Over 85k in savings, should I move to NS&I? Questions

pp556677

Hi

I understand this provider is backed by the treasury and money is protected 100% in the case of a collapse.

Is it the right move to move the savings over the threshold there?

Any drawbacks/gotchas with their saver account?

Can I access my money at any time?

Do they have physical branches?

Can I use the money with no issues to make a purchase in the future (like house)?

Do they have an app? I could not find one in the app store

Thanks

grumiofoundation

The 85k limit is per institution not in total. So you can just split the money into <85k chunks with different institutions. 

pramsay13

You can move anything over the limit to a different banking institution.
Drawback with NS&I is the poor rate.
You can access it at any time, but takes a few days to withdraw.
No physical branches as far as I'm aware.
Yes, you can use the money with no issues.
I don't think they have an app other than the prize checker for premium bonds. 

pp556677

Thanks I am not really concerned about the rate, rest sounds good, thanks for replying!

pp556677

grumiofoundation said:

The 85k limit is per institution not in total. So you can just split the money into <85k chunks with different institutions. 

I'd just rather keep the bulk in one safe place rather than a lot of bank accounts and micromanage that, hence why looking at NS&I

grumiofoundation

pp556677 said:

grumiofoundation said:

The 85k limit is per institution not in total. So you can just split the money into <85k chunks with different institutions. 

I'd just rather keep the bulk in one safe place rather than a lot of bank accounts and micromanage that, hence why looking at NS&I

Ah I see.

You could look at premium bonds (also NSandI) - although not guaranteed on full holding (50k) with avergae luck over a decent period of time would expect ~0.8%. (All prizes also tax free). 

Shedman

Best NSI rate (Direct Saver) is 0.15%.  Best easy access savers are around 0.5% (and if you don't need instant access to all of it there are some notice accounts that pay a bit more).  So on £85k you'd make £300 a year (gross) more in interest, on £170k (split between banks of course) that would be £600 more and so on.  

Worth a tiny bit of 'micromanaging' I would have thought.

pp556677

Shedman said:

Best NSI rate (Direct Saver) is 0.15%.  Best easy access savers are around 0.5% (and if you don't need instant access to all of it there are some notice accounts that pay a bit more).  So on £85k you'd make £300 a year (gross) more in interest, on £170k (split between banks of course) that would be £600 more and so on.  

Worth a tiny bit of 'micromanaging' I would have thought.

True and true but everyone's different

Alexland

pp556677 said:

I'd just rather keep the bulk in one safe place rather than a lot of bank accounts and micromanage that, hence why looking at NS&I

For resilience it's worth having a current and savings account with at least 2 unrelated institutions as if there are unexpected issues accessing the money then you can go via the others until the issue is being resolved especially if you are going to use NS&I who have a poor reputation for customer service.

comment_as...

If you don't care about returns then why not? 0.15% is better than short term gilts. You could micromanage this one time though, as long as you split between banks it's protected so why not? When rates fall leave it where it is of you want to. Bank the difference in the meantime since you're going to the trouble of transferring anyway.

pp556677

Alexland said:

pp556677 said:

I'd just rather keep the bulk in one safe place rather than a lot of bank accounts and micromanage that, hence why looking at NS&I

For resilience it's worth having a current and savings account with at least 2 unrelated institutions as if there are unexpected issues accessing the money then you can go via the others until the issue is being resolved especially if you are going to use NS&I who have a poor reputation for customer service.

Ah good to know.

But are there been any problems / concerns over time?  I could not find much information online