Cheltenham 7 Gloucester 3yr Stepped Bond

SallySunshine

I'm rather surprised this hasn't been mentioned more.

Starting at 3.75%, then 4.25% then 4.75%, it seems pretty reasonable.

also it does have a 120 day withdrawal policy if needed for emergencies.

http://cheltglos.co.uk/savings/fixed-rates/index.html#important-info

I'd love to know thoughts on this.
One downside is not having electronic verification, so passports etc have to be posted. unless of course you have a branch locally.

calypso_rhapsody

Indeed the compounded interest over 3 years is only very slightly less than the best 3 year fix at present - which is 4.3% - (only £16.57 less on £10k if i've done my sums right). And the flexibility of being able to withdraw, albeit with penalty, will be attractive to many.

alanq

N.B. Penalty is equivalent of 120 days interest at the first year rate! With similar accounts I have never seen this. I have always assumed at the current rate which would penalise withdrawals in later years more than the early ones.

SallySunshine

Yes alanq, I thought that was rather generous but then if you withdraw for any reason within 120 days of opening the bond you could end up with less capital than you started with!

Hopefully that would be a worse case scenario but one investors really need to think about.

There were some fixed rate offers years ago, I think the Newcastle, that gave you the option for withdrawals without penalties by giving notice.
I remember people were hedging their bets by giving the notice required literally as they opened the account, then cancelling that option when the notice time was up.

opinions4u

Going in to a C&G branch is like walking in to some sort of disruption in the space time continuum.

It's a rather pleasant experience that harks back to the good old days of personal service and staff having time for you.

Onawingandaprayer

opinions4u wrote: »

Going in to a C&G branch is like walking in to some sort of disruption in the space time continuum.

It's a rather pleasant experience that harks back to the good old days of personal service and staff having time for you.

Good grief, they won't last unless they get their act together.

"Yess, sigh. Whatever do you want? Can't you see I'm trying to text me mum" is far closer to the current acceptable customer service levels where I do my day-to-day banking.

claire07

Was originally tempted by this but not if they don't do online verification. I don't want to risk my passport or driving licence by post and I'm not near any C&G branches now as they seem to have closed them down.

SallySunshine

claire07, it is a nuisance with having no electronic verification, a few years ago I applied on-line for accounts with 2 large B.S.'s within minutes.

I was verified immediately with one but not the other and had to send passport and utilities bill. I sent them by signed for delivery and they were returned the same way but wasn't comfortable doing this as anyone handling them could see by the address and feel of the packet what the contents were.

When I told the B.S. that the other one had cleared me immediately and why couldn't they. I was told there were several ways of checking and theirs hadn't cleared me:mad:

TCA

claire07 wrote: »

Was originally tempted by this but not if they don't do online verification. I don't want to risk my passport or driving licence by post and I'm not near any C&G branches now as they seem to have closed them down.

You wouldn't send originals of these valuable documents - only certified copies. But that in itself can be a pain unless you know one of the relevant people who can sign it off.

SallySunshine

No bother there then:mad:

I'm sure my local bank staff would be delighted to sign copies of the originals and declare it is a true likeness of me on my driving licence, especially when I was withdrawing a large sum from their bank!

Perhaps the local estate agent would also sign a statement if I promised him 'first dibs' if and when I sold my house.

My O.H. was at the doctors surgery today with acute conjunctivitis, blast, he could have got him to sign the statement, before writing out the prescription.

'Just blow into this bag , Sir.'
'Certainly Officer but before I do, can you just sign this photocopy of my driving license before it is confiscated'

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

10_66

SallySunshine wrote: »

I'm rather surprised this hasn't been mentioned more...

...I'd love to know thoughts on this.
One downside is not having electronic verification, so passports etc have to be posted. unless of course you have a branch locally.

OH opened one of these a few months' ago. Went to "local" branch (30 miles away) with ID. C&G rang the next day saying they'd photocopied the wrong bit of driving licence, could it be taken in again!! Err, no! I ended up taking it into a closer LTSB branch, who wouldn't authenticate it as it wasn't my driving licence or account (not surprised they wouldn't). I just told them to send it to the C&G branch involved. Don't know how they got around it, but the account was opened. Don't know what'll happen to it when C&G is sold by LTSB, I did write a letter to C&G asking this, but never got a reply, I imagine because they don't know themselves yet.