Terms and Conditions

1.1 In addition to these conditions, specific terms and conditions may also apply to certain types of accounts. You will be provided with a copy of these where applicable.

1.2 If we make any changes to these terms and conditions in the future, we will advise you of what these are and the reasons for them.

2.1 Northern Community Bank is available to any person who lives or works within our community, including the boroughs and districts of Burnley, Pendle, Rossendale, South Craven, Hyndburn, Ribble Valley, Preston, Lancaster and the whole of Cumbria.

2.2 Accounts are also available for employees and those in receipt of housing services from The Together Group, Calico Group, Accent Group and Your Housing.

3.1 An account holder must hold at least £1 in a Long-Term Savings account with the Northern Community Bank.

3.2 Your account will automatically open when you have deposited £1, which could be withdrawn at the closure of the account and passed due diligence process.

3.3 You can withdraw any eligible savings. However, if required, the Board of Directors may request that you provide up to 60 days’ notice to withdraw your savings. This could take place in the unlikely event of the community bank being unable to meet exceptional account holder demand.

3.4 If you do not make any transactions for a period of 12 months, your account may become dormant.

3.5 The rulebook of Northern Community Bank provides further details of the account. A free copy of the rules is available to every account holder on request.

3.6 The maximum savings for any account holder must not exceed £85,000.

3.7 Accounts are only available to United Kingdom (UK) residents. If you cease to reside in the UK, you must inform us immediately and we reserve the right to close your account.

4.1. If a surplus has been achieved, the Board of Directors will recommend the rates of dividend payment for agreement by the account holders at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held within 6 months of the financial year-end.

4.2. The dividend is calculated based on the daily balance of savings held by account holders in the relevant financial year (which runs from 1 October to 30 September).

4.3. Accounts must be open at the time of the dividend being paid to be eligible for it.

4.4. Any dividend shall be declared at the AGM, on all savings held during the preceding financial year. New account holders joining the community bank during the financial year will be entitled to a proportional part of the dividend on any savings held for less than the full year. For new account holders who join after the financial year end but before that year’s AGM, the dividend will be paid after the following year’s AGM.

4.5. Dividends due to any account holder will be placed to the credit of their savings balance.

4.6. Dividends will be paid to active account holders. Dormant, deceased, left or bad debt accounts will not accrue dividend or loan interest rebate.

4.7. Dividends and loan interest rebate may not be paid to account in arrears.

4.8. Dividend and loan interest rebate, which is paid by the end of March, will be withdrawable in the same financial year.

5.1. Interest-bearing accounts accrue interest on the available balance at the rate specified by Northern Community Bank, which may be subject to change at our discretion.

5.2. Interest is calculated daily and credited to the account at regular intervals, as outlined in the account schedule.

5.3. By opening an interest-bearing account, you agree to the applicable terms, rates, and conditions in effect at the time.

5.4. Share of Profits Payments will not be paid on interest bearing accounts.

6.1. Dividends and interest are paid gross of any tax but are not tax-free. You must therefore declare your dividends and interest payments on your tax return. You can find some more information on https://www.gov.uk/tax-on-dividends

Please note that the right to set off overrides all other saving deposit rules. For further explanation, see point 35.1.

• If Northern Community Bank is not advised of maturity instructions at least two days before the maturity date, the funds will be transferred to instant access account.

7.8. Northern Saver’s Account

• Interest Rate Details:

–      Interest Rate (Gross*): 2.75%

–      Annual Equivalent Rate (AER**): 2.79% (Variable)

*Gross interest is the annual interest rate earned on savings, without factoring in introductory bonuses, compounding, charges, or taxes.

**AER represents the annual percentage of interest earned on savings, including compound interest (interest on interest already paid). Our AER is variable, meaning the interest rate on your savings account can increase or decrease.

