A&L regular saver...possible problem?

lindos90

Hi, just hoping someone can put my mind at rest, as Im just not sure if i should believe what Ive been advised..

On 3rd may I opened a premier current account and linked reg saver with A&L. Seemed painless at the time, discussed date of standing order from current to reg saver, agreed 28th may giving plenty of time to deposit the £500 ready for the full £250 to be transfered. therefore maturing on or around 28th april 2009.

Over the next week I recieved all the info I needed, cards, pin numbers, online banking numbers etc.

When checking through all the paperwork I noticed that the first regular saver payment had been set for 28th JUNE not may.

Assuming that someone had typed in '6' istead of '5' I called the branch on 13th may (with plenty of time to change it) and was told that the date is set by a central admin office and they must have done it for june as they could not do it in time for may!

I explained that I had planned my finances and would be needing it available before the end of june, but she said the first payment date had been set centrally and could not be altered at the branch.

Initially I swallowed this but ive been pondering on it, and wondering if I have a problem.

1)Why can I set up all sorts of payments online, instantantly, but it takes the bank nearly 8 weeks to set up a SO for a regular saver? especially when the account had been set up, processed and all the paperwork was sent out to me in less than a week.

2)My regular saver is already active (can see it online) and Im concerned that I may be breaking some term or condition by not paying into it in may, therefore allowing them to apply a much lower 'default' interest rate at the end of the year. (I saw a similar thread to this about YBS when reserching this, where two payments were allowed by error in the first month, thereby exeeding the allowed monthly payment ammount)

3)possibly my suspicious mind, but wondering if the assistant had 'met her target' for a sales period, and delayed my payments so this sale would be added to her next commision period?

4)ofcourse its also possible that she did type in the wrong month and cant be bothered with the hassle of amending it

.......or indeed she could be telling the truth, but the account was set up in a couple of days, why the payment date has to be set up so far in advance puzzles me,

Im very new to this money saving, just a very simple virgin stoozer and concerned its going to go pear shaped, can anyone give me advice, am i worrying over nothing? Is it possible to change the first payment day? how can I contact this central admin place?

Thank you wise MSErs

YorkshireBoy

It's the way they work I'm afraid, in my experience and that of others on here. I believe they leave a full calendar month between account opening and first deposit so, in hindsight (wonderful isn't it?), you would have been better selecting the 4th of the month as the date of your first deposit.

If the account operation is still the same as when I had my regular saver running just over a year ago, they'll pay your interest in two tranches...the first, larger amount, on the anniversary of Premier current account opening (3/5/09), and the second, smaller amount, on the anniversary of your first 'internal transfer' to the regular saver account (28/6/09).

I have to say though, as an (I like to think) experienced stoozer, I wouldn't be stoozing into a regular saver unless I could cover the entire stoozed amount from other savings.

lindos90

Thanks thats very reasuring, if thats how it works, then thats OK, and im just that bit wiser now.

Also thanks for your concern, this £250 a month is only a proportion of what we will be spending on the credit card each month, and we should be able to cover the £3000 locked away in A&L from the rest that we are putting in a more accessible account, its just that i could not resist the 12% offer on a proportion, especially as im a none tax payer.

Keeping my fingers crossed, and thanks again for the advice YB!

flossy_splodge

Hey yorkshireBoy, can I open one of these high interest Regular savings accounts with my Premier Direct account? Did I need to do it last night at the same time I applied for the current account?:o

Milarky

Very similar experience. Accepted for current account on 4th September (2006) asked for standing order payments to be 28th of month (thinking this was sufficient time) First payment taken 28th of October (2006)

It is recommeded therefore that you ask A&L to stipulate an (earliest) date when they will collect. That way, if you are incommoded, there may some compo for the mistake (later access to money than 'agreed')

Milarky

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

I believe they leave a full calendar month between account opening and first deposit.

Is that on A&L's say-so or is it contained in the Terms and Conditions?

(couldn't find anything here: http://www.alliance-leicester.co.uk/currentaccounts/SA8996PRS.pdf)

YorkshireBoy

Sorry Milarky, I meant to say 'account' month or 'statement' month...not calendar month. ie the first payment might have to be in the next statement month after account opening, hence my suggestion that the OP might have been better stipulating the 4th of the month.

It's just a belief I have (wasn't informed by A&L), based on numerous similar postings I remember seeing on here when I was opening my account a couple of years ago.

LongTermLurker

I was told the delay was to give me time to fund the current a/c - as they offer a free overdraft (and "no fee" guarantee during the DD switching window) it's not much of a benefit really.

Maybe, just maybe, it's a devious way of making sure you keep the current a/c open for 13 months?

YorkshireBoy

LongTermLurker wrote: »

I was told the delay was to give me time to fund the current a/c...

Plausible, since they'll only switch your salary AFTER they've switched your DD's/SO's...so that could take a month or so.

- as they offer a free overdraft (and "no fee" guarantee during the DD switching window) it's not much of a benefit really.

Be fair though, do you really expect them to pay you 12% on THEIR money?

I know it's (0% overdraft straight into a high interest account) a loophole commonly exploited on here, but I bet we make up only a small percentage of their customer base.

LongTermLurker

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

Be fair though, do you really expect them to pay you 12% on THEIR money?

Hey, you takes what they gives - seems fair to me :rotfl:Must admit, I hadn't seen any suggestions on the forum but the thought certainly crossed my mind to keep the account down to within £250 of the OD