Your Savings Terms and Conditions

With effect from 31 March 2008

We are committed to providing you with a quality service. In this leaflet we aim to give you information to help you operate your savings account, together with the general terms and conditions.

It explains the responsibilities of both the member and the Society. The terms refer to all services we offer and they specify our business relationship with you, the member. However, if a specific service we provide has terms and conditions stated in the savings account leaflet, then the specific conditions will take priority.

The Society fully supports and complies with the Banking Code as this mirrors the high standards of service that we wish to deliver to our members.

1. Account opening, holders and membership

When you open an account we are required by law to confirm your identity. We will seek to validate your identity and residency using an online search facility. If this fails to provide us with the level of proof we require, we will ask you to provide proof of identity and/or address. We will let you know if we need this documentary evidence. Do not send original documents to us in the post. Further information is available in our leaflet Identifying you and preventing fraud. Once your investment account has been opened, we will provide you with a passbook as a record of all transactions that you will make on your account. You must keep your passbook safe and produce it whenever a transaction is to be carried out. When contacting the Society, you will be required to provide certain details to enable us to access your account. In any other circumstances, you should never give your account details or other security information to anyone. Keep information about your account containing personal details (for example, statements) safe and when you choose to destroy them, do so carefully. You should take simple steps such as shredding printed material. Be aware that your post is valuable information in the wrong hands. If you don't receive an account statement or any other expected financial information, contact us. We reserve the right to refuse to open an account or to accept a deposit without giving a reason. We also reserve the right not to release a passbook until satisfactory evidence of identification has been provided. On opening an account, we will also provide you with details of the current interest rates that apply to your account. Please note that your telephone conversations with us may be recorded and used for security and training purposes.

If you decide that your new account does not meet your needs within 14 days of opening it, we will help you switch accounts or you can have your money back without losing interest. The Society will also waive any notice period and any additional charges. After the 14 days, the notice required by any special conditions on the account will apply.
To be eligible for an account you must be permanently resident in the United Kingdom.
When you open a share account you become a member of Saffron Building Society. This means that you have a direct say in how the Society is run. If you are aged 18 or over you are entitled to vote at the Society's Annual General Meeting provided your account was open at the Society's previous year-end (31st December) and had a balance of at least £100. Full details of your rights as a member and the procedure for the Annual General Meeting are in the Society's rules. You can obtain a copy of our rules by requesting them from our head office or any of our branches.
Accounts may be held in more than one name. However, all account holders are responsible individually and jointly for the conduct of the account. The first named on your account is called the 'representative joint holder'. The representative joint holder is the only person on the joint account who is entitled to vote at the Society's Annual General Meeting. The other parties to the account do not have voting rights. You are entitled to choose the order in which the joint holders are named on your account.
When you open a joint account you will be asked how you want to operate it. You make the decision as to whether withdrawals can be made by any of the account holders in their own right or whether more than one or all signatures are required. This decision also applies to account amendments and closure. Communication from the Society to one of the named account holders will be deemed to be effective to all account holders.
It is important to note that if you choose to allow any one joint account holder to sign for withdrawals by ticking the 'any one signature required' box on the application form, this means that any one account holder can withdraw funds, amend or close the account without the consent or knowledge of the other account holder(s) at any time. (The exception to this is that both/ all signatures are required before the Society can amend your account from 'any one signature required' to 'all signatures required').
On proof of death of any joint account holder, we will recognise only the survivor(s) as having ownership of or interest in the account and the survivor(s) shall be entitled to operate the account on the same terms.
We do not have to recognise the interest or claim of any person other than the account holder(s) in respect of money held in any account, nor will we be liable in any way for failing to recognise such interest or claim, except as required by law.

2. Membership

A membership document means a passbook, certificate, card or any similar items, which we designate to be a membership document. We will give you a membership document, but it will remain our property and must be returned to us whenever we ask, to be brought up to date or for such other purposes as we may reasonably require. You must keep your membership document safe, and always inform us as soon as possible if you change your name, address or telephone number.

We recommend that you regularly check your passbook. If you see an entry which appears to be wrong, you must advise us as soon as possible so that we can take action to sort it out.
If your membership document (passbook) is either lost or stolen you must advise us as soon as you can, in the first instance verbally, but always in writing. After you have (a) completed a lost/stolen passbook indemnity form and (b) paid any fee which we may reasonably require (as detailed in the Society's savings charges leaflet), we will, after a period of 14 days, arrange for the balance of your account to be transferred to a new account and provide you with a new membership document (passbook) showing your new account number. For joint account holders, we will require the signature of each account holder.
If someone other than you produces your membership document to us, pretends to be you or to be authorised by you, and is therefore able to withdraw money from your account, you will be liable for the amount of any withdrawals made if you have acted fraudulently or with gross negligence.

