A local Tory talking sense

I hate being ripped off. One of the biggest rip offs, which seems to be perfectly legal, is the dodgy practice of Banks/building societies who set up accounts with sky high rates to attract deposits, only to then close the accounts and cut the rate to nothing. The first building society account I ever had was an Abbey National 90 day account. They pulled this stunt on me. When I realised and complained, they said "switch it to a Five Star account, that's got a great rate of interest". I did this. A while later they "closed" this account and pulled the same stunt. I went in again and they said "we've got this great account....." I said "No thanks, once bitten, twice shy". They lost my business for ever.

Local Tory PPC for Harrow West, Dr Rachel Joyce talks in her blog about how the Post Office pulled this stunt on her mother, in her blog. I completely agree with her views. The elderly, who unlike more savvy "rate tart's" like me, are the group most likely to suffer from this scam. They are also the group who rely most on their savings.

This whole scam could be stopped in an instant. The government should compel all institutions, who close accounts or change the rates on closed accounts to send a flyer to all account holders with the following text "We are ripping you off by paying you a completely uncompetetive rate of interest, if you switch to these accounts (a list of similar products provided by other banks), you will be much better off" I'd have a prepaid return slip, which would simply instruct the bank to move the account to a competitor. That would end the scam. Thats the point of regulation - to stop sharp practice.

We expect the institutions who look after our money to be honest, decent and trustworthy. I agree with Dr Joyce that this practice is anything but. Any organisation which deliberately takes advantage of it's elderly and less savvy customers should face a rather harsh regime of regulation. I've heard a few bankers over the years seeking to justify this practice. What do I think of these arguments - see the picture at the top of this blog.