Halifax Kid's Saving Account with 5% for 12 months

Arfa__

My kids had one of these Halifax kid's savings accounts, got a good interest rate for a year, then it reverted to rubbish interest. I've just closed their accounts and pulled their savings out (their TSB current accounts paid more interest than the rate Halifax savings acc reverted to). Now looking for a new account to put it in. Is there any reason why I can't just apply for another Halifax saving account again and get 5% for the next 12 months? I couldn't see anything on their terms mentioning how long before one is allowed for the same product again.

I did try applying online anyway (was worth a shot) but got declined with a generic message outlining a whole slew of potential reasons:

This could be because:
• The child has the maximum number of this type of account.
• We could not verify the ID documents you provided.
• The child is aged 16 or above.
• The ID document you provided doesn’t show the same name you used during the application.
• You didn’t provide the full birth certificate.

My kids are definitely under 16, I did upload a photo of their birth certificate. Maybe it wasn't clear enough, who knows! As for 'maximum number of this type account', well they shouldn't currently have any accounts with Halifax right now. Just wondered if anyone else has opened Halifax kid's savings accounts in quick succession like this before I head into a branch and discuss it with them.

ZeroSum

Yeah, it's just a regular saver, so should be able to open a new one, once a year after old one matures 

macy08

I had 3 running, due to mature next year. When the new 5% rate came out I went into branch and closed them down. Then reapplied online, had to do them one by one, waiting for one to open before doing another application. All 3 now have new accounts at 5%.  The only (non) issue I found was they opened 3 new kids savers accounts too, completely ignoring the fact they had one open already.

refluxer

Arfa__ said:

My kids had one of these Halifax kid's savings accounts, got a good interest rate for a year, then it reverted to rubbish interest. I've just closed their accounts and pulled their savings out (their TSB current accounts paid more interest than the rate Halifax savings acc reverted to). Now looking for a new account to put it in. 

I've had a couple of Halifax Kid's Monthly Savers running for the last few years and (at 4%, 2.5% and 5%) they've been pretty-much the highest-paying kids accounts available at the time.

The key to running this account successful is to leave the accompanying Kids Saver open alongside it (even if you don't use it for other savings in the meantime) - that way, the Monthly Saver will pay out into it after a year and will then automatically continue, which is great as it saves you having to reapply for one every year. If you close the Kids Saver straight away, then the Monthly Saver will revert to a Kids Saver and you'd presumably have to reapply for a new Monthly Saver. 

Yes - the Kids Saver has a poor rate but once a Monthly Saver pays out into it, I simply move those savings into a higher-paying account elsewhere. As I tend to let the Monthly Savers continue (due to the good rates) the Kids Saver is then left open with £1 in, ready to receive the balance of the latest Monthly Saver once that matures.  

One benefit of a Kids Saver is that money can be paid directly from it to another kids' account elsewhere. With other kids' accounts I own (eg. Barclays) the only way this can be done (online at least) is via my current account, which could potentially cause questions around the subject of tax, as the money will appear to have come from me.

Arfa__ said:

Now looking for a new account to put it in. Is there any reason why I can't just apply for another Halifax saving account again and get 5% for the next 12 months? I couldn't see anything on their terms mentioning how long before one is allowed for the same product again.

As mentioned above, you can only open a new Monthly Saver once every 12 months and you'd only be able to pay in £100/month so it's not a suitable home for a lump sum.

From 'How do I open and manage my account'...

• If you close the account early, you won’t be able to open another one before the first anniversary of opening the first account.