Information section

How to contact us

You can contact us by:

•visiting any of our branches;
•telephoning our Principal Office number 0121 557 2551;
•via our website contact us page;
•e-mailing us at info@thetipton.co.uk.

Please note that ways of contacting us may be restricted in relation to certain products. If so, this is mentioned on the product page of the particular account.

Opening an account

To open an account with the Society, you will need to let us have:

•a completed application form;
•at least the minimum investment amount for the type of account;
•proof of your identity and your address; and
•HM Revenue and Customs form R85, if applicable (see below under “Tax”).

Please note that we can refuse to open an account without giving any reason. There will not be any contract between us until we have opened an account.

Identification requirements

We are required by law to check the identity and address details of all account holders. We are able to access credit reference agency databases to check that the details you have supplied us with are correct. This will show as a search of the database but not as a credit score, so will not affect your credit rating.

In the majority of cases this will enable us to open your account without the need for any paper-based identification. We will advise you if we require further proof of identification, these requirements will depend upon how and where you are opening your account. For Cash ISAs we also require your National Insurance Number.

If you are required to provide further proof of identification but are unable to do so please contact our Branches Manager at our Principal Office on 0121 557 2551 for further guidance.

For paper based proof of identification we will need to see the originals of the documents, except if they are sent to us by post. In this case we will accept photocopies as long as they are certified by a solicitor or banker, authorised financial intermediary, accountant, teacher, doctor, minister of religion, postmaster or sub-postmaster, and we are provided with sufficient information to be able to contact that person. In addition certified documents should be dated and signed ‘original seen’ and photographic evidence should be certified as providing a good likeness.

If you already have an account with the Society, and the details we have about you have not changed, then we may not need to check your name and/or address. Please enquire for further details.

We reserve the right to carry out any further checks on your identity if we think we need to do so in order to comply with our legal obligations. You may need to let us have additional evidence if you change your address. For further details, see the terms and conditions mentioned below.

As part of these checks, we may make searches with credit reference agencies.

Terms and conditions

The terms and conditions that apply to all our savings accounts are detailed below. Special conditions may apply to particular types of account and can be found on product page of the particular account.

Charitable assignment

We require that, when you open an account, you agree to give to Tipton & Coseley Building Society Charitable Foundation any windfall benefits to which you might become entitled on any conversion or take-over. Please see the application form and our Charitable Foundation page for further details.

This requirement does not apply to you if you have been a member of the Society continuously since 31 October 1999.

Changing your mind

This section does not apply to fixed rate accounts, or to accounts where the price depends on rises and falls in the financial markets outside our control that may happen during the cancellation period, or to branch based Child Trust Fund accounts (in other words, not sold at a distance).

If you open a new account and then change your mind, then as long as you tell us (by writing to us at our Principal Office) within 14 days after the contract is entered into (or, if later, 14 days from the day you first receive on paper or electronically, the terms and conditions and other information relating to it) you can

•have you money back; or
•switch to another available account.

In this case, you will not have to

•give any period of notice;
•lose any interest on the account you are closing, or
•pay any other charges.

Tax

Interest on your account will be paid ‘net’ (after taking off tax at the basic rate), unless you are entitled to receive it ‘gross’ and you complete and let us have HM Revenue and Customs Form R85. Even if interest is paid net, you may be liable to pay additional tax depending on your income. For further details, please see the booklet “Taxation of Building Society Interest”, a copy of which is available on request.

If you are under 16, the Form R85 (if appropriate) must be completed and signed by a parent or guardian. On reaching the age of 16, a new Form R85 (if appropriate) must be signed by you. If we do not receive this, interest will be paid net of tax.

Joint accounts

Unless the special conditions for a particular account specify otherwise, accounts can be opened in the names of two or more people (up to a maximum of 4). Although joint accounts can be convenient, it is very important that you understand the consequences of having an account in more than one name.

These are set out in condition 14 of the terms and conditions below. A leaflet “You and Your Joint Account” is available on request.

Counterfeit banknotes

We will not return any counterfeit bank notes which are received from you, nor will we credit your account with the value of such notes. We will return all counterfeit or suspicious notes to our bank’s cash collection centre.