• No minimum deposit required.
• The interest on this account is variable and if the interest rate changes, notification will be made via the website in advance. Current and previous interest rates can be found on our website.
• Interest is paid monthly on the first working day of the following month.
• Account can be closed at any time but interest is paid on the first working day of the following month. If you wish to close your account with Northern Community Bank then interest will be paid at the time of closure.
• Account holders cannot use the funds in a Northern Saver to set against any loan.
• Northern Community Bank reserves the right to close this product at any time.
• This account does not qualify for a share of profits at the end of the financial year.

8.1. Loans will not be offered to Corporate and Unincorporated Accounts.

9.1. If your account became dormant Northern Community Bank will request a form of identification to reactivate your account.

10.1. You can request a free statement of your account at any time, which will show your savings/ loan balance, repayments/ deposits and interest paid. Statements can also be viewed anytime in the online accounts area, which you can find at https://northerncommunitybank.cuaccount.com/login/. These will no longer be issued to account holders periodically.

11.1. Transactions can be made online, by email, telephone or in person at our office.

112. Withdrawals can be electronically paid to a bank account or requested in cash of up to £100 if available.

11.3. Standing Orders, Payroll Deductions, Continuous Payment Authorities or Benefits that are received by 8 am on the working day will be available for you to withdraw at least by the end of that day. Payments received after 8 am will be available on the following working day.

11.4. When a cheque is received, funds will only be available to withdraw after 30 clearing days. We reserve the right to debit your account in the event of a cheque being returned unpaid.

11.5. Automatic BACS back less than £2 will be deposited into your Instant Access account.

11.6. Any changes to payroll payment needs to be made via the employee. A signed Payroll Deduction Amendment Mandate may be requested with any change.

11.7. Withdrawals for payments that have been made by card may be paid back to the same card.

11.8. Card payment can only be made up to the value of £500.

11.9. Card payments can be cancelled within 14 days of transactions occurring. Funds will be paid to the same card and fees may be charged.

11.10. Northern Community Bank may request proof of the source of your funds or wealth at any time. If the evidence provided is not satisfactory, we reserve the right to reject the deposit or transfer of those funds.

12.1. FSCS can pay compensation to account holders of Northern Community Bank when it fails. Set up by parliament and funded by the financial services industry, FSCS is a completely independent and free service. This means FSCS can pay back any money you hold with a failed financial institution, up to its compensation limit of £85,000 per person. For more information about the compensation scheme please visit https://www.fscs.org.uk/.

13.1. We are required by law to verify the identity and address of all new account holders. We will usually do this via an electronic identification search as part of your application online. Northern Community Bank reserve the right to request additional documents at any time.

13.2. Northern Community Bank can carry out an Identification and Verification (ID&V) check at any time of account ownership.

13.3. Northern Community Bank will carry out screening of account ownership which will be completed by a 3rd party scanning company, this will search for matches on the sanctions list, adverse media and any Politically Exposed Persons (PEP).

14.1. We rely on the information you provide to be complete, accurate and not misleading. Providing false or inaccurate information may result in the rejection of your application or closure of your account and may also be considered an act of fraud, which could lead to legal action.

15.1. Northern Community Bank takes your privacy very seriously and will never disclose, share or sell your data without your consent unless required to do so by law. We only retain your data for as long as necessary and for the purpose(s) specified in our privacy notice. Where you have given consent for us to share information about our products and services, this can be withdrawn at any time. All third parties used by the community bank only process your data in accordance with instructions from us and comply fully with our privacy notice, the data protection laws and any other appropriate confidentiality and security measures.

15.2. A privacy notice is available at northerncommunitybank.co.uk/privacy-policy and can be requested at any time.

15.3. Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) you can make a written request for a copy of the records we hold about you. This will be completed within one month of receipt and is provided free of charge, in most cases. If the request is manifestly unfounded or excessive, we may charge a reasonable fee for the administrative costs of complying with the request. We may also charge a reasonable fee if an individual requests further copies of their data following a request. Any fee will be based on the administrative costs of providing further copies.

