Introduction
These Terms and Conditions set out the rights and obligations of you and us regarding your R Raphael & Sons plc Sapphire Account. Each Account holder agrees to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. You should keep a copy of the Terms and Conditions for future reference.
1. Definitions
Some of the words and expressions used in these Terms and Conditions have a specific meaning. They are set out below:-
• "Account" means the Raphaels Bank Sapphire Account opened by us in your name and which is governed by these Terms and Conditions;
• "BACS" means Bankers Automated Clearing Service;
• "Business Day" means a day other than a Saturday, Sunday or Bank Holiday in the relevant jurisdiction;
• "CHAPS" means Clearing House Automated Payment System;
• "Telegraphic Transfer" means a payment made through CHAPS;
• "Terms and Conditions" means these terms and conditions together with the applicable product specification relating to the Account, as amended from time to time;
• "You", "Your" and the "Account holder(s)" means the person(s) in whose name(s) the Account is stated to be held;
• "Your registered address" means the address of the first named Account holder; and
• "we", "us", "our", or "Raphaels Bank" means R Raphael & Sons plc (trading as Raphaels Bank) and includes our successors and assigns.
2. Opening Your Account
2.1 A Sapphire Account can be opened for the personal use of any UK resident over 18 years of age. Our account opening procedures must be complied with before an Account can be opened.
2.2 The minimum initial deposit is £5,000 and the maximum balance £250,000. When the maximum balance is reached no further deposits will be accepted, but future interest will be allowed to accrue. If the balance on your Account falls below the minimum amount set, our instant savings rate will apply.
2.3 This Account is not eligible for Raphaels Bank "Family Pledge" arrangement.
2.4 We may decline an application for an Account without stating a reason.
2.5 If you are not happy with your choice of Account within 14 days of opening it, we will help you switch accounts or we will give you all of your money back with interest. We will ignore any notice period and additional charges.
3. Paying Money into Your Account - Deposits
3.1 You can make payments into your Account by cheque or by transfer from another Raphaels account. Deposits can also be made by CHAPS or BACS, although this method cannot be used for the initial deposit.
3.2 The initial deposit will only be accepted in the form of either a cheque or transfer from an existing Raphaels account.
3.3 We do not accept or issue post-dated cheques. Any post-dated cheques will be returned to you. If, however, you do send us a post-dated cheque and it is inadvertently processed by us, we will not be liable to you for any costs incurred in its collection.
3.4 Cheques drawn on English and Welsh branches of banks will be considered cleared on the fourth Business Day after we process them.
3.5 Cheques drawn on Scottish and Northern Ireland branches of banks will be considered cleared on the fifth Business Day after we process them.
3.6 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.
3.7 We reserve the right to refuse to accept any deposit.
4. Taking Money out of your Account - Withdrawals
4.1 You can only take money out of your Account if you have sufficient cleared funds in your Account. CHAPS & BACS payments are considered cleared when we receive them. Funds received by cheque take longer to clear.
4.2 You can take money out of your Account by giving us written instructions, signed by you but NOT by:
4.2.1 giving us instructions by e-mail, facsimile or where we are provided with only a copy of your instructions; or
4.2.2 standing order or direct debit instructions.
4.3 Additional conditions apply to withdrawals by:
4.3.1 CHAPS
4.3.1.1 If we receive your written authority and full instructions before 1 pm on a Business Day, we will send your payment by CHAPS transfer the same day. Written instructions received by us after 1 pm or on a non-Business Day will be processed the next Business Day.
• We cannot guarantee that payments will reach your Account on a set date or time, but anticipate that payments will normally arrive by the close of business on the same day they are sent.
• CHAPS instructions are irrevocable and you cannot therefore cancel these instructions once you have given them to us.
• The minimum payment that can be made by CHAPS is £250 and a fee is payable for a CHAPS payment.
4.3.2 Cheque
4.3.2.1 We can issue you a cheque which will be posted to Your registered address only.
4.3.2.2 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.
