Regular Saver - have i been ripped off?

chelseakel

HELP!
This is my first post so please bear with me!

I have a Barclays Regular Saver 10 per cent.
It matured today but i havent been given 10 per cent interest.

I paid in every month £250 (the max allowed)
Therefore i now have £3,000.
When Barclays sold me this i'm convinced the guy on the phone told me i would get £300 when it matured!

I have been given £53.

Have i been ripped off? Or is this right?
Thank you all in advance for your help!

seven-day-weekend

I can't do all the maths but you won't get £300.

This is because £300 is 10% of £3000.

You haven't had £3000 in for most of the time, only the last month. Therefore the 10% interest based on previous months balances will be less.

Haven't explained this very well - hopefully someone will be along soon who can! - but while I can't say whether £53 is right, I 'm pretty sure £300 is wrong.

LittleVoice

Though £300 is 10% of £3K, your £3K was only the closing balance, not what was in the account throughout the year.
The average balance (roughly depending on dates of deposit) was £1,500 so 10% of that is £150.
20% tax off that leaves £120.
So I agree it doesn't look right.
Ask Barclays for an explanation of their calculation.

SalsaDanca

Over the year, you have had an average balance of about £1,500. You will have earned interest of 10% on £1,500, so about £150. This will be taxed at 20%, so you should receive about £120 interest.

chelseakel

Thank you both for your help!
Why are big banks allowed to state things like that when they sell you products!
I thought it sounded too good to be true!
I have registered a complaint so hopefully they'll explain

jamesp_3

I doubt anywhere it says that you get 10% on your final balance. Savings accounts don't work this way.

However, the interest does look wrong. Have you made any withdrawals during the year? Some account penalise you for this.

chelseakel

Hi Jamesp

I havent made any withdrawls, they explained that i would be penalised, so i didnt.

I did think £300 was a bit unlikely, but £53 also looks wrong.

I'll pop into my branch at lunchtime and see what they say!

Thanks

thumshie

I recall others having problems with Barclays, in that they were opened the the regular savings not regular saver. (Imaging having two accounts whos names are that similar!!)

Interest rate:
http://www.personal.barclays.co.uk/BRC1/jsp/brccontrol?task=articleFWgroup&value=4109&target=_self&site=pfs#regular

Probably works out at £50ish interest...

RocketMan

I think that it is rather lower than it should be, the table below assumes that interest is added at the end of the year, while being based on what is in the account on a monthly basis. It assumes that you opened the account on the 1st, and that all payments went in on the 5th of the month.

Month Days Date In Balance Interest Balance Money IN
January 31 5 £0.00 £1.86 £250.00 £250.00
February 28 5 £250.00 £3.57 £500.00 £250.00
March 31 5 £500.00 £6.12 £750.00 £250.00
April 30 5 £750.00 £7.97 £1,000.00 £250.00
May 31 5 £1,000.00 £10.38 £1,250.00 £250.00
June 30 5 £1,250.00 £12.09 £1,500.00 £250.00
July 31 5 £1,500.00 £14.64 £1,750.00 £250.00
August 31 5 £1,750.00 £16.77 £2,000.00 £250.00
September 30 5 £2,000.00 £18.28 £2,250.00 £250.00
October 31 5 £2,250.00 £21.03 £2,500.00 £250.00
November 30 5 £2,500.00 £22.40 £2,750.00 £250.00
December 31 5 £2,750.00 £25.29 £3,000.00 £250.00

Balance at 1 year £3,160.39
Interest at 1 year £160.39, no tax
20% tax £128.31
40% tax £96.23

I hope this helps, I am reasonably sure my calcs are accurate, wont know till my reg saver matures

Paul_Herring

chelseakel wrote: »

Why are big banks allowed to state things like that when they sell you products!

Erm - because it's true? Did you seriously expect to get 10% per annum on £3000 when you didn't have £3000 in there for a year?

I have registered a complaint so hopefully they'll explain

What have you got to complain about? What you'll probably receive is a patronising explanation as to why you cannot expect to get 10%pa on money that isn't in the account.

Twopints

chelseakel wrote: »

...When Barclays sold me this i'm convinced the guy on the phone told me i would get £300 when it matured! ...

I guess this is what the OP is complaining about. It is entirely possible that the person in the bank did not know how to calculate interest on a regular savings account. Especially as they seem to have opened entirely the wrong account.