Any carpet-baggers out there?

ReportInvestor

Yes they do . Congratulations.

And after the Portman merger with Nationwide, you will be able to move it to another provider without paying that ridiculous, unmutual-like, Portman transfer fee.

seven-day-weekend

alared wrote:

.
The last I remember was Portman taking over some other smaller society but they only gave the customers 5% of their account balance.
Anyone with the basic £100 got the grand total of a fiver.
!

It was the Staffordshire BS it took over, which I'd been with for years. My husband had a few thousand pounds in it, I had less than £200.

We both received £80 windfall.

seven-day-weekend

arnold wrote:

Inconsistent, yes, but not alone in his thinking. I have a friend who at one stage had accounts in about a dozen building societies (actually three accounts with each: him, the wife and his son) yet who, whilst always voting against demutulisation, was simultaneously hoping that his vote wasn't the one that swayed the vote so that he'd get the payout yet not have gone against his belief that they should stay mutual.


Arnold

I did that too, for the samre reason. I had a Regular Saver with Bradford and Bingley, voted 'no' to the demutualisation, whilst hoping that enough others would vote 'yes' for me to get my windfall.

seven-day-weekend

As I am now a Portman customer, my Staffordshire account having been taken over by them, will I be eligible for this new windfall? I have a cash ISA that I took out with the Staffordshire. Also I live abroad: I am able to keep my ISA open and earn interest, but not contribute to it. I have a few thousand pounds in it.

ReportInvestor

Congratulations.

The number of "double windfall" recipients on MSE (people who had just one account but are about to receive two windfalls as a result) is rapidly growing .

johnfthetraveller

One thing I considered a while ago are buying building society's Permanent Interest Bearing Shares (PIBS). I don't know what the minimum is, but they give better interest than a share account, though of course there is a capital risk, as this is a stock market investment. I think they would qualify for a demutualisation benefit, but I'd be interested to hear from someone who knows more than me about this.

ReportInvestor

PIBs (Permanent Interest Bearing Shares) grant member status, sometimes on application to the society rather than on purchase.

You can get them via stockbrokers and the following BSs have issued them (among others) - Britannia, Portman, Skipton, Newcastle, Scarborough, Manchester

They have always qualified for demutualisation windfalls in the past, but an interesting case is when the Skipton granted a small windfall to members on the occasion of their sale of their Dealwise subsidiary (at the top of the stock market boom ).

Skipton PIBs holders were left empty handed .

A word of caution to others. PIBs have been a fantastic investment because they have paid high interest rates and also delivered a capital gain. With interest rate rises a possibility, they carry a risk, as johnfrith says, and might be compared with corporate bonds.

Did you also know that BSs are under no obligation to make annual income payments to holders of PIBS in the event of a financial squeeze? And the market is very illiquid, resulting in wide bid/offer spreads at the best of times. Nor is there an end date (unlike gilts or corporate bonds), hence the "permanent" bit in the name.

On the positive side, they qualify for gross interest if held within a share ISA.

Basically they are a bet on future interest rates.

In the highly unlikely event of a future demutualisation, you would continue to hold a similar investment with the resulting Plc.

Tatty001

With Nationwide taking over Portman Portman custs will get an average of £200 windfall. Natinowide custs get to continue with great rates ?????

cheggers

Omo-oba wrote:

I have read a lot about Portman saving members and the windfall they may be entitled to but I believe borrowing members will also be entitled to a windfall. I am a borrowing member of Portman BS and I am just in the process of remortgaging to Abbey. My present mortgage balance is about £140000 at a rate of 5.5% with about 22 years left leaving me with a monthly payment of about £910. If I continue with the move to Abbey my rate will be 4.62% with a monthly payment of about £860. That means moving will save about £600 over the next 12 months. I am aware that the merger is not a foregone conclusion and that it will take another 12 months before it happens, if it does. I am also aware that the minimum windfall is likely to be £200.00.
Now I am undecided if I should wait and collect a windfall which may be only £200 (but hopefully more, although I don't know how much more it could be) or just get on with my move to Abbey and be certain of paying £600 less in mortgage payments. I can't recall having had any cash windfall before so have no idea how much it could be. Could it realistically be more than £600 which would make it worthwhile staying with Portman for now? I will be grateful for advice from more experienced people. Incidentally, I discussed this with my financial advicer involved in the proposed move to Abbey, but not surprisingly, he was non-committal.

You'd be better switching as the savings on your mortgage will be be greater than staying with Portman.

If I have my mortgage with a building society I always open a saving account with them as well and have £100 with them, so if I ever switch my mortgage to another provider at least my membership continues with the building society.

summersnearlyhere

If Portman and Nationwide merge will only Portman customers be eligible for a windfall? I have an account with Nationwide and so does my daughter. I do not understand how one society can have windfall payouts and not the other! What am I missing here? I thought that if they merged and stayed a building society then there would be no payouts but if they became a plc then there would be payouts? Am I wrong?