The Cumberland Building Society is using Savings Week (September 26 to October 2) to urge every household to look at how much they have set aside for emergencies and how much interest their savings earn.
Research by the Building Societies’ Association (BSA) reveals that one-in-seven of us have no savings while many of those that do aren’t earning any interest.
Chris Cairns, Head of Products at the Cumberland, said: “The Covid pandemic and the sharp rise in cost-of-living underlines how important it is to have savings to fall back on when the unexpected happens. Nobody knows what’s coming next.”
Although the rise in costs is making it harder to save, the BSA’s research shows that two-thirds of people with no savings could afford to save something – even if it is only £10 a month.
Chris said: “Ideally, we’d all have an emergency fund equal to at least one month’s outgoings, but anything is better nothing. A safety net provides peace of mind.”
The BSA research suggests that the average saver has £17,000 put away, yet many aren’t earning interest on their nest egg. Nationally, £260bn is sitting in accounts that don’t pay interest.
Chris added: “It makes sense to have your savings work for you. Too many people have savings languishing in accounts earning no or little interest.”
Unlike banks, which need to make profits to pay to their shareholders, the Cumberland is a mutual organisation that acts solely in the interests of its members – the savers and borrowers.
The Cumberland offers a range of accounts to suit different needs. They include the Instant Saver for money you might need in a hurry, the online-only eSavings for Cumberland current account customers, Cash ISAs for tax-free savings, a 40 Days’ Notice account and one and two-year Fixed Interest Fixed Term accounts.
The Regular Saver provides an attractive return to savers able to put aside between £25 and £250 each month while two Save and Support accounts make annual donations to three of the region’s hospices as well as Carlisle United, paying competitive rates of interest.