Halifax ISA Direct Reward extra .2% question

Mikeyorks

Mandelbrot wrote: »

I'd assumed the offer letter was separate to the maturing letter. .

No - it's a composite. Both self and wife received ours a few days apart (reflecting the equivalent gap on the maturity dates). So I'd be curious as to these letters being in any way random. As Halifax departed from their norm a year ago - and promised to write pre-maturity despite these being variable accounts.

AirlieBird

Mandelbrot wrote: »

I wonder if the question of whether or not you receive the offer is as simple a thing as whether you have agreed to receive 'marketing'?

Nope. Marketing on (which is unusual for me). no offer letter. no maturity letter.

Mikeyorks wrote: »

As Halifax departed from their norm a year ago - and promised to write pre-maturity despite these being variable accounts.

Really? Well, they've got less than 3 weeks to do so.

carpy

christinejp wrote: »

My husband had a letter telling him his rate would drop, and a form to send back requesting details of other Isas on offer.

that's all it got...

christinejp

As an update to my posts 165 and 166, my daughter went into her local Halifax branch and tried to get them to turn her Isa Direct Reward 4 into a two year fix at 3.7%, on the strength of the letter her brother got. They wouldn't do it, and said they could only give her the new rate of 3.5%.
She is away at university and can't easily sit on the phone to Halifax, as she only has a pay as you go mobile,and it would use all her credit trying to get through to someone.

Anyway, my husband wouldn't give up and rang them from our house and said "look they won't give my daughter the 3.7% rate in the branch, even though the letter says anyone in the household can have it up till 1st March". The Halifax chap on the phone said that he would do it there and then for her if we put her on, but of course we couldn't.

Well the upshot is that our daughter did manage to ring them the next day using someone elses phone with free minutes, and she said they did it straight away with no trouble. Her documentation has arrived this morning stating she has the 2 year fix at 3.7%.

Bear in mind the 3.7% rate dropped on the 4th Feb, and she didn't ring them till the 9th. The moral is, don't give up too easily. It may still not be too late to get that higher rate. The difference in the two rates will make quite a difference over two years if you have a large Isa.

2010

christinejp wrote: »

Bear in mind the 3.7% rate dropped on the 4th Feb, and she didn't ring them till the 9th. The moral is, don't give up too easily. It may still not be too late to get that higher rate. The difference in the two rates will make quite a difference over two years if you have a large Isa.

Well done to her and you for persevering.

I have always found Halifax branch staff somewhat lacking in any matter that involves a customer.
In fact in my local branch one particular member who has been there for years, before you even ask him anything you know his response, "never heard of that", "we don`t do it in branch", "I`ll give you the number to phone", etc.

Of course you`re also up against it on the phone, entirely depending on who you get or probably what side of the bed they got out of that day.

For a 24/7 online bank, is it too much to expect to do everything online, without the need of getting three different answers to the same question from an "adviser".

spike87

With regards to the extra 0.2% interest, I have paid in £1000 into my reward account since opening the ISA, however one month I did withdraw all money from the reward account. Did I read somewhere that there must be at least £1 in the account at all times to qualify for the extra 0.2%?

Thanks

opinions4u

spike87 wrote: »

With regards to the extra 0.2% interest, I have paid in £1000 into my reward account since opening the ISA, however one month I did withdraw all money from the reward account. Did I read somewhere that there must be at least £1 in the account at all times to qualify for the extra 0.2%?

Thanks

No requirement to keep £1 in the current account.

If your ISA dipped below £1, I believe the T&Cs would mean your rate drops to 0.5%. No idea if this is enforced or not.

StephenM_2

I started a partial transfer to the the 2 year fix prior to receiving anything about my Direct Reward ISA reaching its 12 month date. Due to an error on my part (forgetting to sign a transfer form), the transfer has only actually gone through today. But my online account shows the interest as 3.7%.

Now to find somewhere with instant access for the rest of the money.

Nikkster

Mikeyorks wrote: »

Ours 'mature' 13/3 and 16/3 respectively. We had the '2 year fix' offer latish Jan ..... and took up the offer, via post, a few days later.

It would appear (from other threads) that people with maturity dates into late March / April aren't getting the offer. Which suggests the fixed rate was about to be varied. One post, from Friday, suggests the 3.7% was reduced to 3.5% late afternoon ...... which all ties together. However, at the time of writing the website remains unchanged at 3.7%. So ??

Sorry for quoting a slightly older post. Just checked my letter - my ISA reward period ends on Feb 29th and there is no mention of the fixed rates anywhere in the letter. Maybe Halifax don't like me very much?!

Figgerty

I get so irritated at this time of year when I start looking for a place to invest my growing cash ISA. So many accounts will not allow a transfer in of an existing account and fewer still will allow you to pay in funds during the tax year. How am I supposed to get a decent interest rate for my savings without ending up with numerous accounts?