17.1. Northern Community Bank reserves the right to close or freeze your account under the following circumstances:

• You behave in an abusive, offensive, or violent manner towards our staff or volunteers;
• You misuse your account;
• Your account has remained dormant for more than 12 months;
• You act dishonestly in your dealings with us;
• You engage in, or give rise to reasonable suspicion of, fraud or other criminal activity.

18.1. If you wish to make a complaint you can contact us by telephone, in person, in writing, by email or through our app. We will always do everything we possibly can to sort out the problem, however, if you are unhappy with the outcome, you can make an official complaint. We’ll send you a written acknowledgement within three working days and keep you informed on our progress until your complaint has been resolved. The maximum timescale for a final response is 8 weeks and if for any reason it takes longer, we will keep you fully updated. For more information about our complaints procedure please visit northerncommunitybank.co.uk/complaints.

If you do not feel you have been treated fairly you have the option to refer to the Financial Ombudsman Service. For more information about the Financial Ombudsman Service please visit www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk.

19.1. Life Protection insurance is automatically provided with your account at no extra cost, up to the age of 80.

19.2. Savings are covered up to a maximum of £5,000 across all accounts with 100% cover for funds deposited up to the age of 64 years and 364 days and 25% cover for funds deposited between the ages of 65 to 79 years and 364 days.

19.3. Loans are covered up to a maximum borrowing of £7,000 across all loans held per account holder up to the age of 80.

19.4. There is a pre-existing medical condition clause that is included as standard. The terms are as follows:

• Each new savings deposit or loan agreement that you make is governed by a six-month pre-existing medical condition clause.
• Benefit will not be paid on your outstanding savings or loan balance if death results from a pre-existing illness or injury for which medical advice, consultation or treatment was received within six months prior to making the savings deposit or loan.
• The pre-existing medical condition clause lasts for a period of six months from the start date of each savings deposit or loan. If you were to die six months or more after the date of the savings deposit or loan, this would not apply.
• Suicide: Benefits are not payable with respect to any savings deposit or loan paid into an account holder’s account if an account holder commits suicide, while sane or insane, within six months from the date of the savings deposit.
• Please note each case is subject to the terms and conditions of CMutual Insurance, which can be found at https://www.cmutual.co.uk/downloads

19.5. Exclusions:

• War: Life cover benefits may not be payable if an account holder is injured, becomes ill or dies resulting from an insurrection of any war, declared or undeclared, or service in the armed forces of any country.
• Loans with no repayments within 3 months prior to death.

20.1. In line with the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014, account holders may nominate a beneficiary (or beneficiaries) to receive up to £5,000 from their account in the event of their death.

20.2. This nomination is not affected by the account holder’s will and will remain valid unless it is changed directly.

20.3. Please note that if the account holder marries after making a nomination, the previous nomination will automatically be cancelled and will need to be updated if still desired.

20.4. If you wish to withdraw a larger amount or more frequently than detailed below, please get in touch with Northern Community Bank.

21.1. We will contact you using the details you last gave us, we will not be responsible if we are unable to contact you due to you not updating your contact details with us, or if we send confidential information to the wrong address using incorrect details you have provided us with.

22.1. Online/app access may be only available for active accounts. To access your online account via the website or the Northern Community Bank app, you will need to activate your account first.

22.1. Online/app access is available to Junior Accounts. Signatory of the Junior Account can access this online account via the website or the Northern Community Bank app, it will need to be activated first.

22.3. To allow Northern Community Bank to provide automatic withdrawal facilities, greater restrictions for withdrawals received through the app and online access apply. The limits apply to each individual savings account and work using rolling data. This means that if you withdraw from your account at 9 am, you will not be able to process another automatic withdrawal until the following day at 9 am. Likewise, if you withdrew your weekly limit on Wednesday, you won’t be able to withdraw from this account until the following Wednesday. See the restrictions outlined in the table below:

• Long Term Savings / Bill Planning / Additional Savings

• Instant Access

• Christmas Savings (Withdrawals ONLY permitted between the 1^st November and 31^st December).

