Changes to Reward and Ultimate Reward Accounts

Steve_xx

Gromitt wrote: »

There's no point in escalating it, it will not get you anywhere.

What they say is the truth, you have not been told "a whole bunch of cobblers".

You had an account downgraded as per the T&Cs. Once an account has been downgraded, you need to re-apply to have it changed back to a Reward account, so the T&Cs apply here also as to you can only have 1 Reward account.

Anyone who setup the DDs in time didn't have the accounts downgraded, so they get to keep their Reward accounts.

My friend had his DD's set up in time in April but then his Tesco account was closed in May. Thankfully as I said in an earlier post, Halifax didn't downgrade his accounts and although he didn;t get the £5 reward in June, he has got the July reward. Also, I think I read somewhere in their T&C's that they would give you a couple of months notice before they did downgrade an account?

Gromitt

Steve_xx wrote: »

I think I read somewhere in their T&C's that they would give you a couple of months notice before they did downgrade an account?

I think that letter went out in February, stating the new conditions and that they believe your account would be included unless you had 2 DDs setup by a certain date.

So therefore I'd say that if you didn't get downgraded, you were very lucky, but if you did and have more than one reward account, I don't expect them to change it back to a reward account.

I didn't want any risk, so I setup my DDs for March, so in April they had already been paid, so if my account was downgraded, I could complain that I had followed all the T&Cs.

Since EdinburghStatto didn't get the DDs setup in time, it's only his fault that the account got downgraded.

Steve_xx

Gromitt wrote: »

I think that letter went out in February, stating the new conditions and that they believe your account would be included unless you had 2 DDs setup by a certain date.

So therefore I'd say that if you didn't get downgraded, you were very lucky, but if you did and have more than one reward account, I don't expect them to change it back to a reward account.

I didn't want any risk, so I setup my DDs for March, so in April they had already been paid, so if my account was downgraded, I could complain that I had followed all the T&Cs.

Since EdinburghStatto didn't get the DDs setup in time, it's only his fault that the account got downgraded.

Yes I think Halifax must have regarded the two month notice period as starting from when they issued those letters earlier this year.
However, in my friends case, he had the two DD's set up on each of his accounts by the due date in April, so all was well in May. But in May Tesco closed his account and although the DD's were still showing on the HBOS accounts, no monies were drawn in May and no reward was paid in June as a consequence. However, he opened another Tesco account in late May and the first DD's were taken in June as I said.
I wonder whether if one of the DD's failed to be drawn for some reason if Halifax would notify him giving him a couple of months grace before a downgrade. I guess it's too early to test. But in this instance they appear not to have downgraded the three accounts.

Gromitt

Apparently if you have DDs but they are not paid, you will not get the £5 but you will keep the reward account, but if the DDs are removed, they'll give you notice before downgrading. Which seems exactly like what happened to your friend. He had DDs by the deadline, so no accounts were downgraded.

Steve_xx

Gromitt wrote: »

Apparently if you have DDs but they are not paid, you will not get the £5 but you will keep the reward account, but if the DDs are removed, they'll give you notice before downgrading. Which seems exactly like what happened to your friend. He had DDs by the deadline, so no accounts were downgraded.

Yes that's right. He did have the two DD's in place well in advance of the deadline date and was horrified when he realised what had happened with the Tesco account.

dk7

Ok, realise i'm massively late on this one.

I had 2 reward accounts. One with Halifax, one with Bank of Scotland. Both were happily getting the £5 reward until May, but nothing since - which i've only just noticed!

I now know this was due to me not realizing i needed to have 2 DD's set up on each from May. My own laziness/being distracted with getting married earlier this year.

Anyway trying to get my finances (whats left of them after said wedding) into order.

From looking at my online banking i noticed the Halifax A/c is now just called a "Current Account", but the BoS one is still called a "Reward Current Account".

If i set up 2 DDs to pull from the BoS account and keep the funding going (i've still been recycling £1k through each a/c every month by SO) i presume i will start receiving the £5 reward again?

However is there any hope for the Halifax a/c. Can it become a reward account again if i set up two DD's to pull from that too? Or have Halifax limited customers to one reward account from now on? If thats the case i may as well shut it.

DragonQ

Yes, you can upgrade a Current Account to a Reward Current Account whenever you want. Just get 2 DDs set up and change it.

amibovvered

DragonQ wrote: »

Yes, you can upgrade a Current Account to a Reward Current Account whenever you want. Just get 2 DDs set up and change it.

How? I set up the requisite 2 DDs but was obviously a little late as my account too reverted to a current account and the £5 ceased. I've tried numerous times to upgrade but it won't let me, although the two DDs have been operating since June. One of these days I'll get round to closing the account

YorkshireBoy

amibovvered wrote: »

I've tried numerous times to upgrade but it won't let me, although the two DDs have been operating since June.

By "it", I assume you mean the online system?

A change from 'current account' to 'Reward current account' isn't an "upgrade"...it's a 're-designation'. You need to call them or visit branch.

DragonQ

amibovvered wrote: »

How? I set up the requisite 2 DDs but was obviously a little late as my account too reverted to a current account and the £5 ceased. I've tried numerous times to upgrade but it won't let me, although the two DDs have been operating since June. One of these days I'll get round to closing the account

Dunno, call them? I was specifically told in-branch that they periodically downgrade Reward Current Accounts to Current Accounts if they haven't qualified for the £5pm for a few months (presumably random checks) but that I could upgrade back whenever I wanted.