Nationwide Flex Direct

10_66

plunt wrote: »

...I have decided I will challenge this...

I don't think you stand a cat's chance. They made it very clear right from the word go that they would only guarantee 5% interest on one Flex Direct account.

rb10

plunt wrote: »

hmmm got my letter dated 20th of nov.

However I enquired about this at the time when setting up this account and have written proof they accepted I will get the interest on all 3 of my accounts.

I have decided I will challenge this and use it as back up. Man on the phone also confirmed it as I was opening the account. Opening a current account drops your credit rating by around 10 points (at least from my experience, so will challenge the change based on that as well)

So much for a building society ethos...

You don't have a chance.

The documentation was always clear that you were only ever guaranteed 5% on one account.

And they are giving you two months' notice before reducing the rate - they would be perfectly entitled to just quietly reduce the rate on everyones multiple accounts, without telling you. You have to give them maximum credit for informing people with plenty of notice.

You cannot assume that because your Experian credit score drops by 10 points, the scores used by lenders would also drop by a similar amount. Each lender undertakes credit scoring differently.

plunt

The secure message I got from them earlier on when i asked about the interest rate (around April). Granted its only a couple of months untill the fixed rate period but would like them to stand by their word!


Dear XXXXXXXXX,
Thank you for taking the time to let us know how pleased you were with the service you received.

It's always good to hear from our customers when they receive excellent service.
I have reviewed your FlexDirect Accounts and confirm all three are earning 5% interest.
The 5% interest rate will be applied to your account for a full 12 months after which your rate will revert to the standard credit interest rate for the account.
I would like to thank you for contacting us. If you need anything else please reply to this message.

Regards
XXXXXXXXXX
Customer Consultant
E-Cont@cts
Customer Service and Operations
http://www.nationwide.co.uk

innovate

That will be the end of the career of one Customer Consultant at Nationwide then.

eskbanker

It'll be interesting to see how they respond if you play that back to them but I wouldn't be surprised if they tried something along the lines of:

plunt wrote: »

I have reviewed your FlexDirect Accounts and confirm all three are earning 5% interest.

This was simply a statement of fact at the time, which would have applied to many people on here with multiple accounts.

plunt wrote: »

The 5% interest rate will be applied to your account for a full 12 months after which your rate will revert to the standard credit interest rate for the account.

The use of 'account' in the singular could be read as suggesting that this was a generic cut and paste of account conditions rather than a specific commitment linked to the previous sentence. They'll probably still claim that Ts & Cs override this anyway, even though there's an argument that they could have explicitly added 'subject to Ts & Cs' to a statement that was no doubt made in good faith at the time (and still applies today, albeit only to one account).

But go for it, nothing to lose by raising it with them!

plunt

My message prior to their response was the following. Next time I will be sure to word it better to stop debates as raised in the comments by other people on this thread. However I do feel I have a case, or at least have a bit to stand on. I guess they dont mind paying out 10%+ on their new 'bonds' but cant be bothered to pay out on my 2.5k ... Its all about treating customers fairly, they may have T&Cs, but TCF is priority and can over rule... we shall see! got 2 months to challenge


Dear Nationwide,

[cut out part thanking staff ]

Further to my inquiry can you please confirm the outcome and that it has been sorted. (Confirming all 3 accounts are actually paying 5% as all the account were open on [cut out] despite what nationwide has accidentally changed in the system.)

Many thanks,

[cut out my name]

NewMoneySaver13

I have just had a look back over the letter I received from Nationwide. I saw that it stated the following which was of interest to me and maybe others in a similar situation.

‘This offer is only available on your first FlexDirect account held solely in your name and the first joint account held by you and another customer.’

As I only have 2 Flex direct accounts open the plan is to keep one solely in my name and have the 2nd as a joint account with my partner. This seems less hassle than moving the money into another account and still receiving the same benefit of the 5% interest rate on both accounts.

This might be of interest for those who only have a couple of flex direct accounts open like myself and can make use of a second name on the account.

I will be making a visit to branch with my partner when I can.

BoracicLint

I'm approaching the anniversary of my FlexDirect account, so I intend to move the £2500 possibly to my 123 account, or open a Lloyds Vantage or similar. I'd like to keep the account at Nationwide open but dormant, will I be penalised if I don't keep up the minimum £1000 funding requirement?

EDIT - just found it in the terms and conditions, doesn't imply any charges will be incurred, just loss of interest

sabretoothtigger

When does the 5% interest cease generally, Jan 2014 or could it have already stopped

YorkshireBoy

sabretoothtigger wrote: »

When does the 5% interest cease generally, Jan 2014 or could it have already stopped

Is there a "generally"?


For the first account opened, on the anniversary of account opening.


For second and subsequent accounts, the date which is 2 months after the date on the letter they sent you (just because you haven't received it they'll still pull the plug on this date).