Beware the Halifax 6% Childrens Saver

blueberrypie

23n1th wrote: »

Well the interest they paid me was out by £7 (something to do with net and gross interest),

Re AER:

23n1th wrote: »

I do understand what it means, thats why halifax are now paying me what the owe me, instead of trying to pay me less.

If Halifax is recalculating the interest because it was paid net when it should have been paid gross, that has absolutely nothing to do with the AER.

23n1th

I understand it and I understood what I should have been paid hence halifax's back-pedal. But you're right this issue doesn't have anything to do with AER so why did you bring it up?

opinions4u

23n1th wrote: »

I imagine it does if it says they are 3 years old, I'm unaware of any 3 year olds who pay income tax, I could be wrong.

You are. It is quite possible for a 3 year old to be a taxpayer. Bank staff are not tax advisers.

If thats the case then they wasted my time at the start of the year when they told me to fill one out and go to a branch with it

I would be very confident that no Halifax staff member provided you with the form R85. They don't stock them and the haven't used them for years. Oddly, they will start using them again in July.

and my daughters birth cert, and wasted my time at the end by trying to rip me off and having me do their job for them - which was to tell them the interest they owed me.

There is a key difference between an error and a rip off. If you are incapable of knowing the difference lord help your 3 year old as she learns from her parents. There is no rip off here. Any tax has not gone to the bank. It's gone to HMRC.

Thats probably why they have now admitted their fault and out of character for a bank have compensated me for the trouble.

So you've made them aware of a problem and they have said "we believe you, let's put it right". Yet you're still unhappy. Your choice.

Though is would be nice for them to say up front is that its only 6% on the first £100. But they wont do this since it makes the account sound as rubbish as it is.

I refer you to their web site. The summary section for the account states very clearly "The interest on the Regular Saver is calculated on the balance of the account each month. e.g. If you pay £100 in a month, the balance in the account for the first month will be £100, second month £200 etc. and therefore the amount of interest paid will increase over the year in line with the balance of the account." It's in black and white. It's clear. It's fair. The account pays a very good rate of interest. I'm not aware of anywhere paying more. Describing it as rubbish makes you sound a little bit silly.

Ok so I filled out the R58 (which does confirm a non-tax payer) as they requested, which does tell them my daughter doesn't pay tax, I give it to them and confirm she doesn't pay tax, and provide the birth cert for id purposes, and they ignore it???

Do you think this happened on purpose? Do you think a member of staff on £13k a year sits there thinking "I know, I'll deliberately rob this 3 year old of the tax and give it all to HMRC"?

At the end of the day they've accepted your version of events and said they'll put it right. They've not set out to "rip off" a customer.

But I still don't believe they told you to complete an R85 form. You got that elsewhere.

rb10

23n1th wrote: »

I do understand what it means, thats why halifax are now paying me what the owe me, instead of trying to pay me less.

From your posts above, you clearly do not understand how interest works. You do in fact receive the full 6% AER on the whole balance in the account.

And it seems that the refund that you are getting is on the tax that has been paid on the account. This comes from HMRC (but is paid into the account by Halifax) and is nothing to do with the way that banks calculate interest.

blueberrypie

23n1th wrote: »

I understand it and I understood what I should have been paid hence halifax's back-pedal. But you're right this issue doesn't have anything to do with AER so why did you bring it up?

You claimed that the account was rubbish because it doesn't pay the interest rate it advertises (i.e. you brought it up).

I pointed out that it advertises 6% AER. And that it pays 6% AER.

The problem is not that Halifax has failed to do what it said it would do. The problem is that you didn't get what you expected because you expected something other than what Halifax promised.

23n1th

opinions4u wrote: »

You are. It is quite possible for a 3 year old to be a taxpayer. Bank staff are not tax advisers.

OK I'm wrong then. What other checks do banks do then? I told them she doesn't pay tax, I filled out the r85 form, and I provided proof of her identity. So there was no possibility they should think she is paying tax.

I would be very confident that no Halifax staff member provided you with the form R85. They don't stock them and the haven't used them for years. Oddly, they will start using them again in July.

So halifax have no way of verifying that someone is or isn't paying tax? How can they offer tax free savings like this?

There is a key difference between an error and a rip off. If you are incapable of knowing the difference lord help your 3 year old as she learns from her parents. There is no rip off here. Any tax has not gone to the bank. It's gone to HMRC.

