Financial Services Authority
Derbyshire Building Society is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (Registration Number 164993) for certain activities concerning deposit taking, regulated mortgage contracts, general insurance and pure protection contracts, life assurance, pensions and investments. Contact us for more information or view our status disclosure here.
We subscribe to The Banking Code and copies are available on request. Simply contact us.
Other savings and investment opportunities
We may offer different products and/or similar but differently priced products through our various channels (telephone, post, branches, and the web) and through our relationships with other organisations. For details of all available products please contact us.
The terms and conditions applying to your account
The terms and conditions are variable under the Investment Conditions. We will tell you about any changes in writing, and if we have made a major change or a lot of minor changes in any one year, we will give you a copy of the new terms and conditions or a summary of the changes. For more information and details of how much notice we will give please see the Investment Conditions.
Interest rates
How we are able to change interest rates, charges and other terms
We are able to change the interest rates, charges and terms and conditions which apply to your account unless we tell you otherwise. There are limits on how we can do this and these are set out in the following:
- in our Investment Conditions for changes to:
- charges (Condition 9)
- the rate(s) of interest (Condition 19)
- Other terms (Condition 20)
- in the undertaking given for accounts requiring notice for withdrawals, details of which are set out below.
We may also limit our ability to make changes in the special conditions which apply to an account eg we may guarantee that the interest rate will not fall below Bank Rate.
Interest rates on variable rate accounts requiring notice for withdrawals
If you have a variable rate account which requires notice for withdrawals, we undertake, so long as you meet the original account opening terms, that the gross interest rate we pay you will be not less than a rate 3% below Bank of England repo rate ("Bank Rate"), except for Crown Monthly where the rate will be not less than a rate 4% below Bank Rate, subject to the following conditions:
- If we need to vary the interest rate after a change in Bank Rate in order to comply with this undertaking, the variation in the rate we pay you will not apply immediately but will take effect within one month of the change in Bank Rate;
- If Bank Rate ceases to exist or be available in the future, we will base the rate we pay you on another independent rate which in our reasonable opinion is similar to Bank Rate and appropriate to the account;
- If we ever need to withdraw this undertaking, we will let you know at least 30 days (or if the account requires a longer notice period for withdrawals, that period) in advance, and you will then have 30 days to close or switch your account without notice, loss of interest or other charges;
- This undertaking does not apply to Postal Premium where there are special terms.
Variable rate accounts - changes in Bank of England Repo Rate ("Bank Rate")
Unless we tell you otherwise, our accounts are not generally linked to Bank Rate although we do take account of Bank Rate and changes to it along with other factors when setting the interest rate on your account.
If we send you an annual statement we will tell you what the Bank Rate has been during the year so that you can compare it to the interest rate on your account and changes to it.
If the interest rate on your account relative to Bank Rate falls significantly (by 0.5% or more) over a 12 month or other period set by the Banking Code, we will write to you, if you have £250 or more in your account, to tell you this and explain your options.
We will write to you:
- Within 30 days of the change to the interest rate on your account
- Within 60 days of the change to Bank Rate where the significant fall follows a change in Bank Rate and we have not changed the interest rate on your account within 30 days
How interest is paid
We will normally automatically add interest to your account (credit). However, with some accounts you can have the interest transferred to your bank (payment) or, if you prefer, into another Derbyshire account (transfer). For certain types of account (some monthly interest accounts) we don't add interest to your account. Instead, it is credited to your bank account or an instant access account held with us.
If your interest is paid into an account with another bank or building society, the payment will reach your account three working days after the interest payment date.
How interest is calculated
We generally calculate interest on a sum you invest as follows: i where an account is being opened, from (and including) the day after we open the account for you and; ii in any other case, from (and including) the day after we receive it. (Post is received at our Head Office only on a working day which may affect the calculation of interest on accounts operated by post). We generally calculate interest on a sum you withdraw up to and including the day you make the withdrawal. (Different arrangements may apply to Time Deposits and Capital Reserve.)
If you would like to calculate the interest for yourself, we are happy to show you how to work it out. Just contact us.
How we give notice of interest rate changes
Generally we give notice of interest rate changes by displaying notices in our branches and Duffield Hall and by an advertisement in a selection of newspapers. The newspapers in which we usually advertise changes currently are The Times and Daily Express.
We will normally give notice at or before the time the change takes effect, though in some cases it may not be possible for the press advertisements to appear until shortly after the rate change.