23. Cancellation (Cooling Off Period)

23.1. Your right to cancel starts the day after the date you received the funds and lasts for 14 days after that.

23.2. To cancel your loan, you need to tell us in writing or on the telephone within this 14-day period.

23.3. As your interest is charged on a daily basis, there will be a small amount of interest payable. Staff at Northern Community Bank will advise you on this figure at the time of cancellation.

24.1. The date of your first payment is shown on your loan agreement and then your regular repayments will be due in line with the repayment frequency you selected. This is also documented in your agreement. Your first and regular repayments will be of the same value, and your final repayment will be slightly different. If repayments vary from the loan agreement, the interest charged will differ.

24.2. Your loan repayment date may be changed in accordance with the date of payment received.

24.3. If you need to change your payment date, you must inform us of this.

24.4. If you fail to make repayments, interest will still be charged and payable on the next repayment received.

24.5. A Long-Term Savings repayment is required alongside your loan repayments. This varies between £2.00 per week and £5.00 per week depending on the loan product.

24.6. You may make additional payments at any time without penalty. Overpayments may reduce the overall cost of the loan but will not necessarily reduce monthly payments unless agreed.

25.1. Family Loan:

• If you have taken the Family Loan product, you will be asked to sign into your Government Gateway account and change your Child Benefit payment to be paid to your Northern Community Bank account.
• When we are waiting for your Child Benefit to be paid to us daily interest charges will be occurring. You may make manual payments via card or bank transfer in order to avoid this.
• Loan repayments on Family Loan must be paid fully or partly via Child Benefit on this product unless an alternative method of payment is agreed with the Account Solutions Team.
• The remainder of the Child Benefit, which is requested in the account holder’s bank account will be received by the end of the working day we receive the money.

• If you intentionally stop your Child Benefit repayment from coming into your Northern Community Bank account without first discussing this with us, you are in breach of terms and conditions of the loan.
• Annual Child Benefit increase will be deposited into savings account with us, unless you instruct us otherwise.

25.2. Family Loan Plus:

• To be eligible to apply for Family Loan Plus account holder would need to complete all stages of a Family Loan and need to be an active borrower for the last 12
• Annual Child Benefit increase will be deposited into savings account with us, unless you instruct us otherwise.

25.3. Standard Loan

• May be a subject to creditworthiness check.
• Various forms of repayments are available.

25.4. Payroll Plus

• To be eligible you need to be employed by one of our payroll partners. A list of payroll partners can be found on northerncommunitybank.co.uk/payroll-partners.

26.1. Family Loan applications are accepted 90 days after the previous Family Loan application.

26.2. Family Loan + applications are accepted 180 days after the previous Family Loan + application.

26.3. Standard Loan applications are accepted 90 days after the previous Standard Loan application unless stated otherwise.

27.1. Northern Community Bank issues loans based on the information you have provided, this will be based on the income and expenditure details given by yourself and where required, bank statements and credit check.

27.2. On signing for a loan, you are agreeing that it is affordable to you at this time. If this is not the case or your circumstances change, you must inform us as soon as possible.

28.1. Northern Community Bank reserves the right to run a credit check on any loan application; consent will be obtained prior.

29.1. As part of your loan application, we may request access to your financial data through open banking.

29.2. Your data may be used for assessing your loan application, conducting credit control, handling complaints, and for staff training purposes.

29.3. We will only review transactions from the past 90 days.

The open banking link will be terminated within 14 days of us receiving your data. However, we may retain the data for up to 1 year after the loan has been repaid. If you wish to revoke access sooner, please contact us directly.

30.1. We reserve the right to decline any loan application at our discretion and are not obliged to provide a reason for doing so.

31.1. You have the right to pay the full balance, or part of it, at any time including any unpaid interest. There are no charges or penalties for doing so.

32.1. There are no fees or charges fixed to the loan, other than the agreed interest stated in your loan agreement. However, we will charge reasonable costs if we have to take steps to recover your loan for non-payment. For example, this could be the cost of locating your new address if you move without telling us or the costs involved in obtaining a County Court Judgment (CCJ) or attachment of your earnings.

