Santander free forever bank account changes

GeoffTF

eskbanker said:

so it can readily be seen that switching of such accounts did increase by about four thousand between Q2 and Q3, although the firm-specific data isn't broken down so it's purely speculation as to how much of that extra 4k relates to Santander.

Santander UK has 14 million active customers, and Banco Santander 178 million:

https://www.santander.co.uk/about-santander

https://www.santander.com/en/about-us/key-facts-and-figures

Even if the whole 4 thousand were fleeing Santander small business customers, that hardly moves the dial. More interesting perhaps, is the statistic that Santander UK has 7 million digital customers. Presumably, that means that it has 7 million branch and telephone only customers. Rather them than me.

phillw

amyfairweather said:
Note: Santander did not state it would be free for 14 years or 50 years or 500 years, they said 'forever'.  You still don't seem to be able to get your head around that yet, for some reason.

Forcing Santander to carry on offering these accounts is a non-starter.  Whereas suing them for the equivalent costs of £9.99 per month, plus fees, plus time wasted on all this, moving forward is most certainly not.

I suggested earlier in the thread suing for as many years ahead up to your state retirement date.

They were free forever, until they removed the account. It's like lifetime guarantees are the lifetime of the product, which is when they stop supporting it.

I believe it's too complex a case for small claims court (especially as the financial ombudsman has sided with santander), and if you lose then you can be made to pay their costs. I don't think the consumer rights act would cover a business account, so they can rely more on the small print of the T&C.

Even if the court entertains you, then I would also expect the court to require you to minimise your losses, which may mean switching away. And they may not cover the cost of the time it takes to do so.

But you ought to seek legal advice from someone other than a forum of angry people.

Section62

phillw said:

amyfairweather said:
Note: Santander did not state it would be free for 14 years or 50 years or 500 years, they said 'forever'.  You still don't seem to be able to get your head around that yet, for some reason.

Forcing Santander to carry on offering these accounts is a non-starter.  Whereas suing them for the equivalent costs of £9.99 per month, plus fees, plus time wasted on all this, moving forward is most certainly not.

I suggested earlier in the thread suing for as many years ahead up to your state retirement date.

They were free forever, until they removed the account. It's like lifetime guarantees are the lifetime of the product, which is when they stop supporting it.
...

If you have a quick read of one of the FOS investigator's opinions posted in the thread you'll see Santander haven't "removed the account".  Nor did the 2015 change to the terms and conditions open the door for charging, as has often been claimed in this thread.

The FOS Investigator's opinion is that Santander could have started charging right from the start, back when the accounts were being advertised as 'free forever'.  They think there is no change in the status of the account which has permitted charging to begin, compared to the original situation.

phillw

Section62 said:

If you have a quick read of one of the FOS investigator's opinions posted in the thread you'll see Santander haven't "removed the account".  Nor did the 2015 change to the terms and conditions open the door for charging, as has often been claimed in this thread.

From what I've read, they are converting the accounts to different accounts, ones that are available to new customers.

In that regard, the old account doesn't exist. The fos reasoning isn't binding on the court either, so the court could come to a very different reason to dismiss the case 

In any event, I think this case is too complex for a small claims court and you need to get legal advice 

born_again

In 2015, Santander migrated customers with "free forever" business accounts to the "Business Everyday" account, which did not include the "free forever" clause. Although the letter announcing the change stated there was "no change" to the monthly account fee of £0, it failed to mention the removal of the "forever" promise, leading to a later change in terms. In 2025, these accounts are being migrated again to the "Business Current Account – Classic," which has a monthly fee

https://www.santander.co.uk/business/support/current-accounts/changes-to-current-accounts#sq2

Changes to your Business Banking General Terms and Conditions 9 April 2025

We're updating the terms & conditions for all our business current and savings accounts. These changes affect our Business Banking General Terms & Conditions and Key Facts Documents. We’re letting you know now, so you have plenty of time to understand the changes or get in touch if you have any questions.From 9 April 2025 you’ll be able to get the new terms on our website, in branch or by calling us and asking for a copy to be posted to you. You can find more information about the changes below.  
So they have given required notice period.

amyfairweather

phillw said:

Section62 said:

If you have a quick read of one of the FOS investigator's opinions posted in the thread you'll see Santander haven't "removed the account".  Nor did the 2015 change to the terms and conditions open the door for charging, as has often been claimed in this thread.

From what I've read, they are converting the accounts to different accounts, ones that are available to new customers.

In that regard, the old account doesn't exist.

They did not advertise a specific bank account, they said 'Free business banking [per se]' not '[a] specific free business bank account'.

amyfairweather

born_again said:

In 2015, Santander migrated customers with "free forever" business accounts to the "Business Everyday" account, which did not include the "free forever" clause. Although the letter announcing the change stated there was "no change" to the monthly account fee of £0, it failed to mention the removal of the "forever" promise, leading to a later change in terms. In 2025, these accounts are being migrated again to the "Business Current Account – Classic," which has a monthly fee

https://www.santander.co.uk/business/support/current-accounts/changes-to-current-accounts#sq2

Changes to your Business Banking General Terms and Conditions 9 April 2025

We're updating the terms & conditions for all our business current and savings accounts. These changes affect our Business Banking General Terms & Conditions and Key Facts Documents. 

We’re letting you know now, so you have plenty of time to understand the changes or get in touch if you have any questions.

From 9 April 2025 you’ll be able to get the new terms on our website, in branch or by calling us and asking for a copy to be posted to you. You can find more information about the changes below.  

So they have given required notice period.

I'm not sure what your point is, so please elaborate.

As to your initial point (in 2015...), if that were true, then our accounts would have an opening date of 2015, yet many here still have opening dates listed as the early 2000's.  It's there staring us in the face every time we log in.

They are the same accounts now as on day one, no amount of name changes can get around the initial promise.

birtynantwich

I've had my reply from the ombudsman investigator and, as others have said, they're not going to do anything as there is no case to answer. As there was nothing in the original T&Cs to confirm the no fees promise, Santander don't have any case to answer. The man on the clapham omnibus would think that a free forever promise in big, bold letters in the main text would mean just that, but it seems that isn't the case.
I could push it further I'm sure, but don't think I can be bothered doing anything more. I'm in the middle of winding my company up, so I'm not really affected that deeply. I've closed my account to avoid the charges. I'm just really annoyed that Santander can just get away with this.

HedgehogRulez

Some people love a (mole) hill to die on.

born_again

amyfairweather said:

phillw said:

Section62 said:

If you have a quick read of one of the FOS investigator's opinions posted in the thread you'll see Santander haven't "removed the account".  Nor did the 2015 change to the terms and conditions open the door for charging, as has often been claimed in this thread.

From what I've read, they are converting the accounts to different accounts, ones that are available to new customers.

In that regard, the old account doesn't exist.

They did not advertise a specific bank account, they said 'Free business banking [per se]' not '[a] specific free business bank account'.

You need to stop going on about "Forever" One word is not going to win your case, & look at the whole picture.

My point is Santander have this nicely wrapped up the the T/C that you agreed to, not once but twice.