BSocieties, Banks Closed accounts.

SeethingSaver

I have just realised I have an account with norwich and peterborough that they have designated as one of their closed accounts for which they have paid me 0.0005% interest.
Yes that is one twentieth of one percent!

Seemingly this rate is because they say the account minimum balance is £5000 to get a whopping whole 1%.
Isn't it about time we had the situation with closed accounts fairly addressed?
Once an account has been discontinued with the rate being offered on it bearing no relation to the place it held in the market when the account holder opened it, then would you not agree that it would be fair that all restrictive elements of that account should no longer apply.
The society has shunned the conditions the account was offered to the public but they expect the account holder to respect the onerous terms and conditions of what is a now defunkt account.
This is all a little one-sided is it not?

If someone buys a product in a shop that item does the something that it is sold to do until it wears out.
When someone buys a building society account the invitation to treat element of the contract is essentially the interest rate level that account holds relative to others on offer.
By discontinuing an account then pitching the interest rate at a significantly lower relative level compared to other accounts then the society have gone back on that initial invitation to treat which they used to persuade the customer to purchase the society's account in the first place.

Anyone else think we should try to get some pressure applied on banks and societies to clean up their act when it comes to exploitation of what after all are long-standing customers, as I do not think it is the only advantage they take of them.

talexuser

My heart is sympathetic to your point, but my head says you sign up to a contract with Terms and Conditions and should understand them. We have the standard response here of "it's your responsibility to look after your own money" but there may be circumstances e.g death in family that could lead to situations like this through no fault of your own.

As to "exploitation of what after all are long-standing customers" this is a very good definition of how the industry makes its' profits!

IMHO if every account had good conditions the best buys would disappear and we would have a non-choice of all very low paying accounts.

Mandelbrot

talexuser wrote: »

My heart is sympathetic to your point, but my head says you sign up to a contract with Terms and Conditions and should understand them.

The main drawback to that is that the T&Cs often (always?) include a section saying that the Bank/BS can alter the T&Cs (usually to their benefit) simply by giving x days notice of doing so.

talexuser

Mandelbrot wrote: »

The main drawback to that is that the T&Cs often (always?) include a section saying that the Bank/BS can alter the T&Cs (usually to their benefit) simply by giving x days notice of doing so.

Quite correct, but they must write to inform giving you the chance to withdraw if you don't like the changes.

opinions4u

SeethingSaver wrote: »

I have just realised I have an account with norwich and peterborough that they have designated as one of their closed accounts for which they have paid me 0.0005% interest.
Yes that is one twentieth of one percent!

i make the rate you quote one two thousandth of a per cent.

Seemingly this rate is because they say the account minimum balance is £5000 to get a whopping whole 1%.

Well if that's what the terms and conditions of the account say, what would you expect them to pay?

Isn't it about time we had the situation with closed accounts fairly addressed? Once an account has been discontinued with the rate being offered on it bearing no relation to the place it held in the market when the account holder opened it, then would you not agree that it would be fair that all restrictive elements of that account should no longer apply.

Not really.

The society has shunned the conditions the account was offered to the public but they expect the account holder to respect the onerous terms and conditions of what is a now defunkt account.
This is all a little one-sided is it not?

Which condition have they broken?

If someone buys a product in a shop that item does the something that it is sold to do until it wears out. When someone buys a building society account the invitation to treat element of the contract is essentially the interest rate level that account holds relative to others on offer.

only if the specified interest rate is contractual.

By discontinuing an account then pitching the interest rate at a significantly lower relative level compared to other accounts then the society have gone back on that initial invitation to treat which they used to persuade the customer to purchase the society's account in the first place.

Not sure what the point is that you're trying to make. You took an account. The rate changed. It's not a new phenomena with variable rate accounts.

Anyone else think we should try to get some pressure applied on banks and societies to clean up their act when it comes to exploitation of what after all are long-standing customers, as I do not think it is the only advantage they take of them.

Rates on web sites and statements. Letters advising you of rate reductions.

In the end you are responsible for your own money. If you can't be bothered to keep track of it don't expect a non-charitable organisation to do it for you.

grey_gym_sock

it's sharp practice.

i mean: when a bank/BS has an interest rate that they're prepared to pay for a certain kind of account with a certain balance, but they don't, because you failed to switch to a new account.

i'd rather put my money with a BS who didn't do that. i haven't found 1, though.

alanq

grey_gym_sock wrote: »

i'd rather put my money with a BS who didn't do that. i haven't found 1, though.

Yorkshire Building Society Internet Saver may fit the bill.