33.1. When you borrow money from us, you have to pay back what you borrowed plus interest. Interest is calculated and applied daily on a reducing balance. Full details of the interest rate and calculation method are specified in the loan details section of the loan agreement.

34.1. You can reach our Account Solutions Team by:

📞 Phone: 01282 691333

📧 Email: finance@northerncb.uk

💬 Secure App: https://onelink.to/4nea74

🏢 Or by visiting any of our branches

34.2.Please contact us at the earliest possible opportunity should you find yourself in financial difficulty and struggling to make repayments on your loan. Our Account Solutions Team will discuss your personal circumstances and review your repayment options. More information can be found here northerncommunitybank.co.uk/cant-pay-loan.

34.3. Should your loan be in arrears, we can use funds from your savings accounts to repay the loan, any interest owing, and any cost incurred recovering this loan as documented in your loan agreement.

34.3. Failure to get in touch and set up an appropriate repayment plan will lead to arrears being recorded on your credit file, affecting it negatively. This will make it difficult for you to obtain credit in the future.

35.1. We may use the money in any of your savings’ accounts towards payment of any money that you owe us (for example, under a loan) which is due for payment but has not been paid. This is known as our right to set off.

36.1. Your loan will end when you have paid everything back. You can close your account at any time provided you repay what you owe at the point of closure.

37. Using Northern Community Bank’s Continuous Payment Authority (CPA)

37.1. Northern Community Bank offers its account holders who are experiencing difficulties and are in arrears the opportunity to set up a Continuous Payment Authority, whereby account holders can safely and securely provide their debit card details and Northern Community Bank will take the payment following the parameters laid out by the account holder.

38.1. Payment can be set up by account holders with an active loan by contacting Northern Community Bank or via the portal, which can be found on https://northerncb.myselfserv.co.uk/landing-page.

39.1. Your payments will occur at regular fixed intervals.

39.2. Northern Community Bank will ask you to allow the same amount to be debited from your card automatically at a regular fixed interval.

39.3. This allows payments to take place at a regular fixed interval.
Payments can run for a fixed period.

39.4.  CPA agreement can initiate the payment whenever it is required.

39.5. The amount only has to be specified once by you, when the CPA agreement is created.

39.6. You can change the amount once the agreement has been created.

39.7. Note that the change must be made at least 2 working days before the next payment is due.

39.8. An agreement can be cancelled by you at any time, however, we would advise you to set up another payment method as otherwise you will be in breach of your loan agreement.

40.1. We will immediately deduct the amount from your specified account, but the amount will not be processed into your account until the next business day.

41.1. Regular payments will be made via your chosen credit or debit card. It should be noted that this is not a Direct Debit therefore payments are not covered by the Direct Debit Guarantee. We will use a Continuous Payment Authority (CPA) that allows us to attempt the transaction payments after a previous failed payment attempt. The advantage of CPA is that you will not incur any charges directly from us or your bank for a failed payment that you could incur with a direct debit. However, you may be charged by your bank for overdraft fees or other fees related to your balance.

41.2. The initial payment will be deducted from your specified account; we will then deduct the outstanding payments on the payment due dates indicated in your confirmation email/letter. Where the due date is not a business day, we will withdraw from your funds on the next business day. The payments will cease on the last due date listed in your regular payments.

42.1. For any changes to be made please contact us as soon as possible. We can then make the necessary amendments.

43.1. You must notify us at least 5 business days before the next scheduled transaction. To cancel your regular payments please contact us.

44.1. Please call us at least 2 business days before the next scheduled transaction for the update to take effect.

45.1. If your regular payment is declined for any reason, including insufficient funds, a closed account, or an unauthorised account your payment plan might be extended.

46.1. We may share information we collect about you with external service providers. Our agreements with these service providers require that they protect your information and only use it to carry out the services they are performing for you.