I have no experience of RCI or Cynergy.

You might want to consider the Sharia compliant savings accounts which can offer a slightly higher profit rate/interest rate. Here is a link to the money saving expert list which includes Sharia options...

https://www.moneysavingexpert.co...t-interest/#fixedsavings

I havn’t yet used a sharia compliant account myself so cannot comment in detail on these.

Bear in mind the following...

1) A five year fixed rate will mean you have no access to your money until the five years has passed - even in an emergency.
2) You might want to split your money into savings with different fixed rate periods e.g. some 1 year fixed, some 3 year fixed, some 5 year fixed. Then if interest rates did rise you have the chance to move money to higher earning accounts in future years. Although there is no sign of interest rate rises currently and they could also fall.
3) Don’t forget to consider ‘notice accounts’. These only give access to your money say 90 days after you ask to withdraw it, but offer higher rates than instant access.
3) If you are anticipating buying a first home you could consider the LISA and Help-to-buy ISA as they provide a gov funded top-up to your savings. You can read about them on money saving expert.
4) If you are thinking very long term - 10 years - then you might want to consider whether to put a little of the money into a stocks and shares ISA. It may seem very scary and like gambling to do this, and indeed you could lose money. However over your lifetime it will be important to understand something about how investments work. I think the statistic is that over a 10 year period a stockmarket index fund is likely to beat cash savings 90% of the time. Maybe you think it is worth risking 1 or 2 thousand in this way.
5) Interest is taxed as income in the tax year you gain access to it. So £30k in a 5 year fixed rate with interest accumulated (not paid out) at 2.5% will earn total interest of around £3900 which you receive as taxable interest income in year 5. Depending on your other income/earnings in 5 years time you might have to pay some tax on this which you could avoid by choosing to have the interest paid out to you each year instead to save elsewhere.

Just some things to think about.

Congratulations on thinking hard about what to do with your windfall. It seems like you pass the marshmallow test.

Also check up on reviews to see what standard of service you can expect.

Hi Debbie,

Anything FSCS protected should be secure enough. But that doesn't mean it is the best place for your money.

What are you planning to use that money for? If you are willing to lock it up for 5 years, that would suggest to me that your intentions for that money are at least medium term. Would that be correct?

Are you considering using some for a house deposit?

Do you have any high interest debt, such as credit card debt (if so, just pay it off with the money. You won't get returns on savings anywhere close to the interest rates charged on credit cards).

If you aren't going to touch some of it for 7-10 years or more. it would be a shame to leave it all sat there in a savings account, just about keeping up with inflation if you are lucky, but most likely being eroded by it.

I'd say keep however much of that money you will need in the next 5 years or so in cash and just do the best you can with it interest rate wise. As previously mentioned, anything FSCS protected should be secure enough.

With the rest you could consider investing it. But do some research before you do.

If investing is of interest to you, check out Vanguard as a starting point. They offer Lifestrategy funds with different percentage allocations to stocks (they offer a 20% Stocks, 40%, 60% etc). The remainder of those funds is in bonds (generally considered less 'risky' than stocks, but with lower potential returns on investment).

Vanguard also offer target retirement funds. It may sound odd for me to be telling you about retirement funds at your age but they could be useful for other purposes. They use target retirement years and adjust the risk accordingly (the nearer in the future the retirement year, the less risky the investment strategy). So for example if you are considering buying a house in the next 5-10 years, you could look at putting some of your money in the Vanguard Target Retirement 2025 fund. This would give it more of a chance to grow than a cash savings account would (although nothing is guaranteed in investing). You don't have to hold these funds in a pension or anything, you can hold them in an ISA or a regular account with Vanguard.

But investing is a volatile game. The value of your investments can go up or down. But history suggests that, over longer periods of time, and if you ride out the ups and downs, it gives you far better returns than cash savings. Obviously, as previously mentioned, do your own research and don't just listen to some bloke on a forum!

I'm telling you this because I too received a small inheritance in my early twenties. I left it in cash for a few years and I wish I'd been more proactive with it. I'd have been better off than I am now if I had been!

One last thing, as previously mentioned by other posters, consider a LISA. It free money from the government and you can hold pretty much whatever investments you want in there and the gov top you up with 25% of your investment up to £4K (so £4K would become £5k). You can use the funds for a house or for retirement.

Debbie this is the "bank" created out of Renault vehicle finance. It looks more like a mini-bond to me rather than a savings account.

Sadly, High Interest and Savings account don't go together any longer unless you add High Risk to the equation too

The RCI bank I believe is run by Renault. 5 years is too long to have your money tied up at 2.60%, you may well find that before that period has expired interest rates generally will have gone up and 2.60% will no longer seem good.
The problem with bank/building society interest rates is the interest they pay is almost always below the prevailing rate of inflation, meaning that over a period of a few years the purchasing power of your money will decrease.
However I understand you probably feel you want to keep your inheritance safe. Have a look on the Hargreaves Lansdown website they list an account from the Coventry Building Society paying around 2%, the advantage of this one being there is no fixed term indicated, it appears you can get access to your money whenever you want. However I've not examined it closely but it's worth a look.