Specific Terms for First Home Saver (2)
The Saving Accounts Terms and Conditions in force and as updated from time to time and these Specific Terms both apply to this First Home Saver (2). If there is any inconsistency between the Saving Accounts Terms and Conditions and the Specific Terms, the Specific Terms will apply. This account is designed to assist you or a family member with the purchase of a first home.
In these Specific Terms:
'Anniversary Date' means the 12 month anniversary of the date that you opened your account;
'Celebratory Bonus' means the cash bonus paid into your First Home Saver (2) account upon meeting the criteria detailed in condition 8; and
'Named Bank Account' is an account you choose to send money to and/or interest payments. It must be in your name and with us or another UK bank or building society.
1. The account
1.1 This account is a Savings Account.
1.2 This is a statement-based account. A passbook is not provided with this account.
1.3 You must be at least 16 to hold this account. It must be opened for your own use or for savings that will be used to help a family member to purchase their first home. This account cannot be used by trustees holding funds on trust for a beneficiary.
1.4 This account can be held in sole or joint names. The maximum permitted number of joint account holders is two. If the account is held in joint names, we cannot arrange for both of you to be required to authorise transactions.
1.5 You can only have one First Home Saver account (including any other versions) at any one time. If you hold more than one First Home Saver account we will close the most recently opened First Home Saver account.
1.6 You may only operate this account by telephone or online (except if you wish to make deposits in accordance with conditions 4.5(a) and (b)).
1.7 This account has a term of 36 months. At the end of the term the account will be closed and the balance transferred to an easy access account with us, or another suitable savings account held with us.
1.8 If you wish to withdraw money from the account through a one-off electronic payment to your Named Bank Account, you must provide us with details of your Named Bank Account. If, at any time, there is a change to your Named Bank Account details, you must contact us to let us know.
2. Minimum balance
2.1 The minimum balance is £1.
3. Interest
3.1 The interest rate for this account can change. You can find out the current interest rate on our website at thecoventry.co.uk or you can call our Customer Service Centre or visit a branch.
3.2 Interest is paid annually on the account's Anniversary Date.
3.3 You can choose to have the interest paid:
(a) to this account;
(b) into another account with us as long as it is not an ISA account and can accept your interest payment;
(c) into another account with another UK bank/building society if it can accept the interest payment.
4. Deposits & maximum balance
4.1 Deposits of up to £1,000 can be paid into this account per calendar month. If you take money out of this account during the calendar month, your allowance won't increase (i.e. the maximum that can be paid in for the calendar month will still be £1,000).
4.2 You can pay in as many times as you like during each calendar month, as long as the total amount you pay in doesn't exceed £1,000 per calendar month.
4.3 If you open your account part-way through a month, you may still deposit up to £1,000 until the end of that calendar month. Likewise, if your account term ends part-way through a month, you may still deposit up to £1,000 in the final calendar month up until the date your account term ends. This means that if you open your account on the 1st of a month, your maximum balance is £36,000. If you open your account on any other day of the month, your maximum balance is £37,000.
4.4 If you make a payment into this account which would exceed your £1,000 limit for a calendar month, the entire payment will be rejected and will not be credited to this account.
4.5 Deposits can be made by:
(a) cash at a branch;
(b) cheque paid in at a branch or posted to our central processing centre;
(c) transferring your money from another account with us; or
(d) regular standing order or one-off electronic payment from an account with another UK bank or building society.
5. Changing your mind
5.1 You have a cooling-off period of 14 calendar days to change your mind about opening this account and to cancel its opening. This means that you can withdraw all your funds and close this account without giving notice or incurring any loss of interest at any time within 14 calendar days of opening this account. You can do this by calling the Customer Service Centre, visiting a branch or by posting a cancellation notice to us.
5.2 If you do not close this account during the cooling-off period, it will continue in accordance with the Saving Accounts Terms and Conditions, in force and as updated from time to time, and these Specific Terms.
6. Withdrawals and closing your account
6.1 You can withdraw funds or close the account:
(a) by giving us 60 calendar days' notice or;
(b) immediately, subject to 60 calendar days' interest being deducted from the balance at the rate applicable to the account on the date of the withdrawal.