I can only assume they tried to rip me off since I provided everything they required up front, the tax has gone to HMRC because of them.


My 3 year old is fine, and I'd ask you not to bring her into your pathetic attempt at an insult aimed at me, she's an innocent in this. That's your only warning, next time I'll report you. Throw your insults straight at me coward.

So you've made them aware of a problem and they have said "we believe you, let's put it right". Yet you're still unhappy. Your choice.

I'm happy I'm getting my interest and am being further compensated for doing their job for them. I started the thread so others would check there accounts if they had them.

I refer you to their web site. The summary section for the account states very clearly "The interest on the Regular Saver is calculated on the balance of the account each month. e.g. If you pay £100 in a month, the balance in the account for the first month will be £100, second month £200 etc. and therefore the amount of interest paid will increase over the year in line with the balance of the account." It's in black and white. It's clear. It's fair. The account pays a very good rate of interest. I'm not aware of anywhere paying more. Describing it as rubbish makes you sound a little bit silly.

Thanks for the pointless link I already know what it says. Its my opinion that its rubbish as its your opinion its not both, are valid as its a matter of opinion.

Do you think this happened on purpose? Do you think a member of staff on £13k a year sits there thinking "I know, I'll deliberately rob this 3 year old of the tax and give it all to HMRC"?

It either happened on purpose or that 13k a year wasn't doing their job properly and didn't bother with the paperwork. Its not impossible.

At the end of the day they've accepted your version of events and said they'll put it right. They've not set out to "rip off" a customer.

At the end of the day it gets dark. And they would have ripped me off if I hadn't been on top of things and noticed.

But I still don't believe they told you to complete an R85 form. You got that elsewhere.

They did actually, I handed it over to the guy behind the desk and he said I didn't need to. Guess thats what happens when you apply online for something that really should be do in branch.

rb10 wrote: »

From your posts above, you clearly do not understand how interest works. You do in fact receive the full 6% AER on the whole balance in the account.

Ok so I don't understand, what bit did I get wrong? Certainly not that calculation of it. I understand that fine.

And it seems that the refund that you are getting is on the tax that has been paid on the account. This comes from HMRC (but is paid into the account by Halifax) and is nothing to do with the way that banks calculate interest.

Really? So when I rang up and they said it was calculated wrong, they were lying? Glad you sorted that out for me.

blueberrypie wrote: »

You claimed that the account was rubbish because it doesn't pay the interest rate it advertises (i.e. you brought it up).

I said its rubbish I didn't say they weren't paying 6%. I might have mentioned that 6% on the 2nd to 12th payment of 100 isn't 6% due to those payments not being in for the full 12 months. Maybe that was the confusion.

I pointed out that it advertises 6% AER. And that it pays 6% AER.

The problem is not that Halifax has failed to do what it said it would do. The problem is that you didn't get what you expected because you expected something other than what Halifax promised.

You're right I expected to get the £38.65 (which is what halifax promised with the 6%) was owed, not the £31.60 I got which I'm sure you'll agree is not what was promised.

LucyTheDwarf

23n1th wrote: »

I can only assume they tried to rip me off since I provided everything they required up front, the tax has gone to HMRC because of them.

Surely if they were trying to "rip you off" they would have chosen a way to profit from your loss?

But no, they've paid tax in error to HMRC on your behalf. Halifax wouldn't benefit at all from such a "rip off"

LucyTheDwarf

PS: If you can find somewhere else to earn 6% AER, pray do share the details of this account!

(preferably an account that is not for children, as I don't have any)

23n1th

LucyTheDwarf wrote: »

Surely if they were trying to "rip you off" they would have chosen a way to profit from your loss?

But no, they've paid tax in error to HMRC on your behalf. Halifax wouldn't benefit at all from such a "rip off"

True and from reading some of the threads in this part of the forum it seems I'm not the only one Halifax has messed up with. They don't have to be your children.

LucyTheDwarf

Well, the way I see it is that banks will always mess up; they're huge organisations with hundreds or thousands of employees and therefore huge scope for human error, plus the massive computer systems that might sometimes have a flaw that affects us.

It's our job as consumers to be informed and vigilant so we can spot these errors when they occur, and tell the banks. If we're in the right, they will normally correct the error. Sometimes you have to jump through a few hoops or kick up a stink, but we get there in the end.