FSCS Update regarding ICESAVE paper applications

strawberrylane

There is a major and quite detailed update on the FSCS website today regarding Icesave paper applications.

http://www.fscs.org.uk/consumer/

strawberrylane

According to the announcement they say that paper forms were sent out to all people with fixed rate accounts that completed the online process by 9th December, and that those with fixed rate accounts who completed the online process after 9th December have yet to be sent forms.

BUT myself and my wife completed the online process for our fixed rate accounts in the middle of November and have still not had the forms yet. I suspect we'll not be alone in that! Maybe they have got the dates wrong in their announcement?!

LesU

The trouble is that they seem to have been using quite unsophisticated methods with their forms. Everybody opting for maturity payment, for example, seems to have been treated equally. For people who have accounts maturing in 6 - 9 months time, it really wouldn't have mattered to have the paperwork sent months from now, just as long as they were told that was the case.
For people, such as me, who have an already matured account, it's frustrating to see that a load of extra paperwork has been delivered to them that they have to wade through before they get to an instantly actionable one.

strawberrylane

I sent this email to the FSCS Chief Exec this morning......

Dear Ms Minghella

Thank you for the detailed update which appeared on the FSCS Consumer website yesterday afternoon regarding the progress of paper applications for Icesave compensation.

However, based on the information stated in the update, I believe that an error has occurred in the sending out of application forms to fixed rate account holders that have transacted online and chosen to hold until maturity. If so, there is an opportunity to rectify this error next week when more forms are sent out to fixed rate account holders.

My wife and I each have a separate fixed rate account and we both transacted successfully online on 21st November 2008 to request to keep the accounts until maturity. We both received the confirmation email from FSCS a few hours later, and the next day we were locked out of our respective accounts (as expected) because we had successfully transacted. But despite this, neither of us received the paper application form in the 19th December mailout. We both should have been included in that mailout. I know of a work colleague who is in the same position, he transacted successfully online on 12th November to hold his fixed account until maturity, but he didn’t get a form in the 19th December mailout either. Additionally, I have corresponded with another nine people in exactly the same situation, ie. they all should have “qualified” for the 19th December mailout (having successfully transacted online prior to 9th December) but did not get a form.

One possibility of course is that all these forms have been lost or mis-delivered in the post, but I think that very unlikely. For my and my wife’s personal situations, we have both received all our post successfully from other organisations over this timeframe, no other post that we have been expecting has not arrived.

I believe that given my experience and that of others I know of, an error is likely to have occurred at the FSCS in the “selection process” for determining which fixed rate account holders to send forms to in the 19th December mailout. For some reason, I believe that a (sizeable) minority of people that should have been included have been missed. Please don’t dismiss that as wild speculation, it’s not intended to be, I’ve reasoned it quite carefully and think that it’s a strong possibility.

You might say that if we feel we have been missed out then we should simply phone up the FSCS helpline and ask for a form to be sent to us. We could do that, but I would see that as a failure of the FSCS process, and I would then worry that if we were not automatically sent the forms, then we might also not get the cheques on maturity (it’s human nature to look at things in that way, isn’t it?). I would much rather, therefore, be sent the form by the FSCS instead of having to request it and then being sent it as an exception case.

So, given that more forms are being sent out next week to fixed rate account holders (supposedly those people who transacted after 9th December), please can I ask that you contact the people preparing the mailout and urge them to also double-check why some fixed rate account holders could have been missed from the 19th December mailout, to identify those people, and include them in next week’s mailout. I realise that this might mean a small amount of extra work, but in the long run I think it will be more cost effective and it will certainly allay some anxieties that are now building about the quality of the process.

Thanks in advance for your assistance with this.

nicky_boo

Thanks again strawberrylane.
This announcement doesn't make sense to me though.
I have completed the online process on 20th November. My account matured on 16th December. No forms yet. I was hoping to get something this weekend.
I wonder if there is a mistake in the announcement or something went wrong with part of the postal batch...

nicky_boo

Ok, I have just seen that they posted a new update with a wrong date (9th December instead of 9th January) apologising for not posting some of the forms. (D'oh! What does that mean? How can you trust them?). Forms should be with us early next week. Fingers crossed...

strawberrylane

Thanks for that nicky_boo. I'd not spotted that the FSCS had put a correction on their website this evening.

What a bunch of idiots.

I hope that we do now get the forms next week as promised.

Here's the update/correction.........

Icesave update for holders of fixed term deposits (9 January 2009)

Since our update yesterday, it has come to our attention that a small minority of forms for claimants who elected to wait until after maturity to receive their compensation for fixed term deposits did not go out as originally planned and these will be going out early next week. We are sorry for any inconvenience or confusion.
Anyone who has not received their form by a week on Monday (19 January) should call our Customer Services Team.

LesU

So at one end of the process we have people not receiving their paperwork yet, at the other end we don't seem to have anybody with a cheque from a matured account.
They say they have received 10,000 replies back from account holders waiting for maturity, surely some of them have accounts that have already matured. I was expecting to see by Friday at least one excited poster saying their cheque had finally arrived, but there has been nothing.
So what is the actual process being used? I'm a bit worried that newer posts have been talking of a return postal address in London. I sent mine up North. Does that mean they have shut down operations in Darlington and moved all the paperwork to London?

strawberrylane

LesU, I do sympathise with your situation. I am "lucky" in the sense that my bond doesn't mature until the back end of 09, so not yet having the form is not the end of the world (but has left me with concerns about the quality of the FSCS process). As you have said before, there doesn't seem to be any prioritisation in the FSCS's processing of claims for fixed account holders holding to maturity - that's probably a step too far for their process!! In your situation, I'm sorry to say that I would not be expecting a cheque for up to 6 weeks from the start of January. I guess that's not what you want to hear, but if you get your cheque in January I think you'll have done okay (sorry!).

shindigger

LesU wrote: »

So at one end of the process we have people not receiving their paperwork yet, at the other end we don't seem to have anybody with a cheque from a matured account.
They say they have received 10,000 replies back from account holders waiting for maturity, surely some of them have accounts that have already matured. I was expecting to see by Friday at least one excited poster saying their cheque had finally arrived, but there has been nothing.
So what is the actual process being used? I'm a bit worried that newer posts have been talking of a return postal address in London. I sent mine up North. Does that mean they have shut down operations in Darlington and moved all the paperwork to London?

I did the electronic stuff on 20th November. My frb expired on Dec 22nd. I opted to wait for maturity because the FSCS said that they would be posting forms on the 4th December. I received my form on Xmas eve. :mad:
They lied.
Despite me and plenty other people airing their doubts about this and subsequently being reviled by idiots on here such as Paul Herring, i am now sat here waiting form my money, because i stupidly chose to take FSCS at their word. This is now costing me £15 a day in lost interest, plus the rates compared to November are a joke. Nice one FSCS. Liars.

[Deleted User]

I completed the online process on 13th nov and elected to hold fixed rate bonds to maturity. Two expired on 19th nov (mine and husband) neither of us have received any follow-up forms :mad: :mad: :mad:

I believe that the fscs need to be reported to the fsa, who have requested that the fscs put systems in place for potential future payouts, in other situations, to be made within 7 days. The fsa need to be bombarded with letters, e mails from unhappy icesave bond holders

we NEED the money as we are living on my small pension plus savings and it is difficult :eek:

edit: and there is a link further down the savings page
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1406007