Finding a reliable home for my savings

LHW99

I keep emergency funds in a savings account beside my main current account - instant transfer from one to the other. Then the rest of the savings spread around, and other C/As in case of problems.

friolento

What kind of reliability are you looking for?

If it is the safety of your deposits: any provider offering FSCS protection will be good up to £120k. If you have more than £120k, you can spread your savings across providers, or choose NS&I which is good for up to £2 million.

If it is reliable online/app access, 24x7: nobody can guarantee that but some are better than others. NS&I have a pretty mixed reputation and regular outages, most others are usually available, apart from maintenance outages, or some sort of disaster. Your money is still protected by FSCS, or by Government in the case of NS&I.

If you want reliable interest rates: no provider will always offer top rates. Many do lure you in with e.g. 12 month offers, and then drop to a derisory rate. You can circumvent this by moving your money from time to time.

If you want reliable true instant access to your funds, there are a range of providers which offer this. Others let you have your money by the end of the next business day, or even only by cheque in the post.

If you are after a provider who will always have Branch access, you are on a hiding to nothing.

If you are after an account which reliably beats inflation, you are highly unlikely to find any provider who will always protect you against inflation.

So which reliability are you after?

UKX69

I’ve had bank accounts since the early 1970s and I can say there are a few banks I’ve had minor problems with. But the worst in my experience was Barclays - cash deposits going AWAL for some time, non helpful branch staff and promised phone calls that never came. But, I’ve been with NatWest for my main account for over 50 years and can’t fault them. Each to his own!

peterhjohnson

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82194356#Comment_82194356

I was calibrating Trustpilot :-)

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82194854#Comment_82194854

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82194854#Comment_82194854

As I said in my OP, not one I where I end up complaining that "I haven't been able to withdraw money for weeks despite having accounts with instant access."

friolento

……I haven't been able to withdraw money for weeks despite having accounts with instant access.

Based on my own experience with dozens of easy access accounts, as well as what others have reported in this forum, there is none which makes you wait weeks for your money. A few are true instant access, paying in seconds, and many are by the end of the next working day. Though some people refuse to provide proof of ID when asked by a provider, which automatically leads to self-inflicted delays.

I was calibrating Trustpilot :-)

That's where you might be going wrong. Stay on the MSE Forum for reliable information about savings accounts.

Tim_L

I had a look at the TrustPilot reviews, and most of them seem to refer essentially to the clunkiness of the Cahoot sign up process and exceptions with names, then frustration with customer services ongoing. Having set my account up for a £20 incentive ages ago and then upgraded when there was a better interest rate, it's become my main cash account. I had one enquiry which I did via secure messaging and was dealt with within a couple of days. Money out of the account is instant, as is money in.

No-one can every guarantee there won't be some sort of problem with any online service, but once up and running, Cahoot isn't something I worry about at all. TrustPilot does tend to attract the extremes, there aren't that many of us who rate a meh service as being meh.