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Frequently asked questions about our savings products
Have a question about your savings account? Here we have answered some of our most frequently asked questions.
If you need our help, please contact our friendly Family Service Team.
General
As part of the account opening process, we will run an electronic identity check. However, if you fail this check we will write to you to notify you, and we will then need to request certain documents to prove your identity (listed below). Please do not send us anything until we ask you to.
To confirm your nominated bank account you will need to provide us with a bank or building society statement for that account dated within the last three months which shows your full name and address.
Please note, we are only able to accept banks and building societies that are regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). To find out more about which banks and building societies are PRA regulated please click here.
To confirm your identity, we require one of the following Government issued documents:
- Valid, signed and in date passport*
- Valid, in date UK photo card or old style paper driving licence*
- Recent evidence of entitlement to a state or local authority benefit (e.g. state pension, tax credit or housing benefit)
- Firearms certificate or shotgun licence*
- HMRC tax notification (excluding self-assessment documents)
If your bank or building society statement does not show your address, please also send us one of the following:
- Utility bill (dated within the last three months)
- Local authority tax bill
- Formal court document (e.g. Judgement or Order, Grant of Probate)
- Letter confirming your residency at a nursing home on their headed paper
*For your own protection you are advised not to send original passports, driving licences or firearms certificates or licences through the post. Copies can be accepted but must be certified as a true copy by a solicitor, an accountant, a bank or building society official, an Independent Financial Advisor (IFA), a mortgage broker or a doctor.
Online Service
Managing my account
You can view the interest rate of your account when you log in to our Online Service. Alternatively, you can check our website, call us on 03330 140144, come into our Epsom branch or request this in a signed letter.
If you're registered for our Online Service, you can:
You can update your email address and telephone number under the ‘My Profile’ tab. Additionally, can tell us about a change of address by sending us a secure message if you have online access to your account(s).
PLEASE NOTE If you are moving overseas, please contact us as we may need to close your account(s). If your occupation means that you are still a UK resident for tax purposes (for example if you are in the armed forces or you are a crown employee), we need to be aware of this. You can use the contact methods shown above to let us know.
Other ways to update your details:
Alternatively, to update your contact details including your home address you can call us on 03330 140144 and tell us on the phone after security tests have been passed, visit us in our Epsom branch, provide details in a signed letter, or you can fill in and post back our Change of Address form.
You will need to complete a Transfer of Ownership form and an Additional Account Holder form and post them to us. You can also call us on 03330 140144 to request these forms.
Yes, you can send us an online secure message, call us on 03330 140144, visit our Epsom branch or request in a signed letter.
Depending on the terms of your account, you can send us an online secure message, call us on 03330 140144, visit us in our Epsom branch or post a signed letter.
Funding my account
Each Family Building Society savings account may have different options for paying in. Please refer to your savings product account terms and conditions.
Debit card
To add money to your savings account by debit card you must be registered for our Online Service.
If you opened your savings account online, registration is part of the account opening process and you can add by debit card straight away.
If you are not already a user our Online Service , you can register here once your have received your Savings Account Certificate.
Bank transfer
You can transfer money into your savings account from another bank or building society. Please use the details below:
Account name: Family Building Society (National Counties)
Sort code: 40-02-50
Account number: 21397400
Reference: Your 10-digit Family Building Society account number
Account type (if asked for): Business
Important information
- You can find your Family Building Society account number on your Savings Account Certificate when you originally opened your account. Alternatively, if you're registered for our Online Service, your account number will be shown on the main screen after you've logged in.
- You may be asked by your provider what type of payee you would like to set up. Please select ‘business account’. This has no impact on your account with us.
- The payment details may show up as HSBC, as we use them for our banking services.
Cheque
You can make payment by cheque payable to Family Building Society, followed by your 10 digit savings account number.
Please post to FREEPOST, FAMILY BUILDING SOCIETY or visit our Epsom branch.
Cash
You can visit our Epsom branch to pay cash into your savings account
Making withdrawals
If your account allows withdrawals, you can either send us a secure message using our Online Service, call us on 03330 140144, visit our branch or post a signed letter.
If you are registered for our Online Service, you can request a withdrawal via the ‘take money out’ page. If your account can only be operated online, you will need to action this request via our Online Service.
A withdrawal request from a Branch Saver account must be made in person at our Epsom branch. Please note that some of our accounts are subject to maximum daily withdrawal limits.
Our cut off time for processing payments is 3pm (on working days).
If you request a withdrawal before 3pm, it will be sent the same day and will reach your account no later than the end of the following working day.
If you request the withdrawal after 3pm, it will be sent the next working day and will reach you no later than the end of the working day after. For example, a withdrawal requested at 4pm on Monday will be sent by us on Tuesday and reach your account by no later than the end of the day Wednesday.
Interest is paid on money withdrawn from your account up to but not including the working day of the withdrawal.
You can send us an online secure message, call us on 03330 140144 or send us a signed letter.
You will need to provide details of a valid UK bank/building society account. Please note, we are only able to accept banks and building societies that are regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). To find out more about which banks and building societies are PRA regulated please click here.
We will need to verify your nominated account details and, wherever possible, we will carry out an electronic check. If we can’t verify your nominated account details electronically, we will need additional documentation, along with a signed letter from you requesting the change.
We will need one of the following documents:
- An original statement sent from your bank or building society dated within the last three months
- A cheque marked ‘cancelled’ and crossed through
- A printed paying-in slip
- A downloaded PDF online bank or building society statement showing your latest transactions
If you are sending a PDF online statement, you will need to upload this via the secure document upload facility on our website. All other documents will need to be originals and sent to us by post.
