Northern Rock Fixed Rate Bond

soulsaver

Old_Slaphead wrote: »

Cheers - might give it a go tomorrow at branch

It was an easy open on the phone (available Saturday & Sunday*), but if you need proof of ID you'd still probably be better going to the branch with it.

*"Simply contact us at our UK based call centres on:
0845 600 4466

Lines open:

Mon-Fri8am - 8pm Sat8am - 4pm Sun10am - 3pm"

SnowMan

Old_Slaphead wrote: »

Cheers - might give it a go tomorrow at branch

Info on opening the account is at

http://www.northernrock.co.uk/savings/fixed-rate-bonds/fixed-rate-notice-bond_issue_1/using-this-account/

It is important that account is not just opened but funded before the offer closes.

If you open in branch then you can pay in by cheque. I paid in by cheque yesterday (as well as a separate transfer from my e saver 4). The cheque wasn't cashed straight away so you have time to Faster Payment in an amount to cover it (should be a verb for paying in by Faster payment shouldn't there).

For those opening in branch but funding through a transfer from an internet only Northern Rock account (such as the e saver 3 or the e saver 4) then a process that works seems to be as follows. Open the account in branch with a £1 coin (or a cheque for £1 or two 50 pence pieces if that is your preference ). The account gets opened immediately. Then log in to your internet account without delay for example when you get home and choose the option 'Take money out; Northern Rock transfer'. It asks you for the account to transfer to. When you paid in your £1 you will have been given a certificate of deposit and the account number to be used here is shown on that.

I don't think the '5 year' bond will itself show on internet banking but you can still internally transfer to it as above.

If you want to give 180 days to withdraw you can just go into a branch and give that notice. You then have to arrange the withdrawal itself in the window starting 180 days after the notice and ending 194 days (i.e. 180 + 14) after the notice.

For those without an existing Northern Rock account you need to bring proof of identity in with you of course.

Clearly from soulsaver's helpful posts there are telephone options also.

Make sure you choose annual not monthly interest to get the 4.3% AER (4.07% AER with monthly interest)

SnowMan

As mentioned above if you want to give 180 days to withdraw you can just go into a branch and give that notice. You then have to arrange the withdrawal itself in the window starting 180 days after the notice and ending 194 days (i.e. 180 + 14) after the notice.

The question then arises: Are we absolutely sure you can give 180 days notice of the intention to close/withdraw and then make the decision whether or not to actually close/withdraw 180 days later? The slight question mark here is that if after 180 days you decide not to withdraw, can NR say 'tough we are actioning your closure/withdrawal anyway'.

If NR can't force the closure/withdrawal notice to be actioned then that creates one interesting tactic for savers to give notice to close every 180 days on a continuing cycle with the decision being taken 180 days later on whether actually to close. That brings down the average period to get hold of your money should you want to withdraw to 90 days rather than 180 days (although at any one time the time to withdrawal will be roughly between 0 and 180 days, so it is an average not an absolute).

It says withdrawals can't be made during the notice period but I am assuming (but don't know) you can have concurrent withdrawal notices (for example if you have 20K saved can you give 180 days notice of a 10K withdrawal and then presumable 90 days later you can give notice of a further 10k withdrawal). Again that creates interesting possibilities to create access to SOME of your funds at shorter than 180 days notice.

I am assuming you can't have concurrent withdrawal notices to withdraw in total more than the account balance (so you can't give notice to close the account after 180 days and then a further notice to close the account 3 months later).

Priority for most is getting the account open of course but just wanted to introduce some of the possibilities for those dithering and worried about the 180 days notice.

GlasWolf

I'm planning on treating it as a 6 month rolling bond, giving notice every 6 months and only actioning the withdrawal at the end of the notice period if I need to. The only question is whether you have to specify an amount to withdraw when you give notice, or if you can decide once the withdrawal window is actually open.

Stompa

Can you only give notice in branch? And if so, do they require proof of ID?

SnowMan

Stompa wrote: »

Can you only give notice in branch? And if so, do they require proof of ID?

I think you should be able to do it by post also.

http://www.northernrock.co.uk/savings/fixed-rate-bonds/fixed-rate-notice-bond_issue_1/using-this-account/

under 'Taking Money Out' says

Where applicable all withdrawals will be processed by post only at our Head Office. Alternatively you can visit your nearest branch and your instructions will be forwarded to Haed Office for you. We will then send your cheque to your correspondence address.

The 'Fixed Rate Bonds' paper booklet says

Where applicable all withdrawals will be processed by post only at our Head Office.

Given that you can apply by post without visiting a branch I'm presuming that both the notice can be given by post and the withdrawal can be done by post, but it is easier for me to visit teh branch.

If you visit a branch to withdraw having given and served the notice period then not sure if they will give you a cheque on the spot (if you bring in ID) or whether it is passed on and processed by the head office and they send you on the cheque.

Stompa

SnowMan wrote: »

I think you should be able to do it by post also.

http://www.northernrock.co.uk/savings/fixed-rate-bonds/fixed-rate-notice-bond_issue_1/using-this-account/

Thanks, according to the adviser who just opened an account for me, it appears that you can also give notice of withdrawal by phone - so no need to even leave the house! A bit of a shame that it can't be done online, but it's no big deal.

atypical

SnowMan wrote: »

It is important that account is not just opened but funded before the offer closes.

Are you sure this is the case? Isn't paying in the cheque enough without having to literally give them cash?

If it isn't then people who open by post are probably not going to be able to open it before it closes. I can't see them declining posted applications which are dated the day the issue was released.

rb10

atypical wrote: »

Are you sure this is the case?

It says so on their website:

Northern_Rock wrote:

As long as the bond is still available you can add to your account at any time

atypical wrote: »

Isn't paying in the cheque enough without having to literally give them cash?

Paying in a cheque is funding the account, so is presumably acceptable. SnowMan said nothing about the initial deposit having to be cash, just said that opening it with a £1 coin was an option.

atypical

rb10 wrote: »

Paying in a cheque is funding the account, so is presumably acceptable. SnowMan said nothing about the initial deposit having to be cash, just said that opening it with a £1 coin was an option.

I see that now, misunderstood it the first time.