FORD money fixed rate savings - means you cant close the account unless you die? Really?

MX5huggy

If he’s going to invest then having a percentage held back for a year (8 months) could well turn out to be the best decision of all. #brightside. 

pbartlett

I would point out - just in case you didnt know - that the rules are different for a fixed term isa, in that you CAN, by law, withdraw early (normally paying  a breakage charge).

tomla

Alternative view warning.   
Did he agree in the original terms that the amount could rollover into a new fixed term account? A contract isn't formed by one party not acting. At maturity it wasn't for Ford to decide the money should be locked away again - no matter how many letters they sent. Unless this was pre-agreed in the original documentation?

msallen

We4 said:

Ok, four comments in and we are getting similar messages!  Really appreciate the sanity check and it will be a life lesson!
Thanks very much to all who have responded.

Thanks We4. It's typical for first time posters who don't get the answer they were hoping for to either fail to post again or to start throwing accusations around or get abusive. It's great to see a contrary example 

kuratowski

tomla said:

Alternative view warning.   
Did he agree in the original terms that the amount could rollover into a new fixed term account? A contract isn't formed by one party not acting. At maturity it wasn't for Ford to decide the money should be locked away again - no matter how many letters they sent. Unless this was pre-agreed in the original documentation?

Not disagreeing, but I don't believe I have ever seen a fixed term savings account that didn't have a "What happens at the end of the term" section in the Ts&Cs.

sparklep0ny

kuratowski said:

tomla said:

Alternative view warning.   
Did he agree in the original terms that the amount could rollover into a new fixed term account? A contract isn't formed by one party not acting. At maturity it wasn't for Ford to decide the money should be locked away again - no matter how many letters they sent. Unless this was pre-agreed in the original documentation?

Not disagreeing, but I don't believe I have ever seen a fixed term savings account that didn't have a "What happens at the end of the term" section in the Ts&Cs.

As this one does.

As your Fixed Saver approaches maturity, we’ll send you a letter around a month before it matures, and a reminder email 14 days before the end of the term. Each communication explains that you’ll need to log in to see the maturity options that are available to you. You’ll normally have the option to:

• Withdraw your savings, 
• Re-invest in another Ford Money Fixed Saver, 
• Re-invest in a different Ford Money product, 
• Create a combination of any of the above. 

If we don’t hear from you, and we’re offering another term of a similar length, we’ll transfer your funds into this new term on the maturity date.Of course, we’ll tell you about this and you’ll have the 14 calendar day Right to Cancel, should you decide you wish to cancel the new account following the maturity date.

Any outstanding interest can be credited to the account of your choosing. This could be either into your Nominated Account or another Ford Money account (subject to its Terms and Conditions).

Interest paid to your Nominated Account will be sent to your account on the maturity date (or the next working day where the maturity date is on a weekend or Bank Holiday). If your account matures over the weekend or on a Bank Holiday, and you're transferring some, or all, of your savings to your Nominated Account, you'll earn additional interest for these days. This will be included in the amount we transfer on the next working day.

thisisben123

I found myself in exactly the same position as your son (account matured in mid may, had assumed it would go to an easy access account, got a shock when I discovered it had been rolled over into another fixed year account) but have managed to get my money back through the below....

When I searched my e-mails, I found that in mid-late May, Ford Money had updated their terms and conditions. The e-mail stating this said that if I did not agree to the updated T and Cs and was worse off as a result of them, then I could close my account and access my funds. On enquiry via secure message, Ford confirmed that I was entitled to close my account and access the money (I wasn't worse off in any obvious way as they were just technical changes about the maximum saving amount/interest changes which applied to different account types). I've received the money today, 3 days later.

So I would recommend that your son searches for the equivalent e-mail and pursues that route. Hope the above helps!