In the case of accounts not run through branches (eg postal accounts) we will write to you within 30 days of the effective date of change.
The current interest rates for all our variable rate accounts and any currently available fixed/escalating rate accounts are available from our Customer Relationship Team and here.
For more information please contact us.
Income tax
We normally pay interest Net. We can pay interest Gross if you can provide us with an appropriate completed form complying with Inland Revenue regulations.
If you are a non taxpayer, or if your total taxable income is only just over the starting point for paying income tax, you may be able to claim a repayment of the tax deducted from the Inland Revenue.
If you pay income tax only at the basic rate, you will have no more tax to pay on the interest. If you are a higher rate taxpayer, you will have to pay additional tax on the interest to cover the difference between the tax deducted and the higher rate tax due.
Interest on ISAs is tax free provided all account conditions are met (see the ISA special conditions).
We will also pay interest without deduction of tax on “time deposits” and accounts for registered charities/exempt pension funds.
Different tax arrangements also apply to International Accounts.
The tax position affecting our accounts is of course subject to changes in the law.
Withdrawals
Making a withdrawal
The amount you can withdraw at any one time will depend on the type of account you have. However, the maximum withdrawal without prior arrangement at any Derbyshire branch is currently £500 in cash and £100,000 by cheque.
We can arrange for you to have up to £5,000 in cash if you let your branch have 24 hours' notice. You can normally make withdrawals by cheque from £50 up to £100,000 at any branch. Duffield Hall deals with cheque withdrawals for more than £100,000, although we have an emergency facility and can arrange for withdrawals to be made by bank telegraphic transfer (CHAPS) to a UK bank on payment of a fee.
If a cheque we have issued from your account becomes out of date (i.e. more than six months old) we will not normally be able to recredit your account without the authority of the person in whose name the cheque was drawn or without the cheque itself.
We will ask you to produce your passbook/cash card/certificate when you make a withdrawal.
You cannot make a withdrawal if the account would be overdrawn following the withdrawal.
Withdrawing against a cheque
f you wish to make a withdrawal against a cheque, or an automated payment such as an internet payment or standing order, paid into your account, you will not normally be permitted to do so until the money has reached your account (cleared) in accordance with the central clearing cycle operated by banks. The time taken to clear the cheque or automated payment will depend on the type of payment and where it was paid in. Between banks this normally takes three working days however, as we are not a clearing bank, the cheque or other payment will not normally be cleared until eight days after the day the account is opened when opening a new account for you and eight days after the day we receive it in other cases (two days longer at Christmas and Easter). You are protected from any loss if the cheque subsequently bounces, unless you are a knowing party to a fraud.
We can arrange for special clearance of cheques of £2,500 or more, which may speed up the process, but we will need to make a charge for this.
Cheque payments to a savings account
If you are opening an account with a cheque or paying into an account with a cheque, the account name and/or account number must be on it. We regret we can no longer accept cheques without a name or account number in the payee line.
The maximum amount you can invest
Unless otherwise stated in the account details the maximum amount you can invest is £1,000,000 per account or in total for any investor including all accounts held with us. For this limit and for some tax purposes, we treat joint account holders as being equally entitled to the amount invested.
Branches you can use
Apart from our Postal and Internet Accounts, you can pay into your account and make withdrawals at any Derbyshire Building Society branch. If you have a Derbyshire cash card you can also pay in at any Derbyshire Building Society cash machine and make withdrawals from over 55,000 LINK machines throughout the UK.
The account information we provide
We do our best to give you account information whenever you ask for it. This includes updating your passbook when you want us to.
We generally send one annual statement with details of all accounts you have with us. This covers the tax year and will include details of interest and tax (if we have deducted tax) to make it easier if you need to fill in tax forms or claim repayment of tax from the Inland Revenue.
Our current practice is to send a statement each April and we send separate statements to each joint account holder so you can each have your own copy. Accounts held by trustees, clubs, associations, or as client accounts and other similar investments will receive an individual account statement. Derbyshire Cash and Young Saver Accounts with a card will also receive statements quarterly if there has been a transaction in the relevant quarter. If there are 30 transactions in a quarter we will issue the statement after the 30th transaction. Derbyshire Postal Accounts will also receive transaction statements at least once a year.
We recommend that you check your statement or passbook regularly. If there is an entry which seems to be wrong, you should tell us as soon as possible so that we can sort it out. In some cases we will need further information or assistance from you to do this.