3. Payment of interest

The product leaflets relating to our savings accounts detail how interest is calculated, the way it is paid and dates on which it is paid. You may change your instructions with regard to interest payments at any time by giving at least six weeks notice, in writing, prior to the next payment date.
The Society pays interest on your savings from the day after we receive the funds, up to and including the day before withdrawal or closure. The interest is calculated on the daily balance of your account. If the investment is made by cheque and the cheque is not honoured then the funds will be removed from your account and no interest will be earned on this amount.
We can change the rate of interest paid to your savings for any valid reason where we reasonably believe change is appropriate and changes may take effect immediately. We will tell you about rate changes in the following ways:

For designated postal and internet based accounts (excluding tracker accounts):
1. By letter, email or other personal notice within 30 days, or
  
  For branch based accounts:
2. Within three working days by general notice in our branches and principal office, together with advertisements in the following local newspapers: Saffron Walden Weekly News, Royston Weekly News, Haverhill Weekly News, Colchester Evening Gazette, Halstead Gazette, Clacton and Frinton Gazette, Brentwood Weekly News, Herts & Essex Observer, Mercury Series, Romford Recorder and the Newham Recorder. We reserve the right to change at any time the newspapers that we advertise in.
  
  Details of our current rates are also available on our website www.saffronbs.co.uk
If the balance falls below the minimum investment requirement of each product the interest rate will be fixed at 1.00% gross p.a./aer.
Following a change in the Bank of England base rate, our tracker rates will change within 28 days.

4. Deposits into your account

We will accept deposits in sterling in the form of cash and cheques. Cheques can only be made payable to the account payee. Cheques crossed "account payee" will only be accepted into the account of the payee named. Any endorsements to an "account payee" cheque will not be accepted. Deposits can be made in person or by post. However, we strongly recommend that you do not send cash by post, as the Society cannot accept liability for any loss. We will refuse to accept a cheque drawn in your favour which is dated more than six months earlier than the date on which it is presented for payment.
Cheques and automated payments paid into your account will be added to the balance immediately. You will not normally be allowed to withdraw money against uncleared cheques. A cheque normally takes six working days to clear, as shown below. All number of days are working days.
Day 0 - Saffron Building Society receives the cheque
Day 1 - the account starts to earn interest on the money paid in.
Day 2 - the payer's bank account will be debited with the amount shown on the cheque.
Up until the end of day 6, a cheque may still bounce and the money be reclaimed from the payee's account.
Day 7 - the money is available to withdraw (if the account allows withdrawals). This is the same day that the customer can be certain that the money is theirs and cannot be reclaimed without their permission (as long as fraud has not been deliberately committed). The Society pays interest from the day after we receive the funds. You will be able to withdraw the funds on the seventh working day. The Society's clearing cycle may take longer when paying in via some financial institutions or agents.

If we allow you to make a withdrawal against a cheque earlier than the seventh working day, this is no guarantee that the cheque has been 'cleared'. If the cheque is not 'cleared', you will have to repay us the amount of the withdrawal.

If a cheque that you have paid into your account is lost in the clearing process, then it will not be cleared and (provided we have not acted negligently) we will remove the amount from your account accordingly. It will then be your responsibility to obtain a replacement for the lost cheque.

Cheques paid in which are subsequently returned from the bank will be debited to your account and there will be a charge (please refer to the Society's Savings Charges leaflet). Cheques returned for any reason will usually be returned to the account holder.
Payments can be made to your account by standing order. Details of how to set up a standing order on your account can be found in your passbook, on our website, by requesting them from any of our branches, or by calling 0800 072 1100.
The Society accepts no responsibility and will not be liable for incorrect bank details being quoted and, as a result, funds being returned to the originating bank.
While we try to operate your account accurately, mistakes may occur. If you are aware that an amount has been incorrectly credited or debited to your account you should notify us immediately. If you use funds with the knowledge that they were incorrectly credited to your account, we may take steps to recover the money from you or take it from your account and take such other proceedings or actions as may be appropriate.
If we become aware of an error we will notify you and amend the error accordingly, including removing any money incorrectly credited into your account.
The maximum overall investment any customer may hold with the Society in total may not exceed £5,000,000. Exceptions to this limit may be considered by the Society's board. Some products carry their own maximum investment limit, details of which can be found in the product literature.

