Problem with a fixed rate deposit savings account

alanq

ffacoffipawb wrote: »

I'm not sure you could get a rate as good as 4.25%p.a. for 3 years in 2012?

I have a 3-year Close Brother bond from May 2012 that has paid 4.00%.

PeacefulWaters

alanq wrote: »

I have a 3-year Close Brother bond from May 2012 that has paid 4.00%.

My 4.25% fixed rate ISA just matured too.

The expected interest rate is reasonable from that time.

Impossible to help further without the bank being named.

noh

stormy-weathers wrote: »

As explained in previous messages i would rather not give the bank name.I can confirm that it was a genuine three year 4.25%.Yes i'm sure about the amount of the initial investment.
They haven't given us the interest added split by account year.
We have asked.I've tried to get this information from them and they won't respond.The Financial Ombudsman say i need to have received a final response letter before they can look at the complaint.I've explained that they are not answering our letters,emails etc so we can't even get a final response letter.
I'm hoping that because of this they will contact the bank and at least get them to send us the final response letter.I'll be speaking to the Financial Ombudsman again tomorrow.I'm hoping that with them involved the bank will finally respond to all our emails and letters.

The account holder, your nephew, needs to raise a formal complaint with the bank concerned. They will not reply to you, nor should they, as you are not the account holder.
Has he raised a formal complaint with the bank?

stormy-weathers

noh wrote: »

The account holder, your nephew, needs to raise a formal complaint with the bank concerned. They will not reply to you, nor should they, as you are not the account holder.
Has he raised a formal complaint with the bank?

Yes he has sent four emails and three formal complaint letters all have gone unanswered.On the emails and letters he has started each letter
with 'this is a formal complaint letter' he has then outlined the details

oldfella

my guess would be that the 4.25% is an expression of the total return over three years, ie the annual rate is about a third of that.

that produces an answer close to what he actually got.

did you see the term AER anywhere in the documentation ?

xylophone

I'm not sure you could get a rate as good as 4.25%p.a. for 3 years in 2012?

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/saving/article-2114505/Halifax-bumps-year-ISA-rate-4-25-steal-march-rivals.html

colsten

Mentioning the bank is not a problem, even if your nephew is taking them to the FOS.

The FOS won't be doing anything in terms of your nephew's complaint before either he has a final response from the bank or 8 weeks have passed since his complaint, whichever is the earlier. why did he send 3 complaint letters?

The FOS also won't process the case if you bring it to them as you are not the account holder. By all means help your nephew but he needs to be the one who complains.

stormy-weathers

colsten wrote: »

Mentioning the bank is not a problem, even if your nephew is taking them to the FOS.

The FOS won't be doing anything in terms of your nephew's complaint before either he has a final response from the bank or 8 weeks have passed since his complaint, whichever is the earlier. why did he send 3 complaint letters?

The FOS also won't process the case if you bring it to them as you are not the account holder. By all means help your nephew but he needs to be the one who complains.

He sent three complaint letters as they kept saying they had not received anything .It's hard to believe that they have not received three letters.my nephew has been the one dealing with the bank and the FOS.I have been helping him with this.The FOS do allow the complainant to nominate someone else to deal with their complaint but in this instance he has contacted them directly.

stormy-weathers

oldfella wrote: »

my guess would be that the 4.25% is an expression of the total return over three years, ie the annual rate is about a third of that.

that produces an answer close to what he actually got.

did you see the term AER anywhere in the documentation ?

If that's the case then they have made a big mistake.
Yes the terms were in the documentation and we did see them.

masonic

noh wrote: »

I have never had an account where annual statements were not sent. How would the account holder know how much interest had been earned should they need to declare it for tax?

oldfella wrote: »

my guess would be that the 4.25% is an expression of the total return over three years, ie the annual rate is about a third of that.

stormy-weathers wrote: »

They haven't given us the interest added split by account year. We have asked.I've tried to get this information from them and they won't respond.

It sounds as though interest was not paid annually, but at maturity - hence not needing to send an annual statement (there would be no interest paid and none to declare, except at maturity).

However, savings products don't normally operate like this... it's something that's more commonly seen in structured products, where the interest rate is not expressed as an annual or AER figure, but as an percentage of the sum invested to be paid on maturity. :think:

The bank and name of product would be extremely helpful in working this out.