Coins

We are able to accept coins provided they are sorted and bagged before being taken to a branch. Coin bags are available from any of our branch offices. The maximum that will be accepted is 5 full bags of the appropriate denomination of coin. This means any 5 bags from the following: £20 of £2 or £1 coins, not mixed; £10 of 50p or 20p coins, not mixed; £5 of 10p or 5p coins, not mixed; or £1 of 2p or 1p coins, not mixed.

Cheques

We will not accept cheques that are more than 6 months old. A charge will be made for any cheque returned unpaid by our bank. The amount of the charge is specified in our ‘Tariff of Charges’.

Withdrawals

The amounts that can be withdrawn by cash or cheque each day are £350 cash and £20,000 by cheque on demand per person. Higher amounts require 2 days notice, subject to £2,500 maximum cash per day. The minimum amount for a cheque withdrawal is £10.

A Branch Assistant may ask to see some form of identification before completing a withdrawal.

Data protection and confidentiality

Under data protection laws you have the right to see the personal records we hold about you. You will have to pay the relevant fee if you want to exercise this right. Please contact us at our Principal Office for more details.

Data held by us about you will be kept while you are a customer and may be held for six years after your relationship with us as a customer has ceased. You can always let us know if information we hold about you has changed, so that we can make sure it is updated.

More details of the information we hold about you, and what we use it for, are contained in the application form.

We will treat all your personal information as private and confidential (even when you are no longer a customer). We will not give your details to anyone (even other companies in our group) unless:

•we have to give the information by law;
•there is a duty to the public to disclose it;
•you request us to disclose it, or we have your permission to do so; or
•our interests require us to give the information (for example, to prevent fraud). We will not use this as a reason for giving information for marketing purposes.

Please note that your telephone conversations with us may be recorded. If we record telephone conversations we will tell you at the beginning of the call.

Marketing of services

To help you keep up to date with our products and services, we may tell you about these. We may also tell you about another company’s products or services. Should you not wish to receive this information you can let us know at any time. Our account application forms have boxes that you can tick to say you do not want to receive this information.

We will write to you at least once every three years to remind you that you can ask not to receive this information. This reminder may be contained in our Summary Financial Statement or other literature that we regularly send you.

Complaints

We always try to provide a first-class service. Occasionally, however, things can go wrong. If they do, we will try to put them right.

If you have a complaint you should contact the Branch Supervisor at the branch where your complaint arose or the relevant departmental manager at our Principal Office. A copy of our complaints procedure is available by clicking here.

If we do not deal with your complaint to your satisfaction, you can refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Details of this service are available on request at any of our offices.

Banking Code

The Society subscribes to the Banking Code. You can get a copy of the Code at any of our offices.

Financial Services Compensation Scheme

The Society is a member of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. You may be entitled to compensation from this Scheme if we cannot meet our obligations.

Payments under the Scheme are limited to a maximum of £35,000 of an investor’s total shares and/or deposits in the Society. Most investors are covered, including individuals and small firms. A small number of categories of shares and deposits are not covered, for example deferred shares/permanent interest bearing shares. Although most shares and deposits are denominated in sterling, all other currencies are covered. Further details are available on request from the Society or from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

Membership rights

Individuals holding share accounts with the Society are members of the Society and are bound by our Rules. You can get a copy of the Rules by asking at any of our offices.

The Rules set out the rights and obligations attaching to membership. While joint account holders are all members, only the first-named can exercise any membership rights (for example, the right to vote at meetings) arising from the account. Please see the terms and conditions for more details.

Branch closures

If we plan to close or move your branch, we will tell you at least eight weeks beforehand and twelve weeks if yours is the last building society or bank branch within a one-mile radius (four-miles in rural areas). We will tell you how we will continue to provide services to you.

What you can do to protect your accounts

You can help to prevent misuse of your account by:

•taking care of your passbook and other account information;
•letting us know as soon as possible of any change in your name, address, telephone number or e-mail address (if this is how we communicate with you);
•checking your passbook regularly;
•co-operating with us (or the police) in investigating transactions; and
•never giving your account details or security information to anyone unless you know who they are and why they need them.

Please also see Condition 17.

