The Top Regular Savers Discussion Thread

Bridlington1

Afahmaep said:

                          Opening Darlington RS2 and Monmouthshire RS in the last week brings my total active Regular Savers back up to 52 with £112,000 actually in them at 5.70%.
                         My maturing accounts in the next week are Hanley BS and Stafford BS with £7,000 becoming available which will drop my total to £105,000. Neither of these Building Societies has a product that interests me so my Regular Saver total will drop back down to 50. 
                         The matured  £7,000 will to go towards my September obligations of £11,950

Forgive my ignorance but I was under the impression those two accounts were open ended and therefore didn't mature?

drphila

pecunianonolet said:

drphila said:

pecunianonolet said:

Virgin

Requested closure via online form of the regular saver (the form that was mentioned many pages ago), provided account details in the form for the regular saver. Followed up a day later via online chat just in case to make sure the reg saver is getting closed. 

Received an email "Sorry to see you go", checked my app and instead of the regular saver they closed my current account. Reg saver still not closed, still waiting for the interest to be transferred to the current account (that is now closed). 

Just raised a complaint. Totally unacceptable. 

Screenshots not allowed in the app, transcript only available by post on paper if chat has happened via app. Requested a postal copy now. 

Exactlly the same happened to me. They put it down to the "huge" numbers that opened that RS (c.37000 apparently) and then wanted it closed

Did you also complain and if so, did you get compensation and how much did they pay and did they reopen the current account for you?

I had email acknowledgment of my complaint yesterday evening (10pm) and that they will email with an update within 5 working days.

Yes, complaint lodged and told I can expect compensation, though complaints department has final say. Told it will almost certainly not be possible for them to re-open and will have to do it myself. I forgot to say about effect on credit score if I had to re-open but will discuss with complaint handler when they get in touch.

Not expecting this complaint to be resolved for at least a week, maybe a lot longer.

As happened with you, got acknowledgement yesterday and 5 day timescale for update

s71hj

Bobblehat said:

Hattie627 said:

Darlington BS RS

The term starts from the date of opening, so you are losing out on 6% interest (less whatever you are earning on the money you would otherwise have paid in) by not funding immediately

That's what I thought! I think the comparison I posted was fairly accurate.

Yes! Apologies, I can see the bit of the t and c's I misread! In my defence I was out for the day with my granddaughter at Beamish Living Museum with patchy connection and constantly vearing between the 1900s and 1950s!

soulsaver

Hattie627 said:

Kim_13 said:

Hattie627 said:

For those with the open-ended Stafford BS Regular Saver (currently paying 4.40% variable, before the latest base rate drop), the following offer is now open:-

Dear [Customer Name],

We are pleased to offer members the option to make an extra contribution to their Regular Saver accounts. This offer allows you to build up your savings, in addition to your regular monthly payments.

Until 30 September 2025, you can add up to £12,000 per account on top of your usual monthly deposits. It is a simple way to make more of your Regular Saver accounts.

Starting to think this is an annual or bi-annual offer to be honest. They definitely offered it this time two years ago when they increased the monthly allowance from £500 to £1,000.

Good to know they aren’t cutting the rate this time, as they cut by more than the cut last time around. If I win big on the Premium Bonds next month, I’ll know where to start - but other than that, 4.4% still beaten by Skipton MBS for me (which will probably become 4.75% given it has just gone NLA.)

Stafford RS

It's not a great rate for a Regular Saver but could be a holding place for short-term funds. Up to 4 penalty-free withdrawals per year allowed. They also now do FP withdrawals to nominated account. No need to send in passbook.

They've told me by secure message that whilst it is the case for some accounts, is not the case for RS Iss1; she said they still need the passbook and withdrawal forms before they'll process a faster payment. 

"This is a passbook based account and can be operated in branch or by post at members own expense."

ForumUser7

soulsaver said:

Hattie627 said:

Kim_13 said:

Hattie627 said:

For those with the open-ended Stafford BS Regular Saver (currently paying 4.40% variable, before the latest base rate drop), the following offer is now open:-

Dear [Customer Name],

We are pleased to offer members the option to make an extra contribution to their Regular Saver accounts. This offer allows you to build up your savings, in addition to your regular monthly payments.

