National Savings hasty response to desperate savers.

Thousands of desperate savers are having their cash returned by Government-run National Savings every day following a record rush for one of its top deals. Savers whose incomes have been stripped bare by the fall in the base rate swamped National Savings with requests for a leading one year bond paying 3.95 per cent, and a two-year deal at 4.25 per cent. But after just 24 days the rates were pulled – the shortest time one of its savings products has ever been on sale.

Now thousands who hoped to have their meagre monthly incomes boosted by the deal, are having their cheques returned. At the last count more than 1,000 a day were being posted back. Many more applications are still to be received from savers who never realised the rates had been withdrawn. They will now be forced to seek out one of the lesser deals from elsewhere on the high street – the Post Office is doing a one year growth bond at 3.70% fixed for one year and a 4.25% rate for the two year deal.

This will be a further blow to those whose incomes have been devastated by the fall in the Bank of England base rate to a record low of 0.5 per cent. In some cases investors are getting just £8 interest a year for £10,000 of savings. If you do not need to depend on an income from your savings for the time being it would also do to look at investing in gold, shares or otherwise.

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