Hanley Economic Building Society BRANCH SAVER

refluxer

drphila said:

10_66 said:

When I opened this account, I sent an email asking about withdrawals and they replied that you could request (by letter with passbook) a withdrawal to be processed by FP and, as long as it didn't exceed £10K, there would be no fee.  Anything over that, electronically, would be CHAPS with a charge of £25.  Cheque, of course, would be no charge.  I haven't tried to make a withdrawal myself yet, though.

That s exactly the case as stated in my post. I did not mention the means to achieve the FP, which is as you say is by post (letter + passbook). If they already have the passbook due to you recently sending it for a recent withdrawal*, they still require an original (ie wet signed) letter, so scanned letters by email are not acceptable.

To answer the question asked by @refluxer, I have sucessfully withdrawn £10k by FP.

*only one (penalty-free) withdrawal allowed per month so this could be the case if you have done, for example, a late-July withdrawal and are doing another one early in August, as I am.

Thanks for that feedback and it's good to hear that there are withdrawal options that at least avoid the inconvenience of them having to post (and the account holder having to pay in) a cheque.

drphila

10_66 said:

drphila said:

To answer the question asked by @refluxer, I have sucessfully withdrawn £10k by FP.

Approximately how long did it take from when you sent your letter (did you send it via their freepost address) to when you received the FP from them, please?

Sent  freepost Monday, funds ready to send to me Friday.Didn't actually receive the funds then though because I had asked for >£10k so there was a further 2 working day delay while they tried to get in touch with me to advise the CHAPS fee.

They would probably have been quicker if I had sent it 1st class but since I was moving the money to an account with only a slightly greater rate, the cost wasn't justified.

gwapenut

If you withdraw by cheque, do you stop accruing interest from the date the cheque is issued, or the date the cheque is cashed as would be the case with a personal cheque?

I'm assuming with a building society cheque that the loss would be immediate.

refluxer

gwapenut said:

If you withdraw by cheque, do you stop accruing interest from the date the cheque is issued, or the date the cheque is cashed as would be the case with a personal cheque?

I'm assuming with a building society cheque that the loss would be immediate.

It's been a long time since I had one issued, but my memory is that when you get a building society to make out a cheque, the amount is debited straight away (as you say) so it's more like a withdrawal than a personal cheque that you write yourself, in which case I would suspect it'll be the former.

Bridlington1

I've just had this from Hanley:

Dear Member,

Important Information – Variation notice to account Terms and Conditions

We review our terms, conditions and rates regularly to ensure balance and value for all members. The Branch Saver has been hugely successful and remains one of the best value accounts in the UK.

To sustain that value and retain balance for all members, we have reviewed the Terms and Conditions of this account and decided to make some changes. We are now writing to you to tell you about those changes.

1.     The Branch Saver account will become a closed issue, and the balance of the account cannot be increased after 4pm on 8 October 2023.

2.    You will not be able to deposit or replace any withdrawn funds into your account after this date.

When is this happening?

This will take effect from 4pm on 8 October 2023.

Why is this happening?  

Restricting new deposits into this account ensures that as many members as possible can take advantage of the interest rate and benefits of this easy access account. This will also support the Society in continuing to provide fair-value products to our members. 

Do I have to do anything?

We are giving you 60 days’ notice of these changes. If you would like to pay additional funds into the account (up to the maximum balance of £50,000), please do so by 4pmon 8 October 2023. You will be unable to deposit any additional funds into your Branch Saver account after this date.

What if I’m not happy?

If you are unhappy with these changes, you can close your account without loss of interest. Interest will continue to be calculated daily and paid into your Branch Saver account up to the closure date.

Please remember that this is a closed issue product, so you will be unable to open another Branch Saver at a later date if you were to change your mind.

Questions and Answers

We have attached a list of questions and answers along with the Branch Saver product sheet to help your understanding of the impact of the changes.  

How can I contact you?

If you should have any additional queries, please contact us via one of the options below.

📧 - savingsservices@thehanley.co.uk

📞 - 01782 255000 select option 3

🏠 - visit your local branch who will be happy to help.

Thank you for your continued support of the Society.

Yours faithfully,

happybagger

For info email received:
Rare for an account to become closed issue AND for existing account holders not be allowed to continue to operate it normally.

The Branch Saver account will become a closed issue, and the balance of the account cannot be increased after 4pm on 8 October 2023.

  You will not be able to deposit or replace any withdrawn funds into your account after this date.

gwapenut

Scumbags. Newcastle Building Society pulled that trick too a couple of years ago and it really winds me up. All that effort for nothing. They very nearly got me to fork out for certified ID then decided I didn't need to after all as I'd lived here for 15 years. A right old faff.

I suppose if Darlington continue to be laggy with their Regular Saver then I could fill up the Hanley from my balances with those, and also flexibly withdraw from my ISA.

TiVo_Lad

I don't think it's fair to call them scumbags. I suspect the account has become unsustainable both commercially and operationally so they're acting within their rights to prevent the problem getting any worse. 

We've see it time and time again when small Building Societies release a market leading product and completely underestimate the number of applications they will receive. It's likely a painful lession for them that they probably won't repeat.

PloughmansLunch

I'm sure I saw someone mention a date of when this goes to 5.25% but can't find it, can someone remind me please?

Bridlington1

PloughmansLunch said:

I'm sure I saw someone mention a date of when this goes to 5.25% but can't find it, can someone remind me please?

1st September.
EDIT: From the terms:

As the interest rate tracks the Bank of England base rate we will change the interest rate in accordance with any change in the Bank of England base rate with effect from the 1st of the following month.