In addition, you can always call into any of our branches with your passbook or other account documents (e.g. certificate, card) to confirm your account details, including interest earned and tax deducted.
Our Current Interest rates can be seen here.
You can also get information on our current interest rates (including details of those newspapers we use to notify customers of interest rate changes) at any of our branches or by telephoning our Customer Relationship Team on 08456 004 005.
What if you change your mind?
If, for any reason, you are not completely happy with the account you've chosen, just contact your local Branch or Customer Relationship Team on 08456 004 005 within 14 days of either:
- the day the account was opened
- the day on which you receive the account terms and conditions and other information on paper or electronically
whichever is later.
We will gladly change it for another or you can have your money back, including all the interest earned during that time. This applies to all our accounts other than those which offer fixed or escalating rates of interest for the period of the investment.
Membership rights
Most holders of our Savings and Investment Accounts are members of the Society. The exception is that Deposit Accounts do not carry membership rights.
Joint accounts
What is a joint Account?
A joint account is one that is opened in the name of more than one person.
With a joint account you are both individually and jointly fully responsible for any obligations to us. If a joint account holder dies the balance in the account will automatically transfer to the surviving account holder(s).
If at any time you no longer wish to have a joint account together, for example because you separate, you should tell us to close the account and open accounts in your sole name(s).
Who can make withdrawals from a joint account?
You decide when you open the account whether you all or any one of you have to sign to make withdrawals from the account.
If you choose the "any one holder to sign" option and for any reason either of you change your mind in the future just let us know, and we will change our records so that all account holders must sign to make a withdrawal. Normally you must give us 14 days written notice of the change but if you let us know that exceptional circumstances apply we may be able to make the change more quickly.
Is this the same for a Derbyshire Cash Account?
When you open a Derbyshire Cash Account the conditions of that account provide that all or part of the amount in the account may be withdrawn on the authority of either account holder. Either account holder may change this arrangement on 14 days written notice to us. If the arrangement is changed card transactions will not be permitted and withdrawals will only be allowed on the signatures of both account holders.
Who has the membership rights on a joint account?
For accounts in joint names the membership rights (the right to receive notices of meetings, for instance) will normally belong to the first named account holder. If you want to change the order of names on any jointly held account, please contact us.
Trustees
For Trustee Accounts, the trustees are the legal account holders and have any membership rights. They also receive annual account statements. (However, if you have told us that an account is held for the benefit of a particular person - we will refer to the name of that person in any account statement we issue, even though, as the beneficiary of the trust, he or she is not the legal account holder.)
Please see our Account Terms Brochure, Investment Condition 11 for more information about joint accounts and trustees.
Financial Services Compensation Scheme
Derbyshire Building Society is a participant in the Financial Services Compensation Scheme established under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Under the Scheme, payments are limited to 100% of the first £35,000 of an investor's total shares and/or deposits in a building society. The payment is calculated by reference to all investor's protected shares with, and deposits in, the society. Most investors are covered, including individuals and small firms. A small number of categories of shares and deposits are not covered. Although most shares and deposits are denominated in sterling, all other currencies are covered.
Further details are contained in our ' Account terms' leaflets.
Assignment of windfalls to charity
As an independent mutual building society, we want our accounts to be available to as many customers as possible. In the past, however, we have had to impose account opening restrictions because of the actions of some people who open low balance accounts with the hope of receiving windfall benefits on a conversion, and cause disruption to our normal customer service.
We are able to offer our accounts without these general opening restrictions by operating a “charitable assignment scheme”.
Under the scheme, savers opening a Share Account will sign a declaration agreeing to assign to charity any windfall benefits to which they might become entitled during a period (usually five years) after the account opening. The agreement to assign benefits will not apply to certain members. The main exceptions are existing members who have maintained a share account continuously since 23 January 2000, and borrowing members.
(A full list of exceptions is available on request from any branch or head office.) The scheme does not apply to building society mergers.
We do, of course, have no intention whatsoever of converting to a bank.
We have chosen the well known Charities Aid Foundation as the charity to benefit from anypotential windfalls. Full details of the scheme are available in section 2 of the Account Terms leaflet.
Information about our services
From time to time we may send you information, by letter, telephone, email or otherwise about our services and products or those of our subsidiaries (or other selected companies or organisations), which we believe may be of interest. If you don’t want to receive this information or if you would like a list of our subsidiary and associated companies please write to: Customer Services, Derbyshire Building Society, Duffield Hall, Duffield, Derby DE56 1AG.