Cheques made payable to the Society must also include details of the account holder(s) or the account number (for example, “Tipton & Coseley Building Society, account J Smith”); otherwise we will not accept them for payment into an account. This is to protect against fraud.

Cheque clearing

The central clearing cycle for cheques (and automated payments, including those over the telephone or internet), is 3 banking days. Our normal practice is to allow withdrawals against a cheque 6 banking days after the date of deposit. Interest on a cheque paid in will be calculated from the day after the day of deposit. For more details please see condition 7.2 and condition 10 below.

GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR INVESTMENT ACCOUNTS

1 Introduction

1.1 These terms and conditions (referred to as the “Conditions”) apply to all investment accounts with the Society, except if they are inconsistent with special conditions for particular accounts (in which case, those special conditions will apply).

1.2 In the Conditions:

•“the Society”, “we”, “us” and “our” refer to Tipton & Coseley Building Society;
•“you” and “your” refer to holders of investment accounts; and
•“banking day” means a day other than a Saturday, Sunday or bank holiday.

1.3 If you are a company, other form of corporation, partnership or unincorporated body (such as a club), please refer to Condition 22.

2 Membership
2.1 If these Conditions apply to your account you will (except where the account is a deposit account) be a member of the Society and therefore our Rules will apply. However, these Conditions, or any relevant special conditions for a particular account, will override the Rules in case of any inconsistency. A copy of the Rules is available on request.

2.2 If you have a deposit account, you are not a member of the Society by virtue of that account. You are, however, bound by some of our Rules, including 4(4) to (7), 5, 6(1) to (3), 8(4) and (5), 12(5) and 44.

2.3 New investing members from 1 November 1999 are subject to the Society’s Charitable Assignment Scheme, full details of which are set out in the application form and our Charitable Foundation page.

2.4 If your account becomes overdrawn then, unless we have consented to the amount of the overdrawing, you will stop being a member in respect of the account from the date we decide.

3 Opening an account

3.1 We will require evidence of identity and address before an account is opened. If we receive money without evidence of identity that is satisfactory to us, then the money will be returned.

3.2 Once you have opened an account, you have 14 days after the contract is entered into (or, if later, 14 days from the day you first receive, on paper or electronically, these terms and conditions and other information relating to the account) to notify us in writing at our Principal Office that you want to change your mind. If you notify us within this time, we will help you switch to another of our accounts or (assuming we have received cleared funds) give you back your money together with any interest it has earned. We will ignore any notice period and any extra charges. Please note that this condition 3.2, and the option to change your mind, does not apply to fixed rate accounts or to accounts where the price depends on rises and falls in the financial markets outside our control that may happen during the cancellation period, or to branch based Child Trust Fund accounts (in other words, not sold at a distance).

4 Account details

4.1 The address that you provide in the application form for the account will be the registered address for you, and will remain the registered address for you until it is changed in our records.

4.2 It is your responsibility to notify us of any change of address. You should also notify us of any change of name, telephone number and e-mail address (if you have told us you want to be contacted in this way). All notifications must be in writing.

4.3 You agree to produce evidence of any new name or address, if we ask to see it. If your account has a passbook, you must send or produce it to us so that we can note the change of details.

If you move abroad we will not be able to register your new address until you have given us your:

•Tax Identification Number;
•Place of birth;
•Country of birth; and
•Country of residence.

These details are required by HM Revenue & Customs.

4.4 You agree to provide us with specimen signatures, if we ask for them.

4.5 If you have more than one investment account with us, you must make sure that the registered address we have for you is the same in respect of each account.

5 Minimum and maximum account balances

5.1 The minimum and maximum amounts that can be held in any particular account are set out in the special conditions for that account.

5.2 We can close an account if the amount in it is below the minimum for that account. We will give you at least 30 days’ notice before doing this. During this period, you can pay in more money to bring the balance up to the minimum. Instead of closing the account (or during any period when it is below the minimum amount) we may pay a reduced rate of interest.

5.3 The overall maximum holding by any one person in respect of all investment accounts with the Society is £500,000.

6 Paying money into your account

6.1 Unless special conditions for a particular account specify otherwise, you can generally pay money into your account at any of our branches or by bank transfer or post. However, for security reasons we do not recommend that cash be sent by post. Please see Condition 7.2 regarding when interest becomes payable.

