Problem with 08/09 Natwest Isa

Sunnysider

Hi my wife went into Natwest on Sat 4/4 to open an ISA. They opened a Cash ISA Plus for her there and then and she was told that in order to get the money in for the tax year she should transfer this across from her bank (first direct) as soon as she got home.

She made a transfer of £3,600 on Saturday, but later on Saturday this payment was reversed.

She contacted Natwest today who said it was because their account numbers do not update on a Saturday so the payment would not have been recognised and to make the payment today with the reference saying it was for the 08/09 tax year. This seemed odd to me but the lady insisted that this would be ok despite my protests that as the tax year had now passed this money could not be paid/accepted.

Anyway - a further payment was made today but this has now been returned again.

Has anyone else had these problems, or a view as to whether the allowance has been lost or whether Natwest should accept the money given that they have now had it twice and returned it due to not finding the account details?

sidewinder1508

what they should of done is asked u to transfer the money into the basic savings account u have to open or into ur current acc if u bank with them

they would of been able to key the transfer today into that account even though the account wont b activated yet and then all the member of staff had to do was contact the central tax unit and let them know that the monies was for the previous the 08/09 year and they would adjust it so it didnt affect ur 09/10 allowance

if u go into the branch im sure they will log it and sort it for you as the system will have show the date u opened in the isa

Sunnysider

Hmmm - there are lots of things they 'should have done' just as lots of things they shouldn't have done.

What grates me the most is when people don't admit mistakes. On Saturday the very last thing the girl said was "make sure you go home and transfer that money straight away so you don't forget." Today on the phone she claimed she never would have said that as the account would not have accepted it but instead she said "make sure you remember to pay it first thing monday morning".

Either way both payments have been returned and another call is faced with the customer service rep tomorrow who clearly doesn't know what she is doing.

GiraffeMan

Sunnysider wrote: »

Hmmm - there are lots of things they 'should have done' just as lots of things they shouldn't have done.

What grates me the most is when people don't admit mistakes. On Saturday the very last thing the girl said was "make sure you go home and transfer that money straight away so you don't forget." Today on the phone she claimed she never would have said that as the account would not have accepted it but instead she said "make sure you remember to pay it first thing monday morning".

Either way both payments have been returned and another call is faced with the customer service rep tomorrow who clearly doesn't know what she is doing.

If you don't get any joy from them id have a word with the friendly HMRC ISA Helpline, let them now and im sure they would put pressure on NatWest to sort it given you can evidence you tried to deposit for the 08/0-tax year thru your bank statements.

sidewinder1508

no idea y she asked you to transfer it straight away from your other bank as they only payment that could of been used on saturday was cash handed over at the counter. take a copy if u can of ur statement that shows the payments bouncing back on saturday.

they will sort it as we all staff had info on how to do this RIGHT first time without any complications.

Sunnysider

GiraffeMan wrote: »

If you don't get any joy from them id have a word with the friendly HMRC ISA Helpline, let them now and im sure they would put pressure on NatWest to sort it given you can evidence you tried to deposit for the 08/0-tax year thru your bank statements.

Thanks - didn't know that there was an HMRC ISA Helpline. Yes currently my bank shows two payments made and two returned. I've also got a letter from FD saying that the payments were rejected by Natwest due to the account number/sort code being unknown. Hopefully this should be evidence enough.

Sunnysider

sidewinder1508 wrote: »

no idea y she asked you to transfer it straight away from your other bank as they only payment that could of been used on saturday was cash handed over at the counter.

She asked who we banked with. When we said FD she said something along the lines of "you'll be fine doing an online transfer as with FD the payments are made and received the same day"... which to be fair they were. Just not set up on their system to recieve it!

chibo82

As an EX natwest staff, I have seen this before with a colleague of mind. The query does get logged and they investigate the situation, however since it is an unusual situation, they don't know what the hell has happened. By the time they find something wrong, it be 6 months later, and maybe they'll admit they are wrong.

GiraffeMan

Sunnysider wrote: »

She asked who we banked with. When we said FD she said something along the lines of "you'll be fine doing an online transfer as with FD the payments are made and received the same day"... which to be fair they were. Just not set up on their system to recieve it!

Here is the HMRC ISA Helpline Contact Details,
ISA Helpline on 0845 604 1701 (Monday -Thursday 8.30-5.00, Friday 8.30-4.30).
Please have the information about your ISA available when you call.