Confidentiality
We keep particulars of your account confidential and only disclose them where the Banking Code permits. Where financial institutions or others ask for references or similar items containing information about you or your account(s) we only give the information where it appears that you wish us to.
Of course in certain instances we may have to disclose information, for example, under a court order.
Personal information we hold
If you would like more information about how we use the personal data we hold in our records, please ask for our leaflet “How We Use Your Personal Information”.
Data Protection Act - requests for information
Under the Data Protection Act 1998 you have the right, upon request, to have the details of information which the Society holds about you in its records. Your request should be in writing and addressed to Member Services at Duffield Hall, Duffield, Derby DE56 1AG together with a cheque for £10 to cover the administration work involved.
If things go wrong: our complaints procedure and the Financial Ombudsman Service
If things go wrong, let us know and we’ll try and sort out the problem promptly. We have a complaints procedure and we are a member of the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Details about our complaints procedure and the Financial Ombudsman Service are in the leaflet The Society and its Customers.
Complaints we cannot settle may be referred to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Care of your account
This section contains details of steps you can take to look after your passbook or card & Personal Identification Number (PIN) in order to prevent fraud and to protect your account from being misused.
Prevent fraud and protect your accounts
It is essential to take care of your cheques, passbook, card and PIN and other security information to help prevent fraud and protect your accounts. Please make sure that you follow the advice given below.
- Do not let anyone else use your card and do not tell anyone else your PIN or other security information
- If you change your PIN you should choose your new PIN carefully.
- Always learn your PIN, password and other security information and destroy the notification as soon as you receive it.
- Never write down your PIN, password or other security information.
- Always take reasonable steps to keep your card and passbook in a safe place and your PIN, password and other security information secret at all times.
- Sign your card as soon as you receive it.
- Keep your card receipts and other information about your account containing personal details (for example, statements) safe and dispose of them carefully.
- Take care when storing or disposing of information about your accounts. People who commit fraud use many methods, such as ‘bin raiding’, to get this type of information. You should take simple steps such as shredding printed material.
- You will find the APACS website www.cardwatch.org.uk a helpful guide on what to do if you suspect card fraud.
- Never give your account details or security information to anyone unless you know who they are and know why they need them.
Changing your PIN
We will give you your PIN separately from your card. To make your PIN easier to remember you can change it to a number of your choice at a Derbyshire ATM. However, you should ensure that you choose your new PIN carefully.
You can choose not to be issued with a PIN but you will not then be able to use an ATM and all card account transactions will have to be conducted at a branch. Please note that you may be charged for withdrawals at a branch counter; more information about this is contained in The Savings and Investments Information Leaflet.
Statements
We recommend that you check your statement or passbook regularly. If there is an entry which seems to be wrong you should tell us immediately so that we can sort it out. In some cases we will need further information or assistance from you to do this.
Sending cheques through the post
When sending cheques through the post, it will help to prevent fraud if the cheque contains extra information about the person it is being paid to:
- If you are paying a cheque into a Derbyshire account, always write on the cheque the name of the account holder (eg Derbyshire Building Society, account holder - B Brown). You should draw a line through unused space on the cheque so that unauthorised people cannot add extra numbers or names. From 1 May 2006, we regret we will no longer accept cheques without a name or account number in the payee line.
- If you ask us for a cheque withdrawal from your account and you are paying it to a large organisation such as the Inland Revenue, tell us the name of the account you want the cheque paid into (eg Inland Revenue, account - J Jones, reference xxyyzz).
Lost passbook and cards
You must tell us as soon as possible if you think that your passbook or card has been lost or stolen, or if you suspect that someone might know your PIN, password or other security information. We will take immediate steps to try to prevent them from being used.
- If you have lost your passbook, card or think someone knows your PIN or other security information you can contact our Head Office or any Branch office during normal office hours; or
- If you have lost your card or suspect that someone knows your PIN you can telephone the 24 hour ‘Helpline’ number (currently 08457 045 111) at any time.
Account opening
We are not obliged to open an investment account, or to do so on the terms stated in any of our literature.
Keeping us up to date
Please make sure you let us know as soon as possible when you change your:
- name
- address
- phone number
- email address
We will require evidence of your change of name and address. If we do not hold correct information we cannot communicate with you.