People with a savings account warned to move their money before Thursday

People who have a savings account have been urged to act before Thursday arrives. Savers can secure a guaranteed return of up to eight per cent on their savings - but experts warn deals will not last for long as the Cost of Living crisis continues.

While the Bank of England is still expected to cut interest rates this Thursday, last week’s eventful Budget has shifted forecasts for monetary policy heading into 2025. According to FactSet consensus, interest rates are still forecast to fall from 5% to 4.75% on Thursday, following the Bank of England’s next Monetary Policy Committee meeting tomorrow.

Sarah Coles, head of personal finance, Hargreaves Lansdown, commented: "The savings market is tethered to the push-me-pull-you of rate expectations. The banks are fairly certain we’ll get a cut this week, so we saw some savings rates continue to drop last week. However, they’re less convinced we’ll have cuts further ahead, so some rates are rising."

READ MORE Martin Lewis addresses university tuition fee hike and says 'to be really clear'

She added: "It’s not worth hanging on in the hope that savings rates shoot up again. If your bank has cut your easy access rate, now is the time to shop around, because while 5% deals are vanishingly rare, there are still plenty offering 4.8% or more.

"If you were planning to fix for a period, there are some still decent rates on fixes for less than a year, so you can lock in more than 4.8% over six months or a year. If you fix for longer, deals move closer to 4.5%, but if rates fall as expected over the coming years, that’ll look increasingly rewarding."

The best regular savings accounts on offer for the week beginning November 4, 2024 are:

Principality BS - Eight per cent AER / 7.85 per cent gross

The Co-operative Bank - Seven per cent AER / gross

Principality BS - Seven per cent AER / gross

Nationwide BS - 6.50 per cent AER / gross

NatWest - 6.17 per cent AER / six per cent

Royal Bank of Scotland 6.17 per cent AER / six per cent gross

Melton BS - Six per cent AER / gross

West Brom BS - Six per cent AER / gross

Market Harborough BS - Six per cent AER / gross

TSB - Six per cent AER / gross