Santander free forever bank account changes

Section62

EarthBoy said:

This whole saga reminds me of the Equitable Life case.  They guaranteed a minimum level of bonuses on their policies, but tried to renege on this guarantee when they decided they could no longer afford it.  The case went to the House of Lords, where Equitable Life lost the case, and were told that they had to honour the guarantees.  

Worth noting though that the Equitable Life case effectively involved an existential threat with the possibility of loss to policyholders, whereas if we are to believe some posts on this thread the number of Santander business customers affected by this decision is so small (thus enabling them to be mistreated and/or discarded) that the cost to Santander of providing ongoing free banking to this group can't seriously be claimed to be an existential threat to the bank.

solidpro

The headline doesn't track well in 2025. The first three sides of A4 no less. Not 'one of the features' of the service but the main featured selling point of the service and contract.



Same Bank
Same Bank Account
Same Person
Same Name
Same Customer
Same Product
Same core product of the business.
Same limitations

Taxation, Regulation, Laws have not substantially changed. Seems Santander's idea about what 'forever' as a word actually means is different to virtually everyone else in the universe (including the high courts).

"all you have to do is keep the number of transactions within the specified generous limits"

I kept my end of the bargain for 17 years but they seem unable to. 

The conclusion of this is CAN'T TRUST SANTANDER

Given this comes to a head in October, I can see this swirling bad press going on for the whole of Q3 and into Q4 when they could just cancel the idea and know everyone will just get onto the next thing bugging them.

solidpro

Telegraph:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/banking/current-accounts/santander-120-year-fee-account-free-forever/

MeteredOut

Section62 said:

MeteredOut said:

Smurrfmo said:

MeteredOut said:

Smurrfmo said:

I've had a look at the documentation posted earlier in the thread and it is fairly clear to me at least that the free business banking forever promise is made to the customer and is not account specific.  There are many phrases such as "With the Free Banking Forever Tariff provided you operate within the specified transaction limits you need never pay any bank charges".  But an independent decision maker will rule on this issue.

A leading question, but are the transaction limits constrained to the account or the customer?

Well that is the nub of the issue, you know my view but there is another issue for Santander here in that the reference is to the free forever "tariff", which would suggest that it doesn't matter what type the account is or what it is called called.

Pretty sure Santander will be monitoring this thread by now so a hi to them as well.  Feel free to come on and explain yourself if you wish. 

They've certainly painted themselves into a difficult position here.

It reminds me somewhat with what Vanguard did recently when they changed their SIPP fees from % of fund value only to % of fund value with a minimum amount. It meant that many customers with low-value pots moved to low-cost providers, but the general consensus was that these people were not making VG any money, so they were happy to exchange a bit of bad press for an increase in their average revenue per customer.

I suspect Santander are following the same premise.

The difference is Vanguard didn't promise to charge on a %age basis, with no minimum fee, "forever".  IIRC the Vanguard terms I signed up to gave them scope to alter the fee-charging structure as needed.

Agree. I was referring more to how I believe Santander view the fallout as opposed to the legalities (or otherwise) of the actual change.

MeteredOut

scooby32 said:

Here’s my letter from 2008
<snip>

What did the (1) superscript note say? I can't see it on the letter itself.

MisterFinancialStuff

I just logged a formal complaint with Santander about being migrated from the free account to the £9.99 account. I'm sure they won't want to do anything with it, but I will take it to the Financial Ombudsman.

This kind of stuff annoys me enough for me to put a fair amount of effort into kicking up a fuss.

Yes, there will be some who will argue that this is pointless. But I'd rather do something than nothing. Who knows? Perhaps Santander will u-turn again. If not, I have already been looking at tariff rates elsewhere and think I have an option I would be fine with - but I would rather avoid the hassle of having to move, of course.

Smurrfmo

MeteredOut said:

scooby32 said:

Here’s my letter from 2008
<snip>

What did the (1) superscript note say? I can't see it on the letter itself.

The note said it could be withdrawn only due to changes to banking law, regulation or tax.

cocacolakid

Someone kindly posted a link to the Daily Telegraph's article on this today. Some might like to respond to this:
Are you a Santander business account holder affected by this change? Email: money@telegraph.co.uk. 

frittendenme

Hoenir said:

frittendenme said:

✅ 4. Escalate to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS)

• If Santander doesn't resolve it in 8 weeks — or refuses outright — take your complaint to the FOS: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

• It’s free, and they often rule in favour of consumers.

Worth pointing put that this is a business account. Does not fall under consumer regulation.  Always worth properly reading what gets cut and pasted on social media before spreading misinformation

I didn’t cut and paste anything — I’ve taken the time to check the facts and do my best to help others. Yes, it’s a business account, but that doesn’t make it right to change terms people relied on when signing up.

If you’ve got something helpful to add, great — but there’s really no need to be dismissive. We’re all just trying to make sense of it and push back where it’s justified.

✅ When a Business Can Use the FOS

The Financial Ombudsman can handle complaints from “micro-enterprises” and small businesses, which includes:

• Fewer than 50 employees
• Annual turnover of less than £6.5 million
• Balance sheet total of less than £5 million

📌 If your business meets those criteria, you can complain to the FOS about your Santander business account — including unfair fees or changes to agreed terms like “Free for Life.”

📝 Examples of Business Complaints FOS Can Investigate:

• Misrepresentation or misleading account terms (e.g. “Free Forever” being reversed)
• Unfair or unauthorised charges
• Poor complaint handling or customer service

frittendenme

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