By Christian Abbott
Copyright birminghammail
UK households are missing out on “free” money, as 300,000 of them have left cash in accounts earning 0 per cent. New research by Spring has revealed that more than £32 billion is sitting in 323,000 accounts with balances over £100,000, each paying nothing. Over the course of five years, some savers have missed out on as much as an eye-watering £25,000. Read more: First Direct launches competitive 7% interest savings account Overall, the typical balance in these accounts is £34,857, with six million of them containing more than £10,000. A staggering £316.5 billion has cumulatively been left in these accounts, all earning 0 per cent interest, representing 80 per cent of all current accounts. Yesterday, the Bank of England confirmed that interest rates were on hold at 4 per cent. The governor, Andrew Bailey, said: “We held interest rates at 4% today. Although we expect inflation to return to our 2% target, we’re not out of the woods yet so any future cuts will need to be made gradually and carefully.” At its meeting ending on 17 September 2025, the Monetary Policy Committee voted by a majority of 7–2 to maintain Bank Rate at 4%. Two members voted to reduce Bank Rate by 0.25 percentage points, to 3.75%. The Committee voted by a majority of 7–2 to reduce the stock of UK government bond purchases held for monetary policy purposes, and financed by the issuance of central bank reserves, by £70 billion over the next 12 months, to a total of £488 billion. The decision has received a mixed reaction from business owners, with some thinking it’s the right move, while one called it “perverse”. Scott Gallacher, Director at Leicester-based Rowley Turton, said: “The danger is that the medicine ends up killing the patient. The modern economic playbook says you raise interest rates to tame inflation, but that’s a blunt tool that overlooks the real causes of UK inflation — energy, food, and supply shocks, not runaway domestic spending. “That makes today’s decision to hold rates, when the economy is flatlining and businesses need a boost, feel somewhat perverse. “At some point, the Bank has to accept you can’t cure imported inflation by strangling growth at home. Right now, it’s hard to be optimistic about UK plc.”
