Savings FAQs

The Faster Payments system is designed to speed up the transfer of customers' electronic payments between banks and building societies. The existing payment systems can take up to 3 days to process these transactions; the Faster Payments Service aims to process them in near real time.

For more information visit the faster payments page of the customer info section.

Northern Rock plc operates an Internal Complaints Procedure. You can either request or download a copy of the Guide to our Internal Complaint Procedure.

This guide outlines our complaints handling procedures and the availability to customers of the Financial Ombudsman Service scheme, which provides independent adjudication on any complaint which cannot be resolved through Northern Rock's Internal Complaint Procedure.

The Northern Rock Savings Pledge applies to our customers' products as follows:

Northern Rock will notify its savers every time it makes changes to interest rates on their account. If the account is a notice account and rates are to be reduced, the advance notice will be at least the same as the notice period.

Northern Rock will notify its savers of any new variable rate product it launches which is of a similar type to that already held by them.

Northern Rock will write to its savers if it changes Terms and Conditions on their accounts.

Find your nearest branch by using the branch finder, alternatively you can contact us via telephone.

The maximum holding with Northern Rock is £2 million in total, per customer. This means that if you have more than one account with us, the combined total balances of all your accounts must not exceed £2 million. Please note, if you open a joint account the maximum holding applies to each individual.

However, each account type may be subject to its own maximum deposit limit, details of which can be found in your 'Summary Box'. Where a maximum deposit limit applies to an account, joint accounts will also be subject to this limit.

For all postal or branch accounts, if you wish to amend the name, address or interest instructions on your Account, please send a completed Savings Account Amendment Form to our registered Head Office. If you are changing the name on your Account please ensure you send a copy of one of the following documents: marriage certificate, decree nisi, decree absolute, deed poll , birth certificate. Please ensure you notify us at least 48 hours before you would like us to make the change.

For Online accounts you can do this by logging onto your Home Page, choose your Account and click on 'view'. Under the heading 'Account details' select 'Amend details'. You will then be able to amend your personal details. Please note you are unable to amend your Full Name and Date of Birth online. You must contact us using the secure 'let's talk' facility to inform us of the change. Once you have logged onto your Home Page, select the 'let's talk' option. 'New' will allow you send us a secure message. We may require evidence of a change of name (e.g. original or certified copy of a marriage certificate) before we can amend our records.

If you do not need to pay tax on your Savings interest, please complete an R85 form for each account you hold with us, and return these to us either via your local branch or Head Office.

For joint accounts, interest can be paid part net / part gross. So if you don't pay tax, you can still claim gross interest on your share.

To find out your rate of interest visit the savings interest rates page.

We make charges for some standard services that we make available to you. Full details are available in our savings charges leaflet.

For additional forms visit the useful downloads page of the customer info section.

Northern Rock offers many accounts with different Terms and Conditions and rates of interest. To remain competitive and meet the needs of our customers, we regularly review the accounts and services that we offer. As a result, we may introduce new accounts or changes in interest rates.

There are a number of factors we consider when reviewing our interest rates which include; general trends within the money markets, competitor activity and the Bank of England Base Rate. However, whatever direction interest rates take, you will have the assurance of our Savings Pledge to keep you personally informed.

If you are unsure about the direction of future rate changes, there is the option to guarantee your interest rate by investing into one of our fixed rate accounts.

If you would like any further information about the accounts currently on offer please contact us on 0845 600 4466* or visit your nearest Northern Rock branch. You can also keep up to date with all of Northern Rock's Savings news here at northernrock.co.uk.

Northern Rock is a member of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) established under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.You may be entitled to compensation from the Scheme if we cannot meet our obligations. This depends on the type of business and the circumstances of the claim.

Further information is available from www.fscs.org.uk

You will start to earn interest on the money (or reduce the balance on which overdraft interest is charged) on the second business day after depositing a cheque. The money will be considered cleared for withdrawal on the fourth business day. You can be certain that the money is yours by the end of the sixth business day. This means the money cannot be taken from you without your agreement unless you are a knowing party to fraud. All cheques received after 3pm will normally be included in the next business day's work.

If a cheque you have deposited is returned unpaid, the amount of the cheque will be debited from your Account. Interest will be adjusted from the date the cheque was deposited. The cheque will be returned to you and will not be re-presented without your authority.

We aim to deal with deposits and withdrawal transactions within 24 hours, but we cannot guarantee this. Transactions with queries and general correspondence are likely to take longer. Banking of cheques for payment will at all times be subject to the rules, and clearing processes, of any cheque clearing system(s) used by us.

Cheques must be made payable to 'Northern Rock for the Account of (insert Account Holder(s) name(s))' and crossed 'A/c Payee only'. Please include your Account Number, where applicable, on the reverse of the cheque. By including this information it will help to prevent fraud, especially if you are sending a cheque through the post. You should also draw a line through any unused space on the cheque.

If a cheque you have presented is out of date (normally older than six months) this will not be credited to your Account and will be returned to you. We do not accept or issue post-dated cheques. If you send a post-dated cheque and it is processed by us, we will not be liable to you for any costs incurred in its collection.

You may make withdrawals via cheque (subject to the Terms and Conditions of your Account). Cheque withdrawals of £100,000 and over can only be processed at our registered Head Office Monday to Friday excluding Bank Holidays. Where applicable, cheques will be posted to your registered address only.

If such a cheque is returned to us, we will re-credit the funds to your Account and they will earn interest from the first business day the cheque is received by us. Cheques are valid for a period of six months from the date appearing on the cheque.

If a cheque withdrawn from your Account is subsequently lost or stolen you must advise us immediately. You must also supply documentary evidence that it has been lost or stolen by a signed indemnity or police crime number respectively. If a cheque is issued from an account and that cheque is not used and is subsequently paid back into the account, no interest will accrue in relation to the period from the date the cheque was issued to the date it was re-credited to the account.

If you are provided with a cheque book facility you may issue cheques up to your cleared balance or agreed overdraft limit. We will pay you interest up to and including the day prior to a withdrawal.

You should not post date cheques. If you do issue post dated cheques we may treat them as dated on the day of presentation. We reserve the right to withdraw the facility for you to issue cheques on your Account.

You may request us to stop payment of a cheque you have issued (except where it has been guaranteed in conjunction with your debit card) provided you have supplied us with your authority before the cheque has been presented and cleared for payment.

Some of our ATM's have deposit facilities. You can make deposits into your Account either by cash or cheque in these machines, using the official envelopes provided. Deposits made in this way will be processed within two business days.

Cheques paid into your Account will start to earn interest two business days after we process them. Please note, this does not affect the clearance period for cheque deposits, as detailed in 'How long will it take before I start to earn interest on a cheque deposited into my account?'