Regular Savings Accounts Article Discussion

tombland

I'm looking for quite a specific savings account [for my landlord to hold my flat deposit in actually]. so the account needs to meet these criteria:

* instant access by either telephone, online, or in branch [any would be fine]

* withdrawals allowed

* interest paid monthly

* fixed rate, which won't change after 12 months

I hope someone can help advise!
thanks...

mary

There are specific regulations now in place for a landlord to hold your deposit in. He must be registered to do so, or else if done by an Estate Agents, sometimes they are legally registered to hold the deposit. In the past, some landlords have not repaid the deposit, as they have drunk it, squandered it etc. and not had it to return, so legislation was brought in to safeguard what effectively is the tenant's money. No doubt someone on here will provide the necessary info to help you.

_moore

Hi, I have a fairly basic question as saving is new to me and I'd appreciate your help.

If I set-up the First Direct 8% savings account and deposit £100 a month then my total interest for the year is £40ish.

As it's a 1 year introductory 8% rate, I'd want to switch to a new savings account that is offering the best rate after the first year. But, I can't deposit all the money I've saved in the First Direct savings account because of the monthly deposit restrictions so again, the interest on my savings in the 2nd year will be low because I'm effectively starting from scratch again.

Is that right?

Just for gaining £40 interest each year, I can't see the point.

Thanks,
Andrew

anamenottaken

Sorry, I haven't looked at the detail of the FD account but, in general, at the end of the first year of saving in a regular saver with a rate which drops after a year, you close the acount and move the balance with interest to another account paying the best available rate.

This new account can then be used to drip-feed the regular monthly payments into a new regular saver account (with best rate you find at the time). If you have been saving at £100/month for a year, you can probably continue saving at the same rate and thus save £200/month in the second year.

Whether you think gaining £40 or more pounds in a year is worth it, is up to you.

Baldur

anamenottaken wrote: »

Sorry, I haven't looked at the detail of the FD account but, in general, at the end of the first year of saving in a regular saver with a rate which drops after a year, you close the acount and move the balance with interest to another account paying the best available rate.

See http://www2.banking.firstdirect.com/1/2/savings/regular-saver-account;jsessionid=0000hZ1PDfGiBF96Th3ReGe1ZmC:11qmo514p

The balance, including interest is automatically transferred to an easy access FD savings account at the end of the first 12 months.

The saver can then choose to move the money from that account to whichever provider/account offers the best interest.

smcg2212

k.beale wrote: »

Be aware that the Santander Regular Saver only pays the 6% if you transfer your main current account to them. ... All this to try and boost an extra £30 annual interest on my savings in times when the rates we get are diminishing against inflation.

It seems to me that if you apply for the 6% Santander RS you can't get the £100 bonus for transferring your current account. Is that right? If so, I'd rather get the £100 in my current account rather than up to £30 extra interest in the RS. Am I missing something?

mary

What you are missing is not the extra interest you could get, but the time you will spend sorting out any hiccups in the transfer from one bank account to another. I have had many issues with Santander over the last 3/4 years over their incompetence at giving the right rates of interest, etc. etc. It's not worth the bother in my opinion.

It depends how much spare time you have!!!

smcg2212

mary wrote: »

What you are missing is not the extra interest you could get, but the time you will spend sorting out any hiccups in the transfer from one bank account to another. ... It's not worth the bother in my opinion.
It depends how much spare time you have!!!

I'm going to be transferring an old current account to a Santander account anyway!
My question is does anyone know if you can get both the £100 bonus for transferring a current account and the 6% for the RS?
Thanks.

mary

Are you sure you will get the £100 if you are transferring from an old Santander account, surely you would have to be transferring from an external bank, not internally?

Snapelover

On 3rd June 2011 the money which has been saved in the above account is transferred to the linked account and then it can begin again for another 12 months. However, my daughter will be 16 on 31st July so does that mean she can have another whole year of tax free savings or will she be unable to save with the above account once she turns 16?