6.2 Notice can be given in branch, by post, over the telephone or online by logging into Online Services and following the instructions to give notice. The notice will start on the day we receive the request, at which point we will issue you with an acknowledgement. The acknowledgement will include information about how you can withdraw funds and tell you the dates between which the withdrawal or closure can be made.
6.3 This means that on the expiry of the 60 calendar days' notice period, you will have 14 calendar days in which to complete your withdrawal/closure without incurring loss of interest. If you wish to make a withdrawal or close the account after the 14 calendar day period without incurring loss of interest a further 60 calendar days' notice is required.
6.4 The total amount of money that you can give notice to withdraw at any time must not exceed the current balance of your account; this means you cannot anticipate future deposits to the account that may be made after you have given notice and include those in the notice of the amount to be withdrawn.
6.5 If you require access to the funds prior to the 60 calendar days' notice period expiring to pay for the completion of your property purchase we may agree to waive that notice period and you will be able to withdraw from or close the account without loss of interest; this is subject to you providing us with satisfactory evidence of the property purchase. Please call us for further information, as we will require satisfactory proof that the funds to be withdrawn will be used to fund a property purchase.
6.6 You can withdraw money or close your account by:
(a) transferring your money to another account with us; or
(b) a one-off electronic payment to your Named Bank Account.
7. At the end of the term
7.1 Unless you tell us otherwise, at the end of the term, this account and all your money will automatically transfer to an easy access account and your First Home Saver (2) will be closed. We will contact you in writing at least 14 calendar days before the end of the term with full details of the new account.
7.2 Unless you tell us otherwise, the frequency of interest payments for the easy access account, the account to which interest is paid and the Named Bank Account that is registered, will be the same as for this account.
7.3 If your money is transferred into an easy access account, we will contact you within 7 business days following the transfer to confirm this. You will be able to withdraw from or close your easy access account whenever you like without giving us notice. You will not incur a charge or lose interest if you withdraw funds from or close an easy access account.
8. Celebratory Bonus
8.1 You will qualify for a Celebratory Bonus of £500, if:
(a) the First Home Saver (2) account has been continuously open for at least 6 calendar months; and
(b) it has been 5 years or less since the First Home Saver (2) account was opened; and
(c) you, or a member of your family, are a first time buyer who has completed a purchase using a Coventry Building Society mortgage for their first home. A purchase is completed when the contracts for the purchase of the home have both exchanged and completed and our mortgage funds have been released to the solicitor for payment to the seller.
8.2 Opening this account does not mean that your (or a family member's) application for a Coventry Building Society residential mortgage will be accepted. All mortgage applications will depend on status, lending criteria and other conditions. To find out more information please visit our website at thecoventry.co.uk or you can call our Customer Service Centre.
8.3 Only one Celebratory Bonus can be paid per Coventry Building Society residential mortgage. This means that if you hold a First Home Saver account and another family member has also opened a First Home Saver account to save towards the same first home purchase only one Celebratory Bonus will be paid.
8.4 When there is a joint mortgage and more than one applicant has a qualifying First Home Saver (2) account with us, the Celebratory Bonus will be paid into the First Home Saver (2) account of the first eligible person named on the residential mortgage.
8.5 If the First Home Saver (2) account has joint account holders, only the first account holder to successfully complete a purchase using a residential mortgage with us will be eligible for the Celebratory Bonus. This will be paid into the joint First Home Saver (2) account.
8.6 If you qualify for the Celebratory Bonus, it will be paid out as set out below:
(a) If you, the first time buyer (or another family member) hold a First Home Saver (2) account, the Celebratory Bonus will be paid into the First Home Saver (2) account within 30 business days of that first time buyer completing on a first home purchase using a Coventry Building Society residential mortgage; or
(b) You will need to contact us by phone or sending us a secure message by logging in to Online Services in order to claim your Celebratory Bonus. If the first time buyer completing the Coventry Building Society residential mortgage is a member of your family rather than you, we may contact the first time buyer to confirm their identity and check details of their mortgage offer. Once we are satisfied that the Celebratory Bonus has been validly claimed it will be paid in to the First Home Saver (2) account within 30 business days.
8.7 Where the term of the First Home Saver (2) account has expired the Celebratory Bonus will be paid into the new easy access account we open for you, or another suitable savings account held with us.