6.2 If money is paid in by bank transfer or by BACS, it is your responsibility to make sure that all account details are provided correctly.

6.3 For security reasons, we reserve the right to refuse to accept large sums of money in notes or coins. Restrictions on the amount of coins we will accept are detailed in the Information Section above.

6.4 You can pay money into your account by standing order (although you will need to set this up direct with your bank). We cannot accept payments by direct debit.

6.5 Cheques made payable to the Society will only be accepted for payment into an account if they contain additional details (such as the name(s) of the account holder(s) or the account number), so that it is clear who the money is intended for.

7 Interest

7.1 We will tell you the interest rate that applies to your account (and when it is paid or credited) when you open it. This information is also available:

•in our Savings brochure;
•on our current savings rates page;
•by telephoning our Principal Office on 0121 557 2551;
•by asking our staff at our offices; and
•by looking at notices in our offices.

7.2 On our accounts we generally:

•calculate interest on a sum paid in from the day after the day we receive it, and on any amount withdrawn up to and including the day you make the withdrawal. Interest will not be paid on the amount of cheques that are returned unpaid.
•give you the choice of having the interest added to the account, paid into another account with us, or paid into your bank account.

However, this may vary depending on the type of account. You should check the special conditions for particular accounts. Further details of how and when interest is payable is contained in our current savings rates page.

7.3 We will give you information regarding the interest rates paid on your account, and a comparison with your other accounts, as required by the Banking Code.

7.4 Subject to any special conditions that apply to particular accounts, we can change interest rates as set out in Conditions 7.5 to 7.7 below.

7.5 We may change interest rates at any time if we reasonably believe that the change is needed for any of the following reasons (which may relate to circumstances existing at the time or those that are expected to apply in the near future):

•to respond to changes in the Bank of England base rate or mortgage or interest rates generally (including the interest rates paid on similar accounts by other providers of financial services);
•to respond to changes in the law or the decision of a court or ombudsman;
•to meet relevant regulatory requirements;
•to respond to new (or changes to) statements or codes of practice or industry guidance designed to enhance consumer protection;
•to respond to changes to our costs, including administration costs and costs of providing services or facilities;
•to reflect market conditions;
•so that we can compete more effectively with other financial institutions;
•to maintain our financial strength for the benefit of all our customers.

7.6 Changes may include the introduction or alteration of “bands” under which:

•interest is not paid where the amount in the account is below a certain level; and/or
•different rates apply depending on the amount in the account.

7.7 When we make these changes, we will tell you about them:

•(except for accounts not run mainly through our branches) by placing notices in our branches and in two local newspapers within three banking days of the change. The current newspapers we use are Express & Star, Sandwell Chronicle, Dudley Chronicle and Wolverhampton Chronicle; or
•within 30 days of the change, by letter, e-mail (if you have told us you want to be contacted in this way) or other personal notice.

7.8 Where we make a change under Condition 7.6 then Conditions 18.3, 18.4, 18.5 and 18.7 will apply instead of Condition 7.7.

7.9 The information on our website will be updated within three banking days of an interest rate change.

7.10 Interest paid monthly by standing instruction to another account with us or to an account with another bank will be credited to the relevant account on the last banking day of the month. We may adjust the balance of your account to recover any overpayment of interest that results from a withdrawal being made close to the end of a month and after an interest payment under standing instruction had been prepared on the assumption that the balance on the account would not change before the end of the month.

8 Account charges

8.1 We do not make any charges relating to the day to day running of your account.

8.2 However, we may charge for products or services relating to your account. We will tell you about these before we provide the product or service (except for charges in respect of unpaid cheques), or at any other time you ask.

8.3 We can change the charges we make at any time if we reasonably believe that the change is needed for any of the following reasons (which may relate to circumstances existing at the time or those that are expected to apply in the near future):

•to respond to changes to our costs, including our administrative costs;
•to respond to changes in the law or the decisions of a court or ombudsman;
•to meet relevant regulatory requirements;
•to respond to new (or changes to) statements or codes of practice or industry guidance designed to enhance consumer protection.