4.3.2.3 Cheques are valid for a period of 6 months from the date appearing on the cheque.
4.3.2.4 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 in the case of loss or police crime number if stolen).
5. Restrictions on Withdrawals
5.1 Subject to the provisions of these Terms and Conditions, the Account requires either 6 or 12 months' notice for withdrawals (or will be subject to a charge equal to 6 or 12 months' gross interest on the amount withdrawn). Any such charge will be debited from your Account on closure or withdrawal, whichever is the earlier.
5.2 One withdrawal of up to 10% of the Account balance may be made in any 12 month period free of penalty and without providing 6 or 12 months' notice.
6. Contact and Keeping Each Other Informed
6.1 If Your registered address or any of your other details change, you must write to notify us. If you fail to do so you may be liable for any loss.
6.2 If your name or the name of any of the joint Account holders changes, you must write to us confirming the change of name. We may require evidence of a change of name (e.g. original or certified copy of a marriage certificate) before we amend our records.
6.3 Subject to the provisions of clause 13.1, we cannot accept requests to use an address other than Your registered address or to stop issuing communications to Your registered address.
7. Operating Your Account
7.1 Postal Services
We aim to deal with all deposit and withdrawal transactions within 24 hours from date of receipt by us, but we cannot guarantee this. Transactions with queries and general correspondence are likely to take longer.
7.2 Third Party Operation of Account
We are not obliged to recognise the interest or claim of any person other than you (or in the event of your death your duly appointed personal representatives, or in the event of your infirmity or incapacity a validly appointed third party) in respect of funds held in your Account. We will not be liable in any way for not recognising such an interest or claim except as and when required by law.
7.3 General
We may refuse to act on an instruction if for any reason we believe it was not given by you, was not clear, might cause us to break the law or a contractual duty, or we believe your Account is being (or has been) used for an illegal purpose.
8. Earning Money on Your Account - Interest
8.1 We calculate the interest on the cleared funds in your Account at the end of each day.
8.2 We will pay interest on your Account annually. We will calculate your interest up to 30 November in each calendar year and credit interest to your Account on the following Business Day.
8.3 We will provide you with details of any annual interest paid in statements sent to you. We will not send you separate advice of any interest paid.
8.4 We will pay you interest up to the date of withdrawal.
9. Tax
9.1 We will pay interest to you net of Income Tax at the prescribed rate unless you have completed and returned the appropriate HM Revenue & Customs documentation to us in which case you will receive gross interest. Each Account holder must then complete a separate registration form for each account they hold. Please note that an additional income tax liability may arise for individuals who pay Income Tax at a higher rate.
9.2 If we pay gross interest to you but it later becomes apparent that the interest should have been paid to you subject to the deduction of Income Tax, we will be entitled to recover any overpayment.
9.3 Tax certificates are not issued automatically. They will be provided on request.
10. Altering Interest Rates
10.1 Apart from any guarantee contained within the applicable product specification, we may change our interest rate bands or interest rates for any of the following reasons:
10.1.1 to reflect a change in market conditions or banking practice or the overall cost of providing our services to our customers;
10.1.2 to reflect a change in law, or any relevant code of practice or the way they are applied;
10.1.3 to reflect a change in technology, or change in our service or in the facilities we provide;
10.1.4 to ensure good management or competitiveness of our business; or
10.1.5 for any other valid reason.
10.2 We will notify you within 7 days of any non base rate interest change.
10.3 If the interest rate payable on your Account has fallen significantly (meaning more than 0.5% over the course of the previous 12 months) compared to the Bank of England base rate, we will contact you within 30 days to:
10.3.1 tell you that this has happened;
10.3.2 tell you about our other saving accounts and offer to help you to switch to one of these accounts if you want to;
10.3.3 tell you that you can withdraw all the money in your Account; and
10.3.4 give you a reasonable period of time to switch to another account or withdraw the money without any notice period or any charges.
