Church House Trust

jackywacky

I'm maxed on my ISA's and Santander 123 account but have some inheritance money that needs putting somewhere.
I'm thinking of opening a Harvest Gold Account from Church House Trust.
It pays 2.75% gross above £50,000 but you have to give 6 months notice for withdrawals which is not a problem.
The account can only be operated over the phone which I'm prepared to put up with.
http://www.church-house-trust.co.uk/cht/assets/pdf/CHT%20Interest%20Rate%20Flyer%20April%202013.pdf
This seems a good rate but Church House Trust rarely come up on comparison sites, is there a reason for this?

Anyone know any pros and cons of this company?

Thanks for reading

Jegersmart

Church House Trust was bought by Virgin a few years back, but didn't buy the CH Investments part. They renamed to Virgin I think, but then recently (early 2013) sold CHT to SAV Credit which is still ongoing I think, so comparison sites may have problems picking this one up as it has been passed round like a ginger-haired stepchild for a few years.

HTH

J

jackywacky

I can understand the comparison sites but it’s the lack of hits when I searched for this company on here that worries me, surely I can’t be the only one to have found it!
At 2.75% I might give it a punt, if the rate starts to fall badly I can always get my money back after 6 months. Having said that it would have to drop some to go below the rates of some of the featured ‘Best Buys’

I'd be grateful for any comments before I commit.
Thanks

Jegersmart

There should be no problems with this, although as I said Virgin have agreed to sell CHT to SAV Credit, I don't know how this may or may not affect things.....

From the CHT website as you have seen no doubt?


Legals

Church House Trust Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Registered office: Discovery House, Whiting Road, Norwich NR4 6EJ. Registered in England no. 980698. Entered on the Financial Services Authority's Register (https://www.fsa.gov.uk/register/), Register Number: 204459.

Important information about compensation arrangements
We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (“FSCS”). The FSCS can pay compensation to depositors if a bank is unable to meet its financial obligations. Most depositors, including most individuals and small businesses, are covered by the scheme.

In respect of deposits, an eligible depositor is entitled to claim up to £85,000. For joint accounts each account holder is treated as having a claim in respect of their share, so for a joint account held by two eligible depositors, the maximum amount that could be claimed would be £85,000 each (making a total of £170,000). The £85,000 limit relates to the combined amount in all the eligible depositor’s accounts with the bank, including their share of any joint account, and not to each separate account. Virgin Money and Church House Trust are both brand names used by Church House Trust Limited. This means that the protection provided by the FSCS is limited to £85,000 for the combined total of deposits with both Virgin Money and Church House Trust.

For further information about the compensation provided by the FSCS (including the amounts covered and eligibility to claim) please call us on 01935 609600, refer to the FSCS website https://www.FSCS.org.uk or call the FSCS on 0800 678 1100 or 0207 741 4100. Please note only compensation related queries should be directed to the FSCS.

jackywacky

Thank you.
I did read it and I didn't think there should a problem but it's nice to get another opinion.
Perhaps a contender for a Best Buy? assuming SAV Credit don't spoil it.

robatwork

You read their website but did you also check the FSA and FSCS just to make sure they weren't "out of date" with their status?

just sayin'

jackywacky

I'll check.

I still find it strange that CHT rates appear to be far better but so little is known about them.

robatwork

Their website looks like the work of about 3 hours, including Jaffa cake breaks

grey_gym_sock

the FSA has an authorization for "Church House Trust Limited", including accepting deposits: http://www.fsa.gov.uk/register/firmBasicDetails.do?sid=58370

though the FSA has their website as http://www.church-house.co.uk/ - which isn't functional. i'm guessing that the use of a different website is just carelessness, though it doesn't inspire confidence.

jackywacky

I'm a bit confused is it CHT or the FSA that are careless?
The link on the FSA website works for me, when clicked it automatically turns into http://www.ch-investments.co.uk/
However the link should ideally be http://www.church-house-trust.co.uk but isn't that just down to the FSA putting up the wrong link on their own website?

Only thing that doesn't inspire confidence for me is that no one has seemed to have heard of them which is suprising when you look at their rates.
http://www.church-house-trust.co.uk/cht/assets/pdf/CHT%20Interest%20Rate%20Flyer%20April%202013.pdf

grey_gym_sock

jackywacky wrote: »

I'm a bit confused is it CHT or the FSA that are careless?
The link on the FSA website works for me, when clicked it automatically turns into http://www.ch-investments.co.uk/

ah, it wasn't doing that redirect when i last tried. it had some default software-not-configured page.

However the link should ideally be http://www.church-house-trust.co.uk but isn't that just down to the FSA putting up the wrong link on their own website?

yes, the redirect is to the site of chuch house investments, which is now a separate company.

i was thinking CHT was careless for not keeping the FSA up-to-date with their current website address.