Unable to close account / withdraw savings

listylister

Hi,
I have a "double take e-savings" account with virgin money which I setup last year and put the majority of my savings in. I was unaware that it was limited to 2 withdrawals and have since made these 2 withdrawals. I now want to close my account and/or withdraw money from it, but I rang the customer services team today and they informed me that I am not able to close my account and I am not able to make any withdrawals full stop until next Jan.

Is this true? Is there any way to get around this do you know?

If so it leaves me in a little bit of a bad situation as that money was reserved for work I need doing on my house that I just moved into. One of which includes a new boiler.

Thanks for your help

msallen

I've no experience of that particular account (although I'm surprised you didn't wonder what the name meant if you weren't aware of the withdrawal limit), but in general if you have signed up to those terms & conditions then you are bound by them I'm afraid.

listylister

I don't particularly pay attention to the name of accounts if i'm honest. It's more the interest rate. Also the name doesn't really suggest that it only allows 2 withdrawals. It sounds more like you have to double take to believe the interest rate...

I wondered if there was a way around them in terms of being in a particular situation or ways around the terms and conditions that anyone knows of.

ColdIron

To be fair to Virgin, they make it very plain that you can only make two withdrawals, it's not hidden away in the small print and it's even implicit in the account name, Double Take E-Saver. The entire point of the account is that you receive a higher than usual rate interest rate in exchange for limited access. The details are also in the Terms and Conditions which you declared that you have read and agreed to when you opened the account so it is certainly true

Two withdrawals can be made per calendar year. Once the second withdrawal has been made no further withdrawals can be made until the next calendar year. Closing your account counts as a withdrawal and so you will not be able to close your account if you have already made two withdrawals in a calendar year.

AnotherJoe

Ask a relative to sub you until the end of the year.
Take a small loan.
Delay your works.

verybigchris

Their advertising makes it very clear you can only withdraw twice per calendar year. However, their terms & conditions don't appear to make any reference to it.

It might be worth getting in touch with VM, and asking them to either process the withdrawal or point you to the section of the t&cs which enforces the restriction.

AnotherJoe

Here's a possible loophole

Can Virgin Money change the interest rate?

Rates are variable. This means we may increase or decrease interest rates at any time. When we decrease interest rates we will give you at least 14 days notice before the rate reduces. You can close or transfer your account for 30 days from the date of the notice without being charged even if you have already made two withdrawals that calendar year.Please refer to section 10 within the Savings terms and conditions.

alanq

verybigchris wrote: »

Their advertising makes it very clear you can only withdraw twice per calendar year. However, their terms & conditions don't appear to make any reference to it.

The Terms & Conditions are general to all savings accounts. The account specific conditions are in the Key Product Information.

The Terms & Conditions state
"Here are the terms and conditions of your Virgin Money Savings Account. Together with your Key product information sheet with summary box ... they make up our agreement with you."

https://uk.virginmoney.com/virgin/assets/pdf/terms_conditions.pdf

https://uk.virginmoney.com/savings/pdf/Double_Take_E_Saver_Issue_4-key_product_info.pdf

listylister

Thanks for your help. I have emailed their customer relations team to explain the situation, fingers crossed they are able to do something to help.

AirlieBird

verybigchris wrote: »

Their advertising makes it very clear you can only withdraw twice per calendar year. However, their terms & conditions don't appear to make any reference to it.

It might be worth getting in touch with VM, and asking them to either process the withdrawal or point you to the section of the t&cs which enforces the restriction.

VM make it clear in the opening paragraph of the T&C that the Key Product Information sheet with summary box forms part of the agreement.

alanq

listylister wrote: »

I don't particularly pay attention to the name of accounts if i'm honest. It's more the interest rate.

In that case it's fortunate that you didn't end up with a 5-year fixed rate account.