Interest not paid by Santander

Mattytwo

I'm hoping someone can help...I have a Santander 123 current account and been enjoying the 3% interest rate over the past few years. However I've been a bit stupid resulting in no interest for the past 18 months and am wondering if I could have any recompense from the bank. On my side I changed utility provider and credit card payment which were my two direct debits required for the interest rate. I thought the utility change would have just automatically switched while the other one was probably down to me as I had completely forgotten 2 years down the line that I needed at least 2 direct debits on the account. It just didn't occur to me and now Santander are saying as it is not their fault they are not expected to reimburse the £2-300 interest I was due. I'm usually really sensible with my money so it earns something reasonable so this is particularly gutting that I've missed a trick here. However, I do feel that Santander should have advised me that I was no longer earning any interest. I feel stupid and have to take some responsibility but also annoyed that I wasn't given any information by the bank. Does anyone know if I have I got any chance of recompense?

Alter_ego

Did you look at your statements?

Motormad

IMO you need to take full responsibility,really 2 years!

lippy1923

Technically they did inform you with their statements, online banking,mobile banking etc. 18 months is a long time to not look at the state of a bank account so I would say the answer to your question is NO for any chance of recompense.

Saver-upper

Nope.......

bowlhead99

Mattytwo wrote: »

while the other one was probably down to me as I had completely forgotten 2 years down the line that I needed at least 2 direct debits on the account.

Only "probably" down to you? Who else changed your direct debits, and forgot what to do to qualify for interest?

It just didn't occur to me and now Santander are saying as it is not their fault they are not expected to reimburse the £2-300 interest I was due.

You weren't "due" anything because you didn't meet the qualifications to be due anything, as you had forgotten how to do it, even though they didn't change the qualification rules. This does not mean they owe you money.

I'm usually really sensible with my money so it earns something reasonable so this is particularly gutting that I've missed a trick here.

Yes, you have missed a trick due to making a mistake. Like staying in bed and forgetting to go to work for a day when you have a job that only pays you on days you show up. Your mistake.

However, I do feel that Santander should have advised me that I was no longer earning any interest.

The lack of interest on the statements is the first clue. They have continued to pay the exact right amount of money for the way you use the account. It is not their fault for not knowing how you want to use the account.

I feel stupid and have to take some responsibility

Why not take it all, as it is all your fault, and then it will be a valuable lesson for you.

but also annoyed that I wasn't given any information by the bank.

Apart from the statements made freely available to you showing no interest was being paid, and the unchanged rules which continued to be published on their website about how to qualify for interest if you wanted it. It seems you didn't ask the bank for any more information than that, over the 18 months. So no fault on their side.

Does anyone know if I have I got any chance of recompense?

Yes I do.

The answer is you are not owed any compensation as nobody made any mistakes, apart from you.

What you have got for free is a lesson in what happens if you try to maximise your earned interest without reading the rules of the account (or at least checking what the rules are every so often if you forget.

I calculate that lesson is worth about £200-300, the amount you'll now make next time by following the rules properly. Why not send Santander's CEO a nice card, some flowers and a cheque to thank him for the useful lesson?

organic_wanabe

I don't think you have any chance. DH and I have a Joint Santander 123 account plus an individual one each. A couple of months ago I noticed that my individual one did not receive interest. I phoned Santander to query it and was told that one of my Direct Debits had expired. I said 'Direct Debits don't expire' but they referred me to the company (which was M&S). I phoned M&S and they said that the Direct Debit was still current but had not been used for over 18 months as the Direct Debit was only for the minimum amount and, as I always pay the full bill as soon as it appears, it hadn't taken any money. This is in contrast to my husband's Tesco Credit Card (on his individual account) which always takes the minimum amount even when he pays his bill in full upon receipt. I told M&S to now take the full amount by Direct Debit so it shouldn't happen again. I phoned Santander but they would not budge saying that their terms and conditions state that if a Direct Debit is inactive for 13 months and it is one of the two qualifying, then no interest will be paid. I didn't want to argue too much in case they deducted interest for previous months.

However, to get revenge I opened a Santander Everyday Current Account and transferred this to HSBC for the £200 incentive!

teddysmum

organic_wanabe wrote: »

I don't think you have any chance. DS and I have a Joint Santander 123 account plus an individual one each. A couple of months ago I noticed that my individual one did not receive interest. I phoned Santander to query it and was told that one of my Direct Debits had expired. I said 'Direct Debits don't expire' but they referred me to the company (which was M&S). I phoned M&S and they said that the Direct Debit was still current but had not been used for over 18 months as the Direct Debit was only for the minimum amount and, as I always pay the full bill as soon as it appears, it hadn't taken any money. This is in contrast to my husband's Tesco Credit Card (on his individual account) which always takes the minimum amount even when he pays his bill in full upon receipt. I told M&S to now take the full amount by Direct Debit so it shouldn't happen again. I phoned Santander but they would not budge saying that their terms and conditions state that if a Direct Debit is inactive for 13 months and it is one of the two qualifying, then no interest will be paid. I didn't want to argue too much in case they deducted interest for previous months.

However, to get revenge I opened a Santander Everyday Current Account and transferred this to HSBC for the £200 incentive!

I thought that the direct debits had to be drawn every month to qualify for current account interest.


They certainly have to for the Co-op,as I went into a branch to arrange for the online account and was told that the existing direct debits (phone,water,power and a subscription) I had would qualify, but in the first month no £4 bonus was paid, because of 'insufficient direct debits'.


I rang to query this and discovered that as the water rates are only paid in 10 instalments (been dd for years) the failing month happened to be one of the 'free' months . (I remedied this by asking Severn Trent to change my payments to every month, but will have to re-request, when next year's payment plan is sent out (as it will revert to 10 months).

eskbanker

teddysmum wrote: »

I thought that the direct debits had to be drawn every month to qualify for current account interest.

As ever, the answer is in the Ts & Cs, which do inevitably vary between banks and accounts! So, even though Co-op (and most others to be fair) need DDs to be pulled every month to qualify, Santander don't, they just have to be active, and unfortunately they do become dormant (and therefore inactive) if not used for 13 months....

bigfreddiel

I think this is a wind up, no one can possibly be so stupid!

Dird

lmao this guy. Must surely be fake. Someone killing time at the end of the week