Interest rate is variable currently 2.10% and has been that rate since 22 February 2009. So not as good as accounts with bonuses but better than most accounts after bonus has expired. It also comes with the option of a Link card.
http://www.ybs.co.uk/savings/online/internetsaver/index.html?int_cmp=sav_online_lcol1_intSav_jun09

SeethingSaver

So what part of the financial services sector do you work for opinions4u?
The rate should have shown 0.05% my error keyboard must have stuck.

Let's face it the terms and conditions of all these places are so one-sidedly constructed that anyone who doesn't want to just stash their money under the bed has no alternative but to agree to a whole barrage of not understood or wholly agreed things.
The essential terms should be simplified (yes that word again) to just be the interest rate paid, amount limitations and withdrawal restrictions.
This is what the banks and building societies concentrate on in their advertsisng (or invitation to treat) and this is what the potential customer is interested in.
Moreover the interest rate standing in comparison with other interests rates at the time the product is launched should be something the bank or society is forced to maintain.

There are a multitude of variations on the virtually same account products out there and this is continually being complicated by banks etc. coming out with more versions of the same thing or new issues.
You obviously must enjoy spending your time trawling through all of these as they come out then researching what it all means to where you have your money at present.
Lots of the rest of us don't !
Infact we resent the amount of effort we are forced to put in to try and just eek out an extra fraction of a percent so our bank of england penalized savings give us a return we can afford basics with.

Thank you for your opinions but they sound in my opinion like they come from the fsa - protector and defender of the banks and building societies - meticulously picking every bit of justification they can clutch on to on their behalf.

SeethingSaver

alanq wrote: »

Yorkshire Building Society Internet Saver may fit the bill.

Interest rate is variable currently 2.10% and has been that rate since 22 February 2009. So not as good as accounts with bonuses but better than most accounts after bonus has expired. It also comes with the option of a Link card.
http://www.ybs.co.uk/savings/online/internetsaver/index.html?int_cmp=sav_online_lcol1_intSav_jun09

Yes I do like the Yorkshire's attitude of stability. They have also proved to be realistic level headed people when talking with their senior customer liaison staff.

SeethingSaver

opinions4u wrote: »

i make the rate you quote one two thousandth of a per cent.

Well if that's what the terms and conditions of the account say, what would you expect them to pay?

Not really.

Which condition have they broken?

only if the specified interest rate is contractual.

Not sure what the point is that you're trying to make. You took an account. The rate changed. It's not a new phenomena with variable rate accounts.


Rates on web sites and statements. Letters advising you of rate reductions.

In the end you are responsible for your own money. If you can't be bothered to keep track of it don't expect a non-charitable organisation to do it for you.

Reply to these comments are in separate posting which I see has gone above (not very familiar with how this site operates)

opinions4u

SeethingSaver wrote: »

So what part of the financial services sector do you work for opinions4u?

I don't. But in fairness I have done and make no secret of it.

Let's face it the terms and conditions of all these places are so one-sidedly constructed that anyone who doesn't want to just stash their money under the bed has no alternative but to agree to a whole barrage of not understood or wholly agreed things.

That's not really true. While a typical set of T&Cs will run to 20 pages most of these are explaining how a bank does business and complies with law and regulator.

They are not one sided.

The essential terms should be simplified (yes that word again) to just be the interest rate paid, amount limitations and withdrawal restrictions.

And this is invariably very clear.

Moreover the interest rate standing in comparison with other interests rates at the time the product is launched should be something the bank or society is forced to maintain.

But they are not forced to. So you need to keep an eye on your money. They do help you though with a range of interest rate notification methods including letters, adverts, websites and statements.

There are a multitude of variations on the virtually same account products out there and this is continually being complicated by banks etc. coming out with more versions of the same thing or new issues.

The most common variant being a fixed term bonus.

You obviously must enjoy spending your time trawling through all of these as they come out then researching what it all means to where you have your money at present.

In much the same way I research petrol prices locally, supermarket prices and other major purchases.

Lots of the rest of us don't !

It's a choice.

Infact we resent the amount of effort we are forced to put in to try and just eek out an extra fraction of a percent so our bank of england penalized savings give us a return we can afford basics with.

It really doesn't take more than five minutes every three months to keep on top of.

Thank you for your opinions but they sound in my opinion like they come from the fsa - protector and defender of the banks and building societies - meticulously picking every bit of justification they can clutch on to on their behalf.

No. I understand your frustration. But if you choose to pay an ever increasing price for your milk in Tesco when there's an identical carton for 20p on the same aisle that's up to you.

I prefer to beat the !!!!!!s at their own game.