Banking Code

The Banking Code is a voluntary code that sets standards for good banking practice, that all of its members have to meet. That way you can be sure we're doing things in your best interests.

We recommend that you read through The Banking Code. You can get a copy from your local branch or from the Banking Code Standards Board website.

We will automatically give you details of the main aims and key commitments of the Code when you open a savings account or take out a personal loan with us.

Data Protection notice

Britannia Building Society (“the Society”) whose principal office is Britannia House, Cheadle Road, Leek, Staffordshire Moorlands, ST13 5RG will use the personal information you provide in connection with your account or which they obtain through its dealings with you, in a number of ways. The following section details the ways in which you agree the Society can use it:-

1) to administer any product it provides me with (including debt tracing and recovery);

2) to help confirm my identity to ensure the Society meets its money laundering obligations. The Society may make searches using third party verification services and fraud prevention agencies. These third party services may involve investigating individuals and/or entities to determine whether they are mentioned in restricted lists or are considered politically exposed persons;

3) the Society may make searches about me at credit reference agency(ies) who will supply you with information, including information from the Electoral Register, for the purposes of verifying my identity. The agency(ies) will record details of the search whether or not this application proceeds. The searches will not be seen or used by lenders to assess my ability to obtain credit. This information may also be used for debt tracing, the prevention of money laundering, fraud detection and investigation purposes as well as management of my account. The Society may do further checks of this type throughout the course of our relationship;

4) to disclose to appropriate regulatory authorities (including regulators of voluntary Codes of Practice), any other body having a legal right to the information and anyone I appoint to administer or operate my account;

5) to exchange and disclose within the Society, its subsidiary companies and authorised agents to enable a review to take place of my total relationship with the Britannia Group (“the Group”). A list of Britannia Group companies is available from the Society upon request;

6) for market research purposes, developing goods and services, statistical and business analysis, account administration and creating and maintaining a customer profile;

7) where applicable, to the Britannia Building Society Foundation if information is required in connection with my agreement to assign conversion benefits;

8)

9) where the Society gives me discounts, offers, vouchers etc which are provided by a third party, I agree that the Society can pass on my relevant contact details so they can be sent to me;

10) I understand that if I do not open an account my information may be held on Britannia Group customer systems and may still be used for detailed marketing statistical analysis;

11) I understand that the information the Society holds/shares about me will be treated as confidential and will only be disclosed to any other party:
a) as detailed in this notice, at my request or with my consent;
b) to agents and others in connection with running accounts and services for me;
c) to investigate or prevent fraud and/or money laundering; and
d) if the law permits it or it is in the public interest.

12) I understand that the above activities may be undertaken in countries which may not afford me the same level of protection regarding my personal information as in the United Kingdom;

13) telephone conversations between us may be recorded and/or monitored for the purposes of security, internal training, accurate account operation, internal customer monitoring and to improve the quality of our services to me; and

14) the Society is continually looking to improve our systems to provide a more efficient service. As part of this process, it may be necessary to use information provided by our members for the purpose of the system testing. The Society will ensure that the testing is carried out in a secure and controlled environment.

A joint account

A joint account is an account opened in the names of two or more people.

The funds in the account are owned jointly and severally, meaning each of you can take or use all funds in the account and unless the account requires more than one person to sign, we cannot prevent or be responsible for their doing so.

Each is separately responsible for the account. Consideration needs to be given to the order in which the names are recorded on the account, as only the first named are entitled to voting or conversion rights.

In the event that the account holders split up or enter into a dispute, we will not become involved in any dispute as to the ownership or division of any money held in the account. We will only allocate funds exclusively to one or more account holders (or to a third party), following receipt of a court order to do so.

Please be aware that if Britannia is notified by a court order to do so, for example due to bankruptcy of the account holders, we will be required freeze the account. This is because the money in the account would come under the control of the non-bankrupt account holders and the person who administers the other account holder's assets. The money in the account is unlikely to be available for either of you to use.

You should only open a joint account if you and the other account holders understand the commitment you are entering into.

A joint Passbook account

For joint passbook accounts, it is important to remember that joint account holders can choose whether any one account holder can make withdrawals, or if all account holders need to sign the withdrawal form.

If all account holders have to sign the withdrawal form, then they will all have to attend the branch at the time of any withdrawals, or alternatively, all have to sign the authority to operate the account by post.

Where the account is operating on the signature of any of the account holders, any one of the account holders can withdraw money or give written instructions at any time to change the operation of the account so that future withdrawals require both signatures.

A joint CashCard account

For joint CashCard accounts, it is important to remember that all joint account holders agree that withdrawals from the account may be made on the sole authority of either joint account holder.

You must appreciate that where a joint Passbook account is operated on an any to sign basis, or for any joint CashCard accounts; should the relationship break down, either one of the joint account holders could withdraw all the funds in the account.

If you change your mind after you have opened a savings account

These things happen but there's no need to worry. Just let us know within 14 days of opening your account and we'll close or transfer it. We will return your money to you as soon as possible and there are no penalties. For the majority of accounts, during this period your savings will earn interest as normal. However, for some of the Bonds with a start date, there will be no interest earned during the 14 days. Please see individual account terms and conditions for further details.

