Regular Savings Accounts: The Best Currently Available List!

redux

alanq wrote: »

The monthly maximum for Issue 2 is £500. For Issue 3 it is £250.

Flexible Regular Saver allows up to £1000pm but only pays 1.50% including bonus.

The original regular saver, shall we now call it issue 1, allows up to £1000 a month, has interest rate 0.05% and bonus of 3.0%

Steve_xx wrote: »

Nobody could have 100k in it because it hasn't been around long enough for that. You can only add 1k a month to it! But I understand the gist of what you say.

I'm not sure exactly when it started. My account was opened in 2002.

About then the monthly limit was £250, increasing to £500 in maybe 2004, and was £1000 by 2007 or 2008.

GreenBitterfly

Thank you to all the posters regarding the Leeds Building Society Regular Saver, I haven't received my letter yet. No doubt that will drop onto the doormat this morning, instead of other letters I was expecting!

I was looking to withdraw the majority of my funds this ISA season anyway into a long term fixed rate ISA. As I wasn't sure how long the savings account would last, guess I was right! Urggh, think I will be putting the money in the First Direct Regular saver now.

premierfella

I for one wasn't surprised by the lack of honesty in the letter (I have the issue 1 account). I don't really expect them to write "we're losing too much money on the account as balances continue to build up at a rate of £x a month). It would have been nice of them not to lie about it though.

It surely wouldn't have been beyond their capabilities to offer to open new issue 3 accounts on request to allow a smooth transition for customers. From reading the letter you'd be forgiven for thinking issue 3 didn't even exist - which is probably intentional as it raises too many difficult questions.

I'll probably virtually empty the issue 1 now and transfer that balance to a P2P account and open an issue 3 in March just to keep membership and voting rights, for what they are worth.

bristolleedsfan

Milarky wrote: »

TYes Leeds does have a streamlined operation for account redemptions/closures - which is a good thing admittedly.

For those not registered online with Leeds B.S or with Branch nearby are they doing BACS transfers out via Postal Instruction please ?

Do you see any wisdom in leaving it in 0.85% account whilst complaining to Leeds B.S with view of taking complaint to the FOS?

If Leeds B.S get away with it then Yorkshire B.S will be tempted to do the same with Regular Saver Issue 1 which is paying 3.75% Gross on up to 20000 :eek:

colsten

bristolleedsfan wrote: »

Do you see any wisdom in leaving it in 0.85% account whilst complaining to Leeds B.S with view of taking complaint to the FOS?

Which of their T&Cs have they breached?

bristolleedsfan

colsten wrote: »

Which of their T&Cs have they breached?

Have you got them to hand because I havent.

Like has been said it was supposed to be an ongoing regular saver with no end date, I dont recall a condition that said it could close the accounts and move the funds to a much lower paying account in the absence of an instruction from the saver.

As Regular Saver 3 says " No fixed term so you can carry on saving"

Term such as Reserve the right to withdraw the account usually means to new account openings.

Term all B.S have, such as they reserve the right to close an account without giving a reason I guess could be tested with FOS, after all a company can put whatever it likes in its T+C doesnt make it fair, doesnt mean it has to be accepted.

colsten

If you want to complain and/or escalate to the FOS, you should get hold of the T&Cs that you consider breached. Otherwise nobody will take your complaint serious. Mind you, having the T&Cs to hand doesn't imply your claim would be reasonable.

To give you some help, the T&Cs contain a clause that reads:

6. Closure of the account
6.1 The account can be closed at any time without notice or loss of interest

and

The Society’s General Investment Conditions will apply unless (and to the extent that) they are inconsistent with these Terms and Conditions.

which in turn say (with my highlighting)

8.5 We can change the interest rate at any time if we reasonably believe that
the change is to your advantage or is needed for any one or more of the
following reasons (which may relate to circumstances existing at the
time or those which are expected to apply in the near future):
(a) to respond, in a proportionate manner, to changes in the Bank of
England Base Rate or any other Reference Rate;
(b) to enable us to manage margins between interest rates charged to our
borrowers and interest rates paid to our investors, or the providers of
funds to us, in the interests of our customers as a whole;
(c) to respond, in a proportionate manner, to any increase or reduction
in costs reasonably incurred by the Society in operating its personal
savings business;
(d) to enable us to harmonise, in a reasonable manner having regard
to the interests of all of our investors, the interest rates being
paid to investors following any acquisition or transfer of deposit or
savings accounts or any takeover of, or merger with another savings
provider or deposit taker;
(e) to respond, in a proportionate manner, to changes in the law or
the interpretation of the law, decisions or recommendations of an
Ombudsman, regulator or similar person, or any code of practice
with which we intend to comply. We can also change the interest
rate on your Account for any other valid reason (not being a reason
specified in this condition 8.5)
where we believe the change is appropriate. Depending on the nature of
the change and the type of account you have, we will give you notice of
a change in interest rate on your Account in one of the ways set out in
conditions 8.6 to 8.9 (inclusive) below.

EarthBoy

bristolleedsfan wrote: »

Like has been said it was supposed to be an ongoing regular saver with no end date, I dont recall a condition that said it could close the accounts and move the funds to a much lower paying account in the absence of an instruction from the saver..

Having no end date didn't mean that they promised to keep the account going for ever. The regular saver has always been a variable rate account, even if the interest rate hasn't changed for several years.

wmb194

I've found the PDF of T&Cs via the wayback machine internet archive and going to September 2013 (I'm not able to post a link);

"Product Terms & Conditions
The Society’s General Investment Conditions will apply unless (and to the extent that) they are inconsistent with these Terms and Conditions.

RegularSaver (Issue 2)
Effective from date of account opening
1. RegularSaver (Issue 2) is a variable rate, non-fixed term account.

... (2 to 9., up to £500 pm, date interest is paid, conditions for the bonus to be paid, etc.)

10. The levels of any Bonus payment is a condition of the account and can be varied in accordance with the Society’s General Investment Conditions."

So, basically, forget it.

ernie-money

Hi,
I've opened a regular saver for my son with Nationwide, but now received letter confirming account opening and the account number is in this format: 0000/000000000. I've looked it up on their website and apparently the sort code should be 071040, but is the account number a part of the longer number given? On their site it says: Your 8 digit account number is presented to you on the confirmation screen when opening the account.
but we opened the account in branch and got a letter sent home with account details.
I've sent them a message to ask, but guess it'll take a couple of days to hear back, and just thought someone might know the answer..?
Thanks!