11 Changes to the Terms and Conditions
11.1 We may change these Terms and Conditions:
11.1.1 to comply with any changes or proposed changes in European or English law or regulations;
11.1.2 to reflect changes in market conditions;
11.1.3 to reflect good banking practice; and/or
11.1.4 where we reasonably believe that there is a business need to do so.
11.2 If the change is to your disadvantage, we will notify you at least 30 days before we make the change (unless this is not practicable due to exceptional circumstances in which case we will notify you as soon as reasonably practicable). At any time up to 60 days from the date of the notice you may, without any notice to us, switch your Account or close your Account without having to pay us any extra charges or interest for doing this.
11.3 We may make any other changes immediately and tell you about them within 30 days.
11.4 If we have made a major change or several minor changes in any one year, we will give you a copy of the new Terms and Conditions or a summary of the changes.
12. Keeping you updated
12.1 A statement will be issued, showing the amount in your Account, shortly after the annual interest payment date.
12.2 Your statements will show the balance of your Account, all transaction details and any interest added to your Account. You must check your statement carefully. If you think there is something wrong, you must let us know immediately so that we can correct any mistakes.
13. Joint Accounts
Where more than one person applied for the Account:
13.1 We may act on instructions given by any one of you (without the need to seek confirmation from the other Account holders), unless one of you advises us not to, in which case we will only act upon the written instructions of all Account holders. Upon request by a joint Account holder a statement can be sent to that same joint Account holder's address rather than Your registered address.
13.2 We will consider all joint Account holders to be entitled to all monies in the Account and will not be concerned as to the division of the ownership of the money between the different joint Account holders.
13.3 All Account holders are bound by these Terms and Conditions and are jointly and severally responsible for any monies which may become due to us.
13.4 Subject to clause 13.1, we will post all letters, statements and other material relating to the Account to you at Your registered address. All joint Account holders will be bound by the contents of all such letters, statements and other material relating to the Account.
13.5 You may in the future wish to request your Account to be changed from a joint Account to a sole Account or to change one of the Account holders. In that event we may insist upon the Account being closed with the authority of all joint Account holders and a new Account being opened in the name of the new Account holder(s).
13.6 If the Account is held in your sole name, you can add further Account holders, providing they supply the relevant identification to us.
13.7 If the Account is held in your sole name you cannot amend the Account to another named sole Account holder. The Account must instead be closed and a new account opened in the name of the new Account holder.
14. Personal Events which may affect your Account
14.1 Death
14.1.1 Joint Account: if you or your joint Account holder dies, the Account will (in the absence of written instructions to the contrary given prior to the death of the applicable joint Account holder), be transferred into the name of the surviving joint Account holder(s). Until documentary evidence of death is supplied the transfer cannot be completed.
14.1.2 Sole Account: if you die, on completion of the necessary legal formalities, your duly appointed personal representative will be able to withdraw the balance without notice. All instructions must be given in writing.
14.2 Breakdown of Relationship between joint account holders: if you advise us (or we become aware) of a dispute between joint Account holders, we may require all future instructions to be in writing from all of you.
14.3 Illness or Incapacity: in circumstances where you are unable to operate your Account through infirmity or incapacity of a physical or mental nature, we will, subject to applicable rules and legislation, allow the operation of your Account (including withdrawals) by a validly appointed third party.
15. Confidentiality and Data Protection
15.1 We will hold and process personal information about you by computer or otherwise and will only use such personal information in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 . We will treat all such personal information as private and confidential (even when you are no longer a customer) other than in the following exceptional cases permitted by law:
15.1.1 where we are required or legally compelled to disclose;
15.1.2 where there is a duty to the public to disclose;
15.1.3 where our interests require disclosure. This will not be used as a reason for disclosing information about you or your Accounts to anyone else, including other companies in our group for marketing purposes; or
15.1.4 where disclosure is made at your request or with your consent.
15.2 We may also share your information with third parties to protect both ourselves and our customers against theft or fraud and will pass your personal information on to anyone you appoint to administer/operate your Account on your behalf.
