bonus via the referrers board on this site.

humfer

One advantage A&L have if you go for the Premier C/A (not the Direct version) is that it has the opportunity to have a 12% regular saver. Depends if you on what you value the interest more on - savings or current account. There's nothing stopping you doing both though - open the Cov account as your main one, and then the A&L (funding it with £500 from the Cov each month) to get advantage of the regular saver

malky39

i would have thought that having a a&l branch on almost every highstreet is an advantage. I dont know about other countries but in scotland i have never seen a coventry bs

LondonCanuck

Thanks everyone.

Coventry BS: You don't need to earn over £50K, you just need to credit the account with over £1000/month.

I've never seen a Coventry BS either but for that matter, I've never seen an ING retail bank and that doesn't stop me having a savings account with them either!!

A&L: I've seen the referral options (I think it's £50) but I think I'd rather the higher interest rate over the long term.

Dan29 - good to hear you're having a good experience with Coventry so far!! That's very encouraging! :rotfl:

MattyNeth

Hi LondonCanuck - I'm currently in the process of doing by humfer mentions above. Opening my main current account with Coventry, and transferring £500 a month to the new A&L Direct account to take advantage of the 12% regular saver offer.

Also opened a Lloyds current account with a £1 too to take advantage of their 2 year 8% regular saver :-)

Gordon_the_Moron

My nearest town's high street doesn't have an A&L branch. If you open an account with no funding required with one of the big four to put money into then BACS it to Coventry/A&L when you need to deposit cash, what do you need a branch for? Also post office accept A&L deposits.

Iona_Penny

Don't forget that the Coventry BS account requires £1000 per month to be credited from an outside source (does not have to be salary but mustn't come from another Coventry account) This can be managed by transferring £1000 out of Coventry into another account for short period of time and then back again. The account has the benefit of being useful for additional savings as already pointed out as upper limit is £250,000

A word of warning for those with poor past credit: I am trying to open one of these accounts and one question is whether I have ever had a CCJ against me; the answer is Yes although it is over 6 years ago and no longer on my credit file. Because I use my branch I am hoping it will be approved eventually, although it is a stumbling block at the moment, but I think it is an account that is going to be worthwhile so have not given up yet.