8.4 Changes may include the abolition or alteration of existing charges or the introduction of new charges.

8.5 If we introduce or increase a charge relating to the day-to-day running of your account, we will give you at least 30 days’ notice by letter, e-mail (if you have told us you want to be contacted in this way) or other personal notice, before the charge comes into effect.

8.6 There may be other taxes or costs that are not paid through us or charged by us.

9 Withdrawals

9.1 Withdrawals of cleared funds are subject to the special conditions for particular accounts and to any branch withdrawal limits that we reasonably impose. The amounts that can be withdrawn by cash or cheque each day are £350 cash and £20,000 by cheque on demand per person. Higher amounts require 2 days notice, subject to £2,500 maximum cash per day. The minimum amount for a cheque withdrawal is £10..

9.2 No withdrawal will be allowed:

•if it would cause the account to be overdrawn; or
•from a passbook account, unless you produce the passbook at the time of withdrawal.

9.3 We may refuse to allow a withdrawal:

•if we are not satisfied that we have the proper written authority for the withdrawal, in accordance with the mandate you have given us;
•if we suspect fraud, or otherwise have reason to doubt the lawfulness of the transaction; or
•against uncleared funds (see Condition 10).

9.4 We can restrict at any time the amount which can be withdrawn from any account.

We will only do this if:
(a)we reasonably believe that there may be fraudulent activity or other financial crime affecting the account;
(b)we are required to do so by any law, regulation or court order;
(c)there is a dispute (which we reasonably believe may be genuine) about the ownership of, or entitlement to, the money in the account;
(d)circumstances beyond our reasonable control prevent us from offering a normal service (such as in the event of terrorist threat, computer systems failure or strikes); or
(e)circumstances exist which lead us reasonably to believe our financial stability is under threat (such as where rumours cause actual or potential abnormal levels of cash withdrawals).

In the case of (d) and (e) above:
(i)we will act proportionately to the circumstances in question;
(ii)we will take all reasonable steps to ensure that the restrictions are lifted as soon as practical and to minimise the inconvenience to you;
(iii)we will take into account the interests of the Society’s membership as a whole;
(iv)we will, if practical, give advance notice; and
(v)we may consider exceptions to the restrictions if we are reasonably satisfied that hardship would otherwise be caused.

9.5 If a withdrawal is made by a cheque in favour of someone other than you, we will not stop payment of the cheque unless we have clear evidence of fraud, or that the cheque has been lost, stolen or destroyed.

9.6 Please also note that:

•we will not send cheques to third parties by post.
•we do not permit withdrawals to be made by direct debit or standing order.
•any withdrawals from an account where a child is the beneficiary must be for the benefit of the child.

10 Uncleared funds

10.1 Subject to any special conditions for particular accounts, and to Condition 9, we will allow withdrawals against a cheque 6 banking days after the date of deposit, provided we have not received notice that it has not been cleared. If the day of deposit is not a normal banking day then the period of 6 banking days will commence the day after the next banking day. If the cheque is not cleared then you will have to repay us the amount of the withdrawal to the extent that there is not enough other money in the account to cover it. However, we will not take money from your account, or require you to repay us, in respect of a cheque that has not cleared unless:

•the cheque is not in sterling;
•the cheque is drawn on a bank or institution outside the United Kingdom;
•you agree otherwise;
•you are knowingly a party to a fraud in respect of the cheque; or
•the money is reclaimed from your account before close of business on the sixth banking day after it was deposited with us unless the day of deposit is not a normal banking day when the period of 6 banking days will commence the day after the next banking day.

If a cheque that is deposited by you is not cleared, we will tell you about this by writing to you.

10.2 If a cheque that you have paid into your account is lost during the clearing process, then it will be regarded as being paid as detailed in Condition 10.1. However, should we be notified of its loss before it has cleared then, provided we have not acted negligently, we will take the amount from your account accordingly. It will then be your responsibility to obtain a replacement for the lost cheque.

11 Closing your account

11.1 You can close your account at any time, subject to any special conditions that apply to particular accounts and to normal administration requirements.

