Providers of fixed rate bonds will be made to change their ways after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) found evidence of substandard practice.
The City regulator conducted a review of the sector following complaints by customers that the automatic renewal of their fixed term bond provider had been conducted unfairly.
The FCA said that over half of the firms it investigated – 16 out of 30 – needed to make improvements in terms of policy and communication with customers.
Some consumers had been given inadequate notice about the renewal of their bonds, it concluded, while some were given too short a cooling-off period to make an informed decision about the available options.
It also discovered that firms were altering the conditions of their bonds in the middle of the term, while there was also evidence that they were making difficult for customers to opt out of auto-renewal.
Returns cut in half.
Funds that have been locked away for years are being automatically reinvested, but at rates much lower than those seen even just twelve months ago.
Research by HSBC suggests that those whose three-year or five-year bonds expire in 2013 could see their returns halved if these funds were reinvested in similar products, such has been the decline in returns.
The interest on the average five-year bond today is around 2.5 percentage points lower than in 2008, the bank said.
A persistently low Bank of England base rate of 0.5% and the introduction of stimulatory measures such as the Government’s Funding for Lending Scheme are behind the drop in savings accounts, while inflation continues to rise.
"As an increase in interest rates continues to look further into the distance, the knock-on downward pressure being applied to saving rates is affecting the incomes of investors," said Bruno Genovese, HSBC’s head of savings.
Savers with maturing long-term bonds could receive only half the returns if they reinvest, says HSBC.
Firms "have reacted positively."
Though the rates available for long-term fixes remain some of the best on the market, there is increasing hesitation at locking funds away for several more years to receive on or around 2% after tax.
The FCA said that bond providers were showing signs of changing their approach.
"Within the sample of firms, where we identified concerns, firms have reacted positively and taken steps to change their contract terms and/or practice," it said.
"We are conducting some further work on automatic renewal, focusing on home and motor insurance policies, and we expect to publish our full findings in 2014."
Keith McDonald
Which4U Editor
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