Until 30 September 2025, you can add up to £12,000 per account on top of your usual monthly deposits. It is a simple way to make more of your Regular Saver accounts.

Starting to think this is an annual or bi-annual offer to be honest. They definitely offered it this time two years ago when they increased the monthly allowance from £500 to £1,000.

Good to know they aren’t cutting the rate this time, as they cut by more than the cut last time around. If I win big on the Premium Bonds next month, I’ll know where to start - but other than that, 4.4% still beaten by Skipton MBS for me (which will probably become 4.75% given it has just gone NLA.)

Stafford RS

It's not a great rate for a Regular Saver but could be a holding place for short-term funds. Up to 4 penalty-free withdrawals per year allowed. They also now do FP withdrawals to nominated account. No need to send in passbook.

They've told me by secure message that whilst it is the case for some accounts, is not the case for RS Iss1; she said they still need the passbook and withdrawal forms before they'll process a faster payment. 

"This is a passbook based account and can be operated in branch or by post at members own expense."

Even more pertinent is: ‘Withdrawals will not be allowed without the passbook.’

clairec666

trickydicky14 said:

Afahmaep said:

                          Opening Darlington RS2 and Monmouthshire RS in the last week brings my total active Regular Savers back up to 52 with £112,000 actually in them at 5.70%.
                         My maturing accounts in the next week are Hanley BS and Stafford BS with £7,000 becoming available which will drop my total to £105,000. Neither of these Building Societies has a product that interests me so my Regular Saver total will drop back down to 50. 
                         The matured  £7,000 will to go towards my September obligations of £11,950

And your point?

I know people here like to share how many regular savers they've got (just the 18 for me) but telling us exactly how much money you've got in those accounts isn't something I've seen before

dingling68

ForumUser7 said:

Even more pertinent is: ‘Withdrawals will not be allowed without the passbook.’

Stafford RS Issue 1

I sent my passbook off on Monday with a withdrawal request and completed nominated bank account form second class, money was in my bank Tuesday afternoon and passbook returned to me on Thursday.

I was not in a hurry for the money as it was a planned withdrawal and given the state of the postal service in my local area I thought this was fabulous service.

HHUK

Kim_13 said:
As it matures on 31/8/26 regardless of when in August it is opened, I did a £1.01 NatWest DC payment. I figure it’s unlikely to still be around on September 1 so I don’t lose anything by opening it with the minimum today.

Darlington RS

Ahem. Do we happen to have any idea how many such £1.01 payments it's possible to make by NatWest / RBS debit card without upsetting Darlington? (Asking for a friend.)

Kim_13

HHUK said:

Kim_13 said:
As it matures on 31/8/26 regardless of when in August it is opened, I did a £1.01 NatWest DC payment. I figure it’s unlikely to still be around on September 1 so I don’t lose anything by opening it with the minimum today.

Darlington RS

Ahem. Do we happen to have any idea how many such £1.01 payments it's possible to make by NatWest / RBS debit card without upsetting Darlington? (Asking for a friend.)

Afraid not, I’ve only ever done them to secure an account when I didn’t have the funds for it at the time of application. This is also my first account with Darlington, so I wouldn’t want to risk upsetting them. Doing £x.01 by NatWest DC in any future month that I can’t afford to fully fund it is as far as I’ll go.

Hattie627

Closing RS accounts slightly earlier than the maturity date

I emptied my Virgin Money RS (the 10% one) on 29th July and then (same date) completed and submitted the online "current account" closure form for the RS (directing the closing interest to my VM current account). The closing interest was received in my VM current account on 31st July. Okay, I lost a couple of days' interest at 10% on the principal but saved myself the long wait and aggravation of waiting to close until 1 August.

My Monmouthshire BS Exclusive RS Issue 2 stands at £6000 balance and is due to mature on 24 August. No maturity instruction papers received so far. Interest rate is now a disappointing 4.90%. I anticipate that many others will have this account maturing on 24 August too (think I opened it last year on the day it became available). I have today instructed immediate closure of the account with principal and interest to my nominated account. Easy to do online, no need to empty first (withdrawals not allowed anyway, only early closure) and no need to post in the passbook/or closure form. I think there is a good chance of slow closures if there is a mass closing of the morphed account on and after 24 August. Loss of interest de minimis, as funds will not be earning much less in easy access.