The Big Bumper Mutual Society List (edition: BSLIST07.DOC)

Latest News: Portman is taking over Lambeth; payout of £400 to Lambeth members.

Introduction
The following is culled mainly from Investor’s Chronicle and the Financial Times with some extra information from the Sunday papers. Basically to get a payout you must become a ‘member’ of the appropriate society; how this is done varies according to the legislation that applies to the type of society in question and the various requirements are listed below. You can go for joint accounts if you wish but make sure that one is ‘Mr & Mrs’ and the other is ‘Mrs & Mr’ as only the first named on an account gets the cash. In case you’re wondering, no I don’t get any commission for this (though if you want to give me a large pile of cash any time, or failing that a cream bun, please feel free to do so).

Building Societies
A ‘share’ account with £100 makes you a member. In some cases you may need to be a member for over two years to get a payout. Payouts are likely to be in the £500-£1000 range with the Chelsea around £1000 and National Counties weighing in at around £5000 or more. If your cash is limited (ie under £30,000 or so) start with the ‘essential purchases’ before working your way down the shortlist; after that you could make a start on the additional societies listed under ‘contacts’.

The short-list (in descending order of likelihood

Chelsea, Skipton, West Bromwich, Britannia, Nationwide, Portman, National Counties, Norwich & Peterborough

Insurance Companies
A ‘with-profits endowment’ policy makes you a member (NB this requires a commitment to keep the policy going for at least TEN years). Payouts are likely to be in the £500-£1000 range.

Essential purchases: none at the moment with the disappearance of Standard Life

Friendly Societies
A ‘with-profits endowment’ policy makes you a member (NB this requires a commitment to keep the policy going for at least TEN years). Monthly payments are from £9 to £25 (£100 to £270 annually). Likely payouts aren’t known yet. You can only have one of these policies at a time; I’m with Tunbridge Wells.

The short-list (in decending order of size)

Liverpool Victoria, Royal Liver Assurance, Family Assurance, Police Mutual Insurance, Homeowners, Tunbridge Wells Equitable

Provident Societies
The Co-Operative
Get a Dividend Card from your local Co-Op then buy £20 of Co-Op brand merchandise to become a member (tick the box to say you want to be a member). The likely payout is around £1000 and due to the recent court case there is probably a small window of opportunity still open. Those of you who are already members should call 0800-371456 to check that the Co-Op thinks you’re a member too.

The Women’s Institute
See your local library. This one is a very, very long-shot but is not a joke as they own Women’s Institute Country Markets which could be worth something.

Contacts
Those in bold are on the shortlists, those in italics are committed to mutuality (ie likely to be taken over rather than go of their own accord), and those underlined are ‘essential purchases’ (ie likely to close the doors and pay out very shortly).

Building Societies
Minimum amounts tend to vary these days so those listed below are merely indicative. In some cases the amount listed is the minimum required to open the account and you’d be able to drop the balance down to £100 (the minimum required for membership) shortly afterwards. To maximise your interest you should go for a postal account and/or one with a notice period. Expected payouts are in [brackets].
Britannia, £2000 [£1397]
Catholic, 0171 222 6736, £2000 [£639]
Chelsea, 0800 717515, £2500, Classic Account [£1632]
Coventry, 01203 555255, £100 in branch or £1000 postal [£754]
Hinckley & Rugby, 01455 251234, £1000 [£676]
Lambeth, 0171 928 1331, £400 from the Portman takeover (you're too late to get this)
Melton Mowbray, 01664 63937, £1000 [£702]
National Counties, 01372 742211, £3000 TESSA [£7187]
Nationwide, £500 [£1517] (you need to have an account already as no new carpetbagging accounts can be opened)
Newcastle, 0191 244 2000, £1000 [£951]
Norwich & Peterborough, 01733 371371, £2500 [£910]
Portman, 01202 292444, £100 in branch, £1000 postal [£734]
Progressive, £1000 [£625]
Scarborough, 01723 368155, £1000 [£316]
Skipton, 01756 700500, £2000 [£1293]
Standard, 0191 257 4123, £1000 [£634]
Teachers, £1000 [£1605]
West Bromwich, 0121 525 7070, £3000 TESSA [£581]
Yorkshire, 01274 740740, £1000 [£926]

Insurance Companies
For reasons of economy, rather than contacting them directly, you should use a discount broker to cover the various insurance companies and friendly societies; I use Unitas (01724-849481).
NPI, £?? a month
Scottish Life, £?? a month
Scottish Provident, £?? a month
 

Friendly Societies
Again, for reasons of economy, use a discount broker.
Liverpool Victoria
Royal Liver Assurance
Family Assurance
Police Mutual Insurance
Homeowners
Tunbridge Wells Equitable

Provident Societies
Co-Operative, local branch, membership queries 0800-371456
Women’s Institute, local library