Coventry BS

caveat_emptor

I contacted Coventry recently to ask about closing my 60+ esave account and opening a 50+ esave account and was staggered to get this reply;
"Once you have opened a Sixty/Fifty-Plus Esave Account you are unable to close and open another."
To me, this means that it is impossible to open another Coventry account ever if I close the account. Or am I missing something?

alared

Why would you want to open an account paying less than the one you already have?

caveat_emptor

50+ pays 6.4% AER, 60+ pays 5.63% AER.

earlgrey_3

Would agree, very wacky marketing. Why would anyone stay with them on that rate with that condition? Great way to lose their "grey pound" customers feeling they've been ripped off.

alared

For the 60 plus it says:
11. You cannot close this account online.
So I would assume you need to phone them up to close the account.
It`s strange that they should prevent you from moving your money to a better paying account.

The 50 plus is fixed at 6.4% for the first year then the rate is variable and i would imagine the rate could be cut drastically.
A very close eye needs to be kept after the year is up.

TomsMom

I noticed the 50plus account today and hubby and I are both considering opening one each. We also noticed that

"You may only ever open one 50 Plus eSave account, either solely or jointly, regardless of however many issues there are. You may not open a 50 Plus eSave account if you have opened a Sixty-Plus eSave account."

After the 12 month period the following applies

"50 Plus eSave (3) interest rates are fixed for the first year from the date your account is opened. Thereafter the interest rates are variable. We guarantee that from the thirteenth month up to and including the eighteenth month after the date of opening your account, the Annual Equivalent Rates (AERs) will at least equal the Bank of England Base Rate (see note 5 below)."


Agree with Earlgrey that this is strange marketing but with the possibility of rates falling again soon 6.4% fixed for a year seems pretty good and we're happy to look again in 12 months time and move it if necessary. It's not going to be the best interest rate for ever and we'd move it some time, so not too worried that it's not possible to ever open another one. We keep a close eye on interest rates and will move to what suits us best.

ManAtHome

They are a bit weird... When I opened a 50+ a few months back, the rate was already better than the 60+... I've had similar dealings with them in the past - yet another "drag 'em in and sock 'em" outfit I'm afraid. Quite happy to hang around until the 6.4% expires, but pretty sure I'll be away not long after.

earlgrey_3

Even better Tomsmom because as I read it the rate is fixed at 6.4% for a year but if better rates came along, unusually for a fixed rate, you can get out at any time without penalty.

alared

Of course Coventry are relying on inertia when the 12 months is up.
They face the risk of quite a lot of money being moved away from them if they fail to come up with another good paying account and allow people to move to it.

JanCee

I am just in the process of opening an account with the Coventry and I looked at the "are your savings safe" table on this site to check whether they were linked to any other financial institution that I might already have an account with and they are not on the table at all. Does anyone know why?

earlgrey_3

That's a list of banks Jan. Coventry is a building society (and a member of the Building Societies Association).