National Friendly bond maturing

[planteria]

back in the bagging days i slotted £10 into the National Deposit Friendly Society, along with others.

received a letter yesterday letting me know that my Guaranteed Growth Bond is maturing next month...giving me various options....take the princely £12.17 by having it transferred to my current account, or invest into an Investment ISA (With Profits Bond) or a Health Care Plan (Tax Free Savings)

have others received the same? and can anyone see any reason to retain membership?

[Froggitt]

I had the same letter and the same maturity value!!!!!

Ive asked for the money. Im going to spend half of it on gambling, drugs, booze, fags and loose woman, and squander the rest

[planteria]

probably wise..seems a shame to lose membership after 10years for such a little stake, but can't see an option without taking an unwanted product

[Debagger Dave]

It's no big deal losing membership of an organisation which no-one's ever heard of surely?

[patientperson]

It's no big deal losing membership of an organisation which no-one's ever heard of surely?

Not quite true .. I also have been a member for over 10 years.

Their small mini bonds were fixed in the amount to be earned so the exact maturity value was known at the start. These small bonds are no longer available.

The numbr of Friendly Societies has dwindled rapidly over the last 10 years and my experience has been that any FS merger resulted in enhanced bonus to open WP investments. No hard cash as windfall.

With all current FS regulations I expect most of the remaining smaller mutuals to be gone over the coming years.

[BiB]

I wonder what happens if we simply ignore the letters? Do we stay members? Does the £10 continue to grow?

[planteria]

it's no big deal Dave, i agree...but never want to miss a windfall

how did you manage to remain a member for over 10years then patient?

good question BiB, and the letter doesn't make it clear. perhaps they will just send cheques....but perhaps not as they are asking for either the cetrificates or a lost certificate indemnity form to be signed. have you received a similar letter?

[BiB]

Yeap, received exactly the same letters.

I'm going to have a dig around later and see if I can find the terms & conditions of the reinvestment 5 years ago. This might explain what happens if no action is taken after 5 years.

BiB.

[planteria]

good stuff, i had in mind they were 10yr bonds...but dont have the paperwork to hand

[BiB]

Found the paperwork - it was definitely a 5 year bond.

The terms and conditions booklet says nothing about what happens if you don't take your money out after 5 years. However, it does that if you've been imprisoned or are guilty of serious personal misconduct then they can expel you from the Society!