Christmas Saver

Tjrw1985

Hi All,

Was after a bit of advice,

I opened a Christmas Saver account which had a very nice interest rate on it of 3.5% which advised it pays this on the maturity date which is 30 November 2011.

I have been advised today on what this is and it is much lower than what I thought it would be.

Apparently the 3.5% is paid pro-rata on how long the money has been in the account but the t&c's do not state this, just says 3.5% is added on 30 Nov.

Help!!

Saints2011

If this was a Monthly Saver you didn't have the capital you do now over the full twelve months for example month one £250 at x interest rate month two £500 at x interest rate. Its only month 12 that you would be getting £3000 on x interest rate

Tjrw1985

It was a monthly saver, however.

The t&c's say that 3.5% interest will be added on 30 Nov 2011.

This does not say it will be pro-rata dependent on how long the money had been in there.

Problem I have is I work for the company.

Catslovelycats

???
You'll only earn interest on the balances in the account for the period of time they have been sitting there. If you have £100 in the account for 10 days and £1000 for 20 days, for example, they'll earn the interest for those periods. You wouldn't get 3.5% on the balance for the whole year if it hasn't been in the account for that long.

qpop

As quoted from Money Saving Expert's regular saver page:

Don't believe the bad press

Sadly regular saver accounts often receive negative publicity due to a flawed understanding. Many people say they've used regular savers, but only received around half the interest they thought they would... yet that's because they expected the wrong amount, not because they were underpaid. Here's a wee example...

Mr Matt Mattics and his £3,000 savings
Matt has saved a total of £3,000 in a regular savings account paying 10% interest over a year, and is a non-taxpayer.
What Matt expects to earn? His simple sum works out that he's put £3,000 in at 10% therefore he should earn £300 in interest
Why is this wrong? Matt only had £3,000 in there for the last month; it took a year to build up to that amount. You only earn interest on money in the account. So after the first month he was earning the 10% on just £250, half way through the year he was earning it on £1,500 .
How Matt should work it out? Over the year, his average balance was roughly half the £3,000, in other words £1,500... so Matt should expect to earn around 10% of £1,500 over the year, which is £150.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-regular-savings-accounts

Tjrw1985

This should still be in the t&c's. Not all of us use regular savings accounts on a regular basis, so would not have known this.

Im not having a go about the account but just feel the t&c's should be stating this.

Catslovelycats

Tjrw1985 wrote: »

This should still be in the t&c's. Not all of us use regular savings accounts on a regular basis, so would not have known this.

Im not having a go about the account but just feel the t&c's should be stating this.

This is how credit interest is always worked out whatever the account.

Jegersmart

Tjrw1985 wrote: »

This should still be in the t&c's. Not all of us use regular savings accounts on a regular basis, so would not have known this.

Im not having a go about the account but just feel the t&c's should be stating this.

Hi

Please scan in and post terms and conditions you have been given.

If you find any accounts in the future that pay 3.5% as long as the funds are there on a certain day let me know. I would gladly put as much money in there as I could get my hands on - and I would also borrow to do it.

J

steady__eddie

I opened one of these last year and have the details to hand. Nowhere in the sales blurb is the word "regular" mentioned, it is simply known as a "Christmas Saver". "Save up to £1200 until the end of November 2011", "add to your savings whenever you wish".
I recall some chat on here about opening the a/c. with £1200 and leaving it to mature, a ploy that I operated.
I am assuming that the O P did not do this, hence the reason for his post.

le_loup

If you put in £100 on day one, then £1,000 on the last day, would you expect annual interest to be paid on £1,100?
If you ever find an account that does, let us all know, we will all jump in.
What would have been quoted would be an annual interest rate, so what others have stated is perfectly correct and what most people would expect if they think about it for slightly over two seconds.

le_loup

steady__eddie wrote: »

I opened one of these last year and have the details to hand. Nowhere in the sales blurb is the word "regular" mentioned, it is simply known as a "Christmas Saver".

What do the T&Cs say? How is the interest rate quoted?