11.2 We can close all or part of your account at any time without giving any reason, but (except in exceptional cases, such as suspected fraud or other criminal activity, or threatening or abusive behaviour):

•we will give you at least 30 days’ notice; and
•we will not use this right to repay a fixed term investment before the end of the fixed term.

11.3 If we close the account, we will pay interest at the agreed rate up to and including the date of repayment. We may make repayment by sending you a cheque.

11.4 If we close the account in full and make repayment to you, in person or by post, then you will have no further right or interest in the account.

12 Statements

Unless the special conditions for the particular accounts say otherwise, we do not issue account statements.

13 Taxes

Interest will be paid after deduction of income tax at the relevant rate unless you give us the appropriate HM Revenue and Customs Certificate (correctly completed) or other circumstances apply enabling us to pay interest gross (that is without deduction of income tax). Where interest is paid gross in circumstances where it later becomes apparent that interest should be paid subject to deduction of income tax, we will be entitled (except where the error was our sole responsibility) to recover any overpayment.

14 Joint accounts and trusts

14.1 If an account is held in more than one person’s name, then only the holder whose name appears first in our records will be entitled to membership rights (such as the right to receive notices of, and to attend and vote at, meetings). This is subject to any rights given to other holders by any legislation.

14.2 You can choose the order in which the names appear in our records. Any change in the order will happen when our records are actually changed. We will make the change within a reasonable time after you tell us about it.

14.3 We will consider all joint account holders to be entitled to all money in the account and so we will not be concerned regarding the division of ownership of the money between different account holders.

14.4 Where one account holder dies, we will, on receipt of satisfactory evidence of death, treat the surviving holder(s) as being entitled to the account. We do not accept accounts on any other basis. The other terms of the account will remain unchanged. (Under the Rules, joint accounts cannot be held by the holders as tenants in common).

14.5 Withdrawals and other transactions on a joint account need the signatures of all account holders, unless all of them have authorised us to accept the signature of any one of them or (if there are more than two holders) any combination of them.

14.6 Any authorisation given under Condition 14.5 can be stopped by any account holder.

14.7 If we have reason to think that there is a dispute between account holders we may (but will not be obliged to) require the signatures of all account holders, despite any authorisation that has been given to us previously under Condition 14.5.

14.8 If there is a relationship between the account holders which ceases, you will need to inform us if the account is to be closed or you want any name to be removed from the account. If you do not inform us then, even if we know about the relationship breakdown, we will continue to operate the account in accordance with the instructions that you have given us. This may mean that withdrawals and/or closure of the account will be permitted on one signature.

14.9 We may (in accordance with Condition 9.4) freeze the account if we have reason to think that there is a dispute in relation to the money in the account. However, we will not be obliged to do this, unless we are ordered to do so by a court.

14.10 Any correspondence relating to the account will be sent to the address of the first-named account holder, unless you instruct us otherwise.

14.11 The liability of joint account holders is joint and several. This means that each of you is separately responsible to us for the performance of all obligations of the account holders, and not just a share of them.

14.12 We do not have to recognise the interest or claim of any person other than the account holder(s) in respect of any money held in the account (and we will not have any liability for failing to do so), except as may be required by law.

Further details about the rights and responsibilities of joint account holders are contained in the leaflet “You and Your Joint Account”. A copy of this is available on request.

14.13 No more than 4 people may jointly hold an account.

15 Transfers

Accounts cannot be transferred between account holders. Any changes in ownership must be by closing the account and opening a new one in the required names.

16 Unclaimed balances

16.1 If no payment into or withdrawal from your account is made:

•for a period of 3 years (where the amount in the account is less than £100); or
•for a period of 5 years (in other cases)

and we cannot trace you (after having made reasonable efforts to do so), then we may close the account. However, any money in it remains yours, and if you contact us later (and provide any necessary evidence of identity) we will repay the money from the closed account to you, together with interest at a rate that we reasonably consider to be appropriate.

16.2 Condition 16.1 is subject to any rules that may be made under any legislation.

17 Account documents

17.1 We may issue you with a passbook, certificate or other similar document relating to your account. If we do:

•the document will belong to us;
•you agree to return it to us for updating, or for any other purpose we reasonably require;
•you agree to keep it safe, and to tell us as soon as you discover it has been lost or stolen; and
•the document must be produced to us before any withdrawal from the account is made.

