Exiting Fixed Term Savings

mkeane64

Hi folks,

Wife took out a Fixed Rate Savers Bond with HSBC start of year, without really looking in to it. Now want to cancel it and move the money to a different supplier's FRSB, but today the oik in HSBC said that we cannot touch the money until the end of the 3 year period.

Can this be right?

Thx in advance for any guidance provided.

ajo24

If you signed up for the 3 year Fixed Rate Saver Bond then yes, your money is tied up for 3 years.

ValiantSon

mkeane64 wrote: »

Hi folks,

Wife took out a Fixed Rate Savers Bond with HSBC start of year, without really looking in to it. Now want to cancel it and move the money to a different supplier's FRSB, but today the oik in HSBC said that we cannot touch the money until the end of the 3 year period.

Can this be right?

Thx in advance for any guidance provided.

The "oik in HSBC" is a human being who was doing their job by correctly advising you that you could not access the money before the fixed period was up. They deserve much more respect than being referred to as an "oik".

Your wife opened an account of which the terms were made clear at the outset. That you now want access to that money outside of those terms is your problem, not HSBC's.

ColdIron

The 'oik' was probably correct. This is usually the deal with fixed rate savings, they are also fixed term. You should check the T&Cs that you confirmed that you had read, understood and agreed to when you opened the account. A brief look shows that their current 3 year saver allows you to exit early with a 90 day penalty, maybe the same will apply to yours

Close early if you need to
Provided the deposit is under £50,000 you can close the bond early for a fee of 90 days interest. Depending on when the withdrawal is made, you may get back less than originally invested. If the deposit is over £50,000 you can't close your bond or withdraw any money until the end of the deposit term.

This and all sorts of other useful information can be found on the HSBC website, it's a great resource for HSBC products

Ifts

mkeane64 wrote: »

Can this be right?

Yes it is right.

You're wife agreed to leave the money in the account for the duration of the fixed term - you should really read up on the conditions of the account before opening it.

Just like the bank cannot decrease the fixed interest rate until maturity, you can't normally gain access before maturity.

mkeane64

Thanks for the answers, and apologies to all but 1 of you for any offence caused by the harmless term oik.

One more question. Can anyone recommend a good divorce lawyer?

RG2015

I was surprised to see that HSBC offer early withdrawal for a relatively low penalty of 90 days loss of interest. I then checked to see their fixed rate bonds and I was appalled to see the rates they were offering.

3 months, 0.30%
1 year, 0.50%
2 years, 0.65%
3 years, 0.70%

And if that was not bad enough they also had the following statement promoting their fixed rate bonds

Get a great interest rate
Earn between 0.30% AER/gross and 0.70% AER/gross depending on amount invested and term chosen


What sort of people do HSBC have in their strategy and marketing departments? Perhaps not oiks but certainly bankers.

Herbalus

RG2015 wrote: »

I was surprised to see that HSBC offer early withdrawal for a relatively low penalty of 90 days loss of interest. I then checked to see their fixed rate bonds and I was appalled to see the rates they were offering.

3 months, 0.30%
1 year, 0.50%
2 years, 0.65%
3 years, 0.70%

And if that was not bad enough they also had the following statement promoting their fixed rate bonds

Get a great interest rate
Earn between 0.30% AER/gross and 0.70% AER/gross depending on amount invested and term chosen


What sort of people do HSBC have in their strategy and marketing departments? Perhaps not oiks but certainly bankers.

They are hardly likely to promote it as anything else are they. Can you imagine?

Get a decidedly average-to-poor interest rate on our products!

RG2015

Herbalus wrote: »

They are hardly likely to promote it as anything else are they. Can you imagine?

Get a decidedly average-to-poor interest rate on our products!

No, but these are not great rates and therefore HSBC are lying and I object to this.

Other banks offer derisory rates but at least they do not have the audacity to claim that they are great. They simply quote the rate.

jimjames

RG2015 wrote: »

No, but these are not great rates and therefore HSBC are lying and I object to this.

Other banks offer derisory rates but at least they do not have the audacity to claim that they are great. They simply quote the rate.

0.7% is 40% above base rate! That would normally be a great rate!

mkeane64 wrote: »

Hi folks,

Wife took out a Fixed Rate Savers Bond with HSBC start of year, without really looking in to it.
Thx in advance for any guidance provided.

Guidance? Can I suggest that next time before you sign up to anything that you do really look into it. Luckily for you it was only a fixed rate account but from other people posting here it could have been a far worse situation and you could have lost all your money.

RG2015

jimjames wrote: »

0.7% is 40% above base rate! That would normally be a great rate!

But these are not "normal" times as regards interest rates.

RCI are offering 2.31% for their fixed three year bond. Therefore, for £10,000 HSBC would pay £70 per year and RCI would pay £231.

It sounds like you are defending HSBC and I cannot understand why anyone on this board would want to do this.