18 months Fixed Rate Bond

macksmum

I put money in 2 x 18 months frb in July last year thinking they would end in January 2025. However I had notification from the BS they will end in Oct 2024! I don't understand why as it will only be 15 months after I opened my accounts. I checked with the BS and both the customer staff confirmed the date I opened them and they were an 18 month frb but neither could explain why they are finishing in Oct 24. They have now suggested I move my query to their complaint dept, which I have but it's over a week and I have heard nothing. Can the BS close a frb earlier than they advertised? Thanks for any advice of action I should take.

eskbanker

Obviously any company should provide what they said they would, and even more so in a regulated industry, but to try to help get to the bottom of this, perhaps worth naming the institution and the exact name/issue number of the product concerned?

For example, some accounts have a fixed maturity date when launched, so later openers get a shorter timeframe....

Barkin

Which BS?

Was it perhaps launched as an 18 month bond at launch date, with a fixed (in time) maturity date? 

aroominyork

Did you maybe open the account in April 2023 but only fund it in July 2023?

Hoenir

Barkin said:

Was it perhaps launched as an 18 month bond at launch date, with a fixed (in time) maturity date? 

Same principle applies to fixed term mortgage products. May well be be shorter or longer than say 2 years. The product end date determines the term not the date of each application. The date will be clearly laid out in the product documentaton. 

wmb194

macksmum said:

I put money in 2 x 18 months frb in July last year thinking they would end in January 2025. However I had notification from the BS they will end in Oct 2024! I don't understand why as it will only be 15 months after I opened my accounts. I checked with the BS and both the customer staff confirmed the date I opened them and they were an 18 month frb but neither could explain why they are finishing in Oct 24. They have now suggested I move my query to their complaint dept, which I have but it's over a week and I have heard nothing. Can the BS close a frb earlier than they advertised? Thanks for any advice of action I should take.

What do the terms and conditions say? They should explain the term of the bond.

macksmum

There was nothing mentioning a different end date at the time of opening the account
 The customer service staff could not give me any reason or explanation for the shorter timescale hence they moved my query to complaints department.

Barkin

So which BS & product are we talking about? 

eskbanker

macksmum said:

There was nothing mentioning a different end date at the time of opening the account
 The customer service staff could not give me any reason or explanation for the shorter timescale hence they moved my query to complaints department.

But that's basically just repeating what you posted already, rather than answering the questions we've asked in order to try to help?

wiseonesomeofthetime

Exactly. It's like Beehive Regular Saver. 12 month term stated,but ends 31 July 2024 which is longer than 12 months 

Virgin Money are known to do this type of thing too, as did Santander with my 18 months Cash ISA that I opened in April 2023,but instead of maturing 18 months later to the day, does so on 1 November 2024.

All these products though clearly stated the end date in their paperwork when opening.

wmb194

macksmum said:

There was nothing mentioning a different end date at the time of opening the account
 The customer service staff could not give me any reason or explanation for the shorter timescale hence they moved my query to complaints department.

Can you copy and paste or take a screenshot and post them? (You might not have enough posts for a screenshot.)

Or give the name of the bond and the BS and I can look for them.