17.2 We may issue a replacement for lost or stolen documents but this may be subject to payment of a charge and/or other conditions. These conditions may include:

•providing us with reasonable evidence of the loss or theft;
•notifying, and co-operating with, the police;
•restricting withdrawals from the account for a certain period from the date you notify us of the loss or theft; and/or
•signing any form of indemnity that we may reasonably require.

17.3 If someone other than you produces your account document to us, pretends to be you or authorised by you, and is therefore able to withdraw money from the account, you will be liable for the amount of any withdrawals if you have acted fraudulently and you may be liable if you have acted without reasonable care.

17.4 You should check your passbook regularly. If there is an entry that seems to be wrong, you should tell us as soon as possible, so that we can resolve the matter.

18 Changing these Conditions

18.1 We can change these Conditions and/or terms on which your account is held if we reasonably believe that the change is needed for any of the following reasons (which may relate to circumstances existing at the time or those that are expected to apply in the near future):

•to respond to changes in the law or the decisions of a court or ombudsman;
•to meet relevant regulatory requirements;
•to make the terms clearer or fairer;
•to provide you with extra benefits or services;
•to respond to new (or changes to) statements or codes of practice or industry guidance designed to enhance consumer protection;
•to reflect market conditions (including the terms on which similar accounts are offered by other institutions);
•so that we can compete more effectively with other institutions;
•to improve efficiency and/or reduce costs;
•to correct any errors.

18.2 We may also change these Conditions for any other valid reason where we reasonably believe change is appropriate.

18.3 A change that is not to your disadvantage may be made immediately and without prior notice. We will tell you about the change within 30 days.

18.4 A change which is to your disadvantage will be effective only after at least 30 days’ notice is given to you. At any time up to 60 days from the date of the notification you may switch your account or close it without having to give any period of notice or pay additional charges.

18.5 Notices under Condition 18.4 will be sent by individual letter or e-mail (if you have told us that you want to be contacted in this way). Notices under Condition 18.3 may be given in this way, or instead be given by general notice in our branches, Principal Office and website in conjunction with advertisements in two or more local newspapers of our choice. The newspapers we currently use are Express & Star, Sandwell Chronicle, Dudley Chronicle and Wolverhampton Chronicle.

18.6 This Condition 18 does not apply to changes to interest rates or charges, which are dealt with in Conditions 7 and 8.

18.7 If we have made a major change or a lot of minor changes in any one year, we will give you a copy of the new terms and conditions or a summary of the changes.

19 Notices

19.1 You will be taken to have received any letter or e-mail or other personal notice 72 hours after we have sent it to you.

19.2 If we, accidentally, fail to:

•send to you a communication intended for our investors generally or a category of investors of which you are one; or
•display a notice at any of our offices
this will not make the notice invalid.

19.3 If an error is made in a notice, but this is corrected shortly afterwards by a subsequent notice, the notice period will run from the date of the original notice.

19.4 Any notice or communication required to be given to us under these Conditions must (unless otherwise specified) be given to us at Tipton & Coseley Building Society, 70 Owen Street, Tipton, DY4 8HG.

20 Matters Beyond Our Control

We will not be liable to you if we are unable to provide any service in connection with your account because of strikes, power failures or other causes beyond our reasonable control.

21 Set Off

We may use the money in your account towards payment of any money that you owe us which is due for payment but has not been paid. We will notify you if we do this. No interest will be earned on money used in this way.

22 Companies, etc

22.1 If you are a limited company or other type of corporation, you will need to authorise officers to operate the account. We will also require evidence of identity and address for these persons.

22.2 Accounts in respect of unincorporated organisations, such as English partnerships and clubs, cannot be held in the name of the organisation. Accounts must be held in the name(s) of individuals on behalf of the organisation.

23 Law

These Conditions are governed by the laws of England and Wales.

24 Language

All communications between you and us will be in English unless we specifically agree otherwise.

Tipton & Coseley Building Society
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority
Entered on the Financial Services Authority Register, registration number 159601
Principal Office: 70 Owen Street, Tipton, DY4 8HG

3 March 2008