5. Investment withdrawals and account closures

Under normal circumstances we will not close your account without giving you at least 30 days notice, except where the investment is for a fixed term which has not expired. Examples of circumstances that are not 'normal' include threatening or abusive behaviour towards staff. We will not close your account, or threaten to do so, as a response to a valid complaint you have made. If you break the general or specific terms and conditions of your account or any account holder becomes bankrupt we may suspend the use of the account immediately. You can close your account at any time, without giving any reason, after giving the notice required by the special conditions applying to the account. Instructions for closure must be signed by all of the required account signatories and your passbook presented.
Withdrawals at branches can be made from cleared funds in your account of up to £500 in cash per day and £100,000 by cheque on demand. A withdrawal form must be completed in writing and the membership document (passbook) must be presented. For your protection we may require proof of your identity before allowing withdrawals from your account. For withdrawals larger than these, notice of one banking day is required (please note that cash withdrawals with notice are subject to a maximum of £1,000 per day). Of course, withdrawal terms and conditions are specific to the type of account you have with the Society.

We can restrict at any time the amount which can be withdrawn from any account. We will only do this if:
1. we reasonably believe that there may be fraudulent activity or other financial crime affecting the account;
2. we are required to do so by any law, regulation or court order;
3. there is a dispute (which we reasonably believe may be genuine) about the ownership of, or entitlement to, the money in the account;
4. circumstances beyond our reasonable control prevent us from offering a normal service (such as in the event of terrorist threat, computer systems failure or strikes); or
5. circumstances exist which lead us reasonably to believe our financial stability is under threat (such as where rumours cause actual or potential abnormal levels of cash withdrawals).
In the case of (d) and (e) above:
1. we will act proportionately to the circumstances in question;
2. we will take all reasonable steps to ensure that the restrictions are lifted as soon as practical and to minimise the inconvenience to you;
3. we will take into account the interests of the Society's membership as a whole;
4. we will, if practical, give advance notice; and
5. we may consider exceptions to the restrictions if we are reasonably satisfied that substantial hardship would otherwise be caused.
If you make a withdrawal by cheque and it is made payable to a third party, then the cheque can only be stopped by the Society if it is reported lost or stolen. You will need to contact your nearest branch in order to give written instructions. A charge is payable for this service, please refer to the Society's savings charges leaflet for details.
All cheques drawn from the Society accounts are "Account Payee Only" which means they cannot be endorsed to the benefit of a third party.
Cheques drawn from your account are valid for six months.

6. Postal accounts

You can only transact on postal accounts through the post.
Cheques withdrawn will be made payable to the account holder only.

7. Internet accounts

You can only transact on internet accounts through the internet. Please refer to the e-saver terms and conditions for specific conditions that relate to these accounts.

8. Charges

In accordance with the Society's rules we may make charges relating to the operation of your account and deduct those charges from the amount in the account. The charges will reflect expenses we incur and the cost of staff time and the use of our office and computer facilities. Savings charges are listed in the Society's savings charges leaflet. We will advise you if a charge is applicable before we provide a product or service, and whenever you ask.
We can also change the charges for any other valid reason where we reasonably believe change is appropriate.
Where we introduce new charges, or increase existing charges, we will tell you personally at least 30 days before the increase takes effect.

A change, which abolishes a charge or reduces the amount of an existing charge, may be introduced with immediate effect and without notice.

9. Change of investment terms and conditions

We can change the terms on which your investment is held (other than the rate of interest and charges) as follows:
1. If the change is to your disadvantage, we will tell you about it personally at least 30 days before we make the change. At any time up to 60 days from the date of the notice you may, without notice, switch your account or close it without having to pay extra charges or interest for doing this.
2. We may make any other change immediately and tell you about it within 30 days.
3. 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 new changes.
  
  We will notify you of any changes to terms and conditions of your account by either:
  - - Notices in branches
  - - Advertisement in local newspapers
  - - Writing directly to you
The operation of any society account is subject to the Society's rules. A copy of the Society's rules are available on request.

Specific terms and conditions for each savings and investment account can be found in this leaflet, for internet accounts the e-saver terms and conditions and for ISAs the ISA terms and conditions.

10. Unclaimed balance

If:
1. You cannot be traced after reasonable enquiry, and
2. For a period of 3 years you have made no payment to or withdrawal from your account and the amount in that account is less than £100, or
3. For a period of 5 years you have made no payment to or withdrawal from your account and the amount in that account is more than £100.
  