Statements will be returned to you, and we will securely destroy cancelled cheques or paying-in slips.
Bonds
Your Fixed Rate Bond becomes available for reinvestment or withdrawal on the maturity date shown on your Certificate (or the next working day if maturity falls on a weekend or Bank Holiday). We will write to you no later than 15 calendar days before maturity with details of the default and alternative products available for reinvestment.
Yes – you will need to confirm your request by either calling us (would add phone number here) or returning the bond maturity instruction form.
Yes, but only within 15 days of your bond maturity date.
Yes, as long as the account is available when your Bond matures. You will need to apply for the new savings account either online or via postal application form (depending on the terms of the new account).
If you do not give us instructions before your maturity date, you will have 30 days following reinvestment in order to cancel or change your mind. If you do give us an instruction, and subsequently change your mind after maturity, then you will have 15 days.
Yes. You will need to let us know when you give us your Bond maturity instructions.
Windfall Bond
For all questions relating to our Windfall Bond account please refer to our Windfall Bond FAQs here
ISAs
Yes, but we only allow subscriptions to be made into one Cash ISA with us per tax year.
No, transfers from Stocks & Shares ISAs are not permitted.
You can only transfer a Cash ISA into one of our ISA products. We only allow full transfers in for current tax year subscriptions. We do not allow partial transfers of current tax year subscriptions however, partial transfers in of previous years' subscriptions are allowed.
To switch providers, you will need to contact the ISA provider you wish to move your funds to and fill out their ISA transfer form in order to move your account. They will then send it to us to initiate the ISA transfer.
What happens to my ISA savings when I die?
When you die your spouse or civil partner can inherit your ISA savings and keep them with a tax-free status.
The value of your ISA(s) will be calculated from the day you die. Your spouse or civil partner can apply to inherit your savings in the form of an allowance, which is also called an ‘Additional Permitted Subscription’ or APS allowance. Your spouse or civil partner’s own individual ISA allowance (£20,000 for 2024/25 tax year) will be unaffected.
For deaths on or before 5 April 2018, the APS is limited to the value of their deceased partner’s ISA at their date of death. For deaths on or after 6 April 2018, it can be the total value of the ISA up to closure.
You don’t have to leave your spouse or civil partner your money in your will for them to benefit from the APS allowance. Instead, you could leave the savings you’ve built up to someone else in your Will, for example, one of your children, and your spouse or civil partner will still be able to apply for APS allowance. Their APS allowance would be up to the value of your ISA, although your spouse or civil partner would need to use their own money to save into it.
If you have inherited your spouse or civil partner’s ISA(s), the APS allowance is only allowed if they died on or after 3 December 2014.
How long is the Additional Permitted Subscription (APS) allowance available for?
The APS allowance is available for three years after the date of death, or for up to 180 days after administration of the estate is complete, whichever is the latter. This is known as the ‘permitted period’. If your spouse or civil partner died between 3 December 2014 and 5 April 2015, the three years is counted from 6 April 2015.
How can I transfer my Additional Permitted Subscription (APS) allowance from you to another provider?
A transfer authority form is required from the other provider completed by the surviving spouse or civil partner together with the Grant of Probate (if available) and identification.
Alternatively, on receipt of the Probate documents and closure/transfer
form from the Executors, the full balance of the ISA(s) can be sent to the surviving spouse or civil partner who can then apply to place their APS allowance with the other provider.
My spouse had an ISA(s) with another provider. How can I transfer my Additional Permitted Subscription (APS) allowance to you?
A request can be made directly to the other provider.
We will need signed instructions from the Executors or the surviving spouse or civil partner, together with the funds, the Grant of Probate (if available) and a letter from the provider stating the ISA balance at the date of death. We will then transfer
the APS allowance to an existing or new account with us.
Alternatively, a Deceased Transfer Authority Form can be requested from us and completed by the surviving spouse or civil partner in order for us to request the transfer of the funds
from the other provider.
Can my spouse or civil partner transfer the ISA to an existing or new account within Family Building Society?
Yes. We would require the Grant of Probate or the witnessed Statutory Declaration together with identification from the Executors if they are not already known to us.
If the surviving spouse or civil partner is an existing customer, we can accept a written and signed declaration covering the following points:
- A formal request to transfer the funds to their ISA with the Society.
- A declaration that they are the surviving spouse or civil partner.
- Confirmation of the date of marriage or civil partnership.
- Confirmation that they resided at the same address as the deceased upon the death of their spouse or civil partner.
- Confirmation that they were not separated.
Alternatively, a Deceased Transfer Authority form can be requested and completed by the surviving spouse or civil partner together with identification and Probate documents.
If a new ISA is required to transfer the APS allowance, an application form will need to be completed by the surviving spouse or civil partner and sent to us with the requested Probate documents and identification.
If you have any questions please contact our friendly service team on 03330 140144
Does my spouse or civil partner have to use all or any of the Additional Permitted Subscription (APS) allowance?
Your surviving spouse or civil partner is under no obligation to use all or any of the APS allowance, but they must make an APS application to their chosen ISA manager during the ‘permitted period’ otherwise the allowance will be lost.
How can I ensure my spouse or civil partner gets the Additional Permitted Subscription (APS) allowance?
We require a Grant of Probate if the total amount in the ISA is £15,000 or more. An appropriate Statutory Declaration can be drawn up if the total amount in the ISA is less than £15,000 in order to release the funds for the transfer to take place.
I am a long-term partner but we are not married or in a civil partnership. Is my spouse or civil partner still entitled to the Additional Permitted Subscription (APS) allowance?
No. HMRC has expressly stated that the new rules apply only to the formalised relationships of marriage or civil partnership.