15.3 You have a legal right to request a copy of your personal information in writing and we may charge a fee (as recommended by the Data Protection Registrar) for providing this. You are also entitled upon request in writing to be informed of those third parties with whom we share information and/or to have any inaccuracies corrected.
15.4. To help us maintain our service, we may record or monitor telephone calls but we will tell you before doing so.
16. Closing Your Account
16.1 We may close your Account if there are good commercial reasons for doing so and will then repay the funds in the Account (less any deductions permitted by these Terms and Conditions), together with all accrued interest to you. Unless there are any exceptional circumstances, we will give you at least 30 days' notice in writing.
16.2 Those exceptional circumstances where we reserve the right to close your Account immediately and without notice include, without limitation:
16.2.1 where you are not eligible for the Account;
16.2.2 where you have given us false information in connection with the Account;
16.2.3 where your Account is being or has been used illegally;
16.2.4 where you have been in serious or persistent breach of the Terms and Conditions;
16.2.5 if there is an investigation by HM Revenue & Customs or any statutory or regulatory body with authority to require or request us to prevent a withdrawal;
16.2.6 where we have given notice under clause 17(2);
16.2.7 if there is an investigation by the police;
16.2.8 if we are served with a court order; and/or
16.2.9 if we have some other valid reason.
16.3 If we are unable to trace you or your duly appointed personal representatives after reasonable enquiry, we may close your Account and retain the balance if:
16.3.1 the balance does not exceed £100 and you have made no deposit or withdrawal or other transaction for 3 years; or
16.3.2 the balance exceeds £100 and you have made no deposit or withdrawal or other transaction for 5 years.
16.4 If you, or anyone claiming on your behalf or through your estate, subsequently request it and we consider it reasonable, we will reinstate your Account with the closing balance and the interest that would have been due up to the date of reinstatement.
17 Miscellaneous
17.1 We will not be liable to you (including without limitation for any consequential loss suffered by you) if we do not act on your instructions for any reason or if we cannot carry out our responsibilities to you, owing to any cause beyond our reasonable control. This would include, but is not limited to, strikes, industrial action, fire, flood, acts of terrorism or the failure of equipment or power supplies.
17.2 We may use any credit balance on any account you have with us to reduce or repay any overdrawn balance or other undisputed amounts which you owe us (either in your own name or jointly with anyone else). We will not do this until we have given you written notice of our intention. Interest will not be payable on any money standing to your credit and used in this way.
17.3 We are a member of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme ("Scheme") established under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.With effect from 7 October 2008 compensation payments under this Scheme amount to 100% of the first £50,000 deposited with the Bank , subject to a maximum payment to any one depositor of £50,000 (£100,000 for joint depositors ). The Scheme limit relates to each depositor for their combined deposits held with the Bank and not for each bond. Further details of the Scheme are available on the FSCS website www.fscs.org.uk
18. Complaints
18.1 We operate a complaints procedure. If you have a complaint you should telephone our Customer Services Department on 01296 436661 so that we may investigate the circumstances.
18.2 R. Raphael & Sons plc is committed to regulations under the Financial Ombudsman Service Scheme, which provides for independent adjudication of complaints. If, for whatever reason, you are not happy with our response, you can refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service at South Quay Plaza , 183 Marsh Wall, London, E14 9SR . Their telephone number is 0845 080 1800 and their website site address is www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk and they will investigate your complaint on your behalf.
19. Third Party Rights
Subject to the rights of our successors and/or assigns, a deceased Account holder's duly appointed personal representatives, or the rights of an infirm or incapacitated Account holder's validly appointed third party, nothing in these Terms and Conditions confers or purports to confer on any third party any benefit or any right to enforce the terms of these Terms and Conditions.
20. Notices
Any notice or other communication to us required under these Terms and Conditions must, unless otherwise specified, be given to us in writing at R. Raphael & Sons plc, Walton Lodge, Walton Street, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire HP21 7QY.
21. Law and Jurisdiction
The Terms and Conditions will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales whose courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction.
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