Hinckley & Rugby Interest Rate Reduction.

subjecttocontract

I received a reply today from H & R regarding the 13 day notice they provided instead of the 14 day notice required by the rules. They informed me that the interest rate reduction would be pushed back by 1 day in order to comply.

ForumUser7

subjecttocontract said:

I received a reply today from H & R regarding the 13 day notice they provided instead of the 14 day notice required by the rules. They informed me that the interest rate reduction would be pushed back by 1 day in order to comply.

Thanks for the update.

Their website still says 4th May, so hopefully that’ll be updated to reflect what they told you in due course.

35har1old

ForumUser7 said:

subjecttocontract said:

I received a reply today from H & R regarding the 13 day notice they provided instead of the 14 day notice required by the rules. They informed me that the interest rate reduction would be pushed back by 1 day in order to comply.

Thanks for the update.

Their website still says 4th May, so hopefully that’ll be updated to reflect what they told you in due course.

I asked the same question but i did not get a answer
My reply
Thank you for bringing your concern to my attention. The purpose of launching the Regular Saver account was to encourage consumers to get into a regular savings habit, either to act as a buffer in these difficult times or save for a future purchase. The Regular Saver was also created to be the account we will use in a Workplace Savings initiative and intended to use it to support businesses and employees across our home territory of Leicestershire and Warwickshire. We launched the Regular Saver account in September 2022 in UK Savings week with a strong interest rate to encourage the savings habit, with the volume of accounts opened and deposits received has exceeding our expectations. We believe that the interest rate has been the main attraction and to ensure we can continue to offer the account, we had to make a difficult decision to reduce the interest rate by 0.5%. We feel that the rate of 4.25% continues to be attractive. I hope that you can understand that when we have a strong inflow of money, not addressing this can cause impacts on other services we provide to our Members. You will be able to close your account without notice until the 5th June. If I can be any further assistance, please contact me.

ForumUser7

35har1old said:

ForumUser7 said:

subjecttocontract said:

I received a reply today from H & R regarding the 13 day notice they provided instead of the 14 day notice required by the rules. They informed me that the interest rate reduction would be pushed back by 1 day in order to comply.

Thanks for the update.

Their website still says 4th May, so hopefully that’ll be updated to reflect what they told you in due course.

The Regular Saver was also created to be the account we will use in a Workplace Savings initiative and intended to use it to support businesses and employees across our home territory of Leicestershire and Warwickshire.

If it was intended to support businesses and employees across their home territory, they should’ve put postcode restrictions on it… It appears this product wasn’t very well thought through, and they didn’t keep a close enough eye on the inflow of funds or applications, and that ultimately caused its downfall.

ForumUser7

ForumUser7 said:

subjecttocontract said:

I received a reply today from H & R regarding the 13 day notice they provided instead of the 14 day notice required by the rules. They informed me that the interest rate reduction would be pushed back by 1 day in order to comply.

Thanks for the update.

Their website still says 4th May, so hopefully that’ll be updated to reflect what they told you in due course.

Now corrected on their website:

allegro120

ForumUser7 said:

ForumUser7 said:

subjecttocontract said:

I received a reply today from H & R regarding the 13 day notice they provided instead of the 14 day notice required by the rules. They informed me that the interest rate reduction would be pushed back by 1 day in order to comply.

Thanks for the update.

Their website still says 4th May, so hopefully that’ll be updated to reflect what they told you in due course.

Now corrected on their website:

I wonder if "in writing" means that I can withdraw or close my account by writing a "secure message", not sending a letter. I'm guessing "by telephone" will be difficult because they will have a lot of calls during the penalty free period.

ForumUser7

allegro120 said:

ForumUser7 said:

ForumUser7 said:

subjecttocontract said:

I received a reply today from H & R regarding the 13 day notice they provided instead of the 14 day notice required by the rules. They informed me that the interest rate reduction would be pushed back by 1 day in order to comply.

Thanks for the update.

Their website still says 4th May, so hopefully that’ll be updated to reflect what they told you in due course.

Now corrected on their website:

I wonder if "in writing" means that I can withdraw or close my account by writing a "secure message", not sending a letter. I'm guessing "by telephone" will be difficult because they will have a lot of calls during the penalty free period.

I have previously given my notice via secure message. For the withdrawal/closure itself, they would require you to post in the passbook and a covering letter with a wet signature I think, and then they’ll post out a cheque to you

allegro120

ForumUser7 said:

allegro120 said:

ForumUser7 said:

ForumUser7 said:

subjecttocontract said:

I received a reply today from H & R regarding the 13 day notice they provided instead of the 14 day notice required by the rules. They informed me that the interest rate reduction would be pushed back by 1 day in order to comply.

Thanks for the update.

Their website still says 4th May, so hopefully that’ll be updated to reflect what they told you in due course.

