finance victims  

for those short changed by a personal finance product
     
  abbey national 
   
 

A Reader writes
 

I get very cross with the banks for the way they market their services - limited time bonus rates, low rates on captive accounts, regular introduction of new accounts, special accounts they don't advertise, etc. so believe in playing them at their own game. Since my e-saver account was 6 months old and, therefore, no longer getting a bonus 1% I rang Abbey National today to ask if they had any better accounts to persuade me not to move off to another bank. Half in jest I asked if I could close my e-saver and open another one next week in order to get another 6 months bonus. Incredibly, not only did they say 'yes', but offered to do it all for me. All I have to do is not use the account for a couple of days. Next time I use it the only differences will be a new account number and the 1% bonus reinstated. Pin number, plastic card, links to current account, etc. will all remain in place.
I'd still rather have complete transparency of rates but this just shows what you can get by being a bit of a nuisance.
 
Confirming this, Jeremy Shaw writes
 

I had about £50,000 invested with the Abbey National e-banking account, which includes a % bonus for the first 6 months. After 6 months I tried to obtain confirmation of the interest rate, which was not clearly stated on the details of transactions. So I rang the helpline and was told that the rate had been reduced by 1% (as I expected).

So I asked if I could close this account and open a new one to obtain the 1% bonus and was told "Yes". Contrary to what I was at first told this could all be done in seconds on the phone. After a few questions from me I was told that Abbey National had made a mistake and hadn't intended that people should be able to do this, which was why they now "kept quiet about it."

 
The first reader writes again in December 2001
 

Another six months has passed since I renewed my Abbey National e-saver account so I've just tried to do it again. Abbey National will no longer do it all for me over the phone. Now I have to fill in a new application form and provide identification. But it appears that you can still do it, albeit with slightly more difficulty.
 

We also have a reader's query about redemption penalties on Abbey National fixed rate mortgages. Can you help?

June 2001 Private Eye reports a questioner at the Abbey National AGM asking the Chairman if he should stand down "given the criticism in the Commons of Abbey National's methods in pursuing debts that it often could not substantiate". Lord Tugendhat replied he did not know of the early day motion, but Private Eye points out that he had written to MP Mike Hancock about it. Does anyone know more?
 
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