If you've opened a Child Trust Fund account, just let us know within 14 days of applying and we'll return the voucher to you. There are no penalties and we will return any additional money to you as soon as possible. As there is a 14 day cancellation period, the Child Trust Fund will not be opened until this period has expired.

You can either visit your local branch or write to us at Dept C033, Britannia Building Society, Britannia House, Leek, Staffordshire Moorlands, ST13 5RG.

If you decide that you want to close your account, please bear in mind that if you paid in cash we cannot return it through the post. Also, if you call into a branch and the amount you require is greater than £500, you will need to give us two working days notice.

If you opened your account by cheque, you will have to wait until the cheque has cleared, usually five bank working days (excluding the days of receipt and withdrawal) before we can return your money.

Cheques in Great Britain are cleared in accordance with the rules set by the Cheque and Credit Clearing Company. It takes three days to clear a cheque and this is called the ‘cheque clearance cycle’. Britannia is not a clearing bank and clears its cheques through a high street bank. We do not believe that it is in our members’ interests to try to clear a cheque immediately because of the risk of fraud. Fraudulent cheques often take longer than 3 days to identify. For this reason we take a minimum of 5 bank working days excluding the day of receipt and withdrawal to clear a cheque. A bank working day excludes Saturdays, Sundays and English Bank Holidays.

To make sure our members do not lose out during this period, interest is accrued from the day the cheque is paid into the account, regardless of when the cheque clears.

Customer Service

Our aim is at all times to provide a first class standard of service. However, there may be occasions when you feel that this has not been achieved.

If you have a complaint about the products or services we provide, please contact your local branch or the Customer Support Centre Departments you have been dealing with. You can choose to contact them either by telephone, in writing, in person at the branch, or via the Contact Us section of our website.

If your complaint is still unresolved, you can contact our Customer Service Team, who will review your complaint and provide a final response. Their details are:
Customer Service Team, Britannia Building Society, Leek, Staffordshire Moorlands, ST13 5RG. Telephone 01538 391744. Lines are open 8am-6pm Monday to Friday and 9am-12noon Saturdays.

If we are unable to settle a complaint you may be entitled to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

More information about the complaint process is summarised in our leaflet "When Things Need Sorting Out." Please ask us if you would like a printed copy.

If you have a complaint in relation to a claims dispute, then please contact the general manager of the insurer. Please contact us for the address. Contacting the Financial Ombudsman Service will not affect your right to take legal action.

Law applicable to Contract

If you take out an account or policy with Britannia, the Contract will be governed by English Law and any dispute will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales. English Law will also govern any pre-contract relationship existing between us.

Your contract will be supplied in written English and we will always communicate with you in the English language.

Redress

Britannia Building Society is covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. You may be entitled to compensation from the scheme if we cannot meet our obligations. This depends on the type of business and circumstances of the claim.
Deposit/Saving Accounts: Britannia 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 100% of the first £35,000 of a depositor's shares and/or deposits (other than deferred shares - permanent interest bearing shares). Most depositors 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 from www.fscs.org.uk

Web usage

Each of the products or services featured are only available to residents of the United Kingdom (excluding the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) and shall be governed by English Law.
We can only deal with application forms completed in English.

It is your responsibility to ensure that you have up to date details of any product or service featured. You may need to clear your cache memory.

While every care has been taken to ensure accuracy of information contained within the pages of this site, no responsibility can be taken for any errors and/or omissions.

Nothing on the pages of this site shall be deemed to constitute financial or other professional advice in any way. If any advice or guidance is required on Britannia products or services, please contact us as directed on the site.

Messages sent over the internet cannot be guaranteed to be completely secure as they are subject to possible interception or loss or possible alteration. We are not responsible for them and will not be liable to you or anyone else for any damage or otherwise in connection with any message sent by you to Britannia or by Britannia to you over the Internet.

Downloads

Please note that any software is downloaded at your own risk. Britannia Building Society does not warrant the suitability of any software which is downloaded. Whilst we have taken all reasonable precautions to ensure that no viruses are transmitted from Britannia Building Society to any third party, we accept no liability for any problems with your computer that may arise as a result of any downloads. If you are in any doubt as to the suitability of software to be downloaded for your computer, it is recommended that you obtain specialist advice before downloading.

Links to external sites

We are not responsible for the security or content of third party web sites that we link to, nor do we endorse any products or services advertised on them. Please be aware that once you leave our site, you will no longer be covered by Britannia's Privacy or Security Policies.

Britannia channels

We have a wide range of accounts and services which are available through our branch network and our website. We also offer selected products via:

The post
Our Contact Centre

Society details and regulations

Britannia Building Society, Britannia House, Leek, Staffordshire Moorlands, ST13 5RG.

Britannia Building Society is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Our Financial Services Authority registered number is 104879.

All loans are subject to status, valuation and Rules of the Society, copies of which are available on request.

We're covered by The Financial Ombudsman Service(FOS) who is available to settle certain complaints if they cannot be settled through our internal complaints procedure. Contact details are:

The Financial Ombudsman Service
South Quay Plaza
183 Marsh Wall
London E14 9SR