Now corrected on their website:

I wonder if "in writing" means that I can withdraw or close my account by writing a "secure message", not sending a letter. I'm guessing "by telephone" will be difficult because they will have a lot of calls during the penalty free period.

I have previously given my notice via secure message. For the withdrawal/closure itself, they would require you to post in the passbook and a covering letter with a wet signature I think, and then they’ll post out a cheque to you

Thank you for this info.  I was thinking of maybe keeping the account by making £10 monthly deposits just in case, but now I'm convinced to close it ASAP.  Posting passbook and writing a letter tipped the balance, I'd better deal with this on the 5th May instead of leaving this process for the future.  Hard to imagine H&R will raise interest rate or will have any competitive loyalty accounts or modernise their procedures in foreseen future.  

dcs34

ForumUser7 said:

dcs34 said:

ForumUser7 said:

Mine arrived today as well, also dated 19th April.

@subjecttocontract - If you decide to pursue them re giving only 13 days notice, let us know what they say please. I'm interested, as it feels like it must've been an oversight. If they'd posted 1st class, and it arrived today - they could blame it on the postal system I suppose, but they sent it out a day too late to arrive in time.

This is what I sent to them by Secure Message:

Dear H&R,

I understand from a letter received today (21/04/2023) that H&R will be reducing the rate of interest on this account. This is most unexpected and disappointing given rates are generally rising across the market following numerous BoE base rate increases, as well as continued inflation.

I understand the reduced rate of interest will apply from 4th May 2023. The terms say I would have 14 days notice before the new rate comes into effect. Allowing 14 days prior to 4th May 2023 means I would expect to receive the letter on 20th April 2023. This would not be realistically possible given the letter dated 19th April was sent by second class post and hence only arrived today, 21st April 2023. I therefore am also concerned that H&R sending a letter dated 19th April by second class stamp does not provide the required 14 day's notice period and that H&R would have been aware of this reasonable likelihood when it sent the letter.

In summary given the above disappointments I would therefore like to close the account immediately with full payment of interest on the current balance. Please can this be paid to my account (12345678, 12-34-56) which was used to make all prior deposits.

Let us know what they say please!

2 things:

1. Make sure you can get a higher return elsewhere - I too thought about closing my account out of frustration, but I realised it would then be getting 3.75%, so decided not to.
2. I imagine they'll request the passbook, and say it will either be by CHAPS or cheque. A nice thing for them to have done would be to offer to waive the CHAPS fee for those who wished to withdraw, but this would cost them a fair bit.

Response from H&R:

Thank you for bringing your concern to my attention. 

The purpose of launching the Regular Saver account was to encourage consumers to get into a regular savings habit, either to act as a buffer in these difficult times or save for a future purchase.

The Regular Saver was also created to be the account we will use in a Workplace Savings initiative and intended to use it to support businesses and employees across our home territory of Leicestershire and Warwickshire.

We launched the Regular Saver account in September 2022 in UK Savings week with a strong interest rate to encourage the savings habit, with the volume of accounts opened and deposits received has exceeding our expectations.

We believe that the interest rate has been the main attraction and to ensure we can continue to offer the account, we had to make a difficult decision to reduce the interest rate by 0.5%. We feel that the rate of 4.25% continues to be attractive.

I hope that you can understand that when we have a strong inflow of money, not addressing this can cause impacts on other services we provide to our Members.

You will be able to close your account without notice until the 5th June. 

To close your account, please write a signed letter confirming that you wish to close your account and whom you would like your cheque made payable to and send this to the Branch address detailed in your account passbook. Also enclose your passbook. A cheque withdrawal is free of charge. 

Please note to close your account and have the funds transferred to your bank account, there is a £25 CHAPS Fee. 

ForumUser7

The rate reduction has made it to this is money 😂

Buildings societies pay peanuts in interest 

It's not just banks that treat savers with contempt by paying them the equivalent of peanuts in interest. Occasionally, building societies don't cover themselves in glory either.

A longstanding reader from Coventry, who knows building societies rather intimately, has been in touch, spitting feathers about the behaviour of the Hinckley and Rugby.

It has recently written to savers in its Regular Saver 30 Day Notice Account, informing them that from this Thursday, it is cutting (yes CUTTING) the interest rate it pays from 4.75 to 4.25 per cent.

Savers – who squirrel away anything between £10 and £500 a month in the account – have been told that if they are unhappy with the rate cut, they can close their account before June 3 without either having to give notice or incur any loss of interest.

The reader is bewildered by the fact that H&R gives no explanation for the rate cut, especially at a time when interest rates are only going one way – and that is up.

Treating customers fairly? No. A request to hear H&R's side of the story fell on deaf ears.

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/comment/article-12028231/JEFF-PRESTRIDGE-Musk-Mars-watchdogs-catch-crooks.html