  We may decide to close that account and the money in it will be retained by us. If, however, you contact us at a later date we will either open a new account for you and credit that account with the amount of money in the closed account, including interest, or repay the money to you.

11. Lien

We have the right to retain and set off all money you hold with us against any money you may owe to us (whether under a mortgage, loan, guarantee or otherwise) which is due for payment but which has not been paid. We will inform you in writing when we have done this. Interest or bonuses will not be paid on any money that has been used in this way.

12. Income tax

Where required by legislation, interest on accounts will be paid or credited after deduction of income tax.
At the end of each tax year, the Society will produce, on written request, a statement known as a Section 975 Certificate, for all accounts where tax applies. This certificate confirms the amount of interest credited to your account in the previous 12 months where tax has been deducted. You do not need a Section 975 Certificate unless you wish to reclaim tax that has already been deducted from the interest you have paid as detailed on your annual statement. The Society reserves the right to charge you for issuing a duplicate Section 975 Certificate (see the Society's savings charges leaflet).
If you do not have to pay income tax you may fill in an Inland Revenue form R85 and we will pay you interest without deduction of tax. Please ask at your local branch for this form if you need one. If you have any queries on your tax liability you should get in touch with your local HM Revenue & Customs Tax Office. For certain corporate deposit accounts interest can be paid gross with no tax deducted (please ask at your local branch for details).
Interest received and subject to higher rate income tax should be entered in your annual tax return and any further liability to pay higher rate tax must be settled direct with the HM Revenue & Customs. Parents can each give their children a lump sum that produces up to £100 income before tax each year. But if the income exceeds £100, the whole amount is taxed as the parent's income. This rule only applies to parents. Children can register as non-taxpayers and receive the interest gross, as long as their total income is not greater than their personal allowance.

13. Service of notices

Where we send a notice or other document by post, it will be treated as properly served if we post it to you in a pre-paid envelope addressed to your notified address. The notice or document will be treated as served 72 hours after it is posted. We will not be liable for delays due to circumstances outside our control, including postal delays.
If you change your name and/or address you must inform us, in writing, within 28 days. Before we can change your records we will require evidence of your change of name (marriage certificate etc).
If we accidentally fail to:
1. Send to you a communication intended for our investors generally or a category of our investors of which you are one, or
2. Display a notice at our head office or any other branch office
This will not make the notice invalid.

14. Branch Closure

If we plan to close or move your branch or agency, we will tell you at least 12 weeks beforehand. We will also tell you how we will continue to provide services to you.

15. Banking Code

Saffron Building Society is a mutual organisation, which means we operate for the benefit of our members. We subscribe to the Banking Code, which sets minimum standards of customer service and our staff will be happy to help with any questions you may have and will supply you with a copy of the code, if you would like one.

16. Data protection

For full details of how we use your information, and your rights to see the information we hold about you, please refer to any savings brochure or ask for a copy of 'Your guide to Data Protection', available at any of our branches, by calling 0800 072 1100 or by visiting our website.

17. Complaints

We have an internal complaints procedure and are a member of the Financial Ombudsman Services scheme. Please see the leaflet 'internal complaints procedure', available at any of our branches or our Head Office, or click here for further details

We are not responsible for failure of any machine, data processing system, transmission link or any industrial dispute or circumstances beyond our control which obstructs or disrupts any service we provide you.

Nothing in these terms and conditions will reduce your statutory rights relating to faulty or mis-described goods. For further information about your statutory rights contact your local authority Trading Standards Department or Citizens Advice Bureau.

Saffron Building Society is a member of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme established under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Payments under the Scheme are limited to a maximum of £35,000 per person, that is 100% of the first £35,000 of an investor's total invested and/or deposits. Most investors are covered, including individuals and small firms. Although most shares and deposits in UK building societies are denominated in sterling, the euro and other European Economic Area currencies are also covered. Further details are available on request from the Society.

Saffron Building Society operates an Internal Complaints Procedure details of which are available from all branches, by calling 0800 072 1100, or by visiting our website at www.saffronbs.co.uk.

Saffron Building Society is a member of the Financial Ombudsman Service and subscribes to The Banking Code.

Member of the Building Societies Association.

Saffron Building Society, Saffron Independent Financial Advisers Ltd and Crocus Home Loans Ltd are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority for investments, pensions, life assurance, insurance and regulated mortgages. Saffron Building Society's FSA registration number is 100015. Registered Office: Saffron House, 1A Market Street, Saffron Walden, Essex, CB10 1HX.