Dormant ICICI accounts - need i worry ?

wombat42_2

I just got an email from ICICI below saying they tried to contact me unsucessfully. I cant see anything untoward with my account and the last time they phoned me up they were just trying to persuade me to open a bond. Anyway i dont particularly want any phone calls from ICICI. But what worries me is that they say they may make my acount dormant and that would mean me having to go about a 100 miles to one of the few ICICI branches in the UK to reactivate it. According to their info they will make accounts dormant if i have not made a transaction in 12 months - that is insanity I may be abroad and I may just be finding a home for long term savings.:eek::eek:

I guess it might be to do with this " Annual Tax Certificates for the 08/09 tax year will be available from 30 June 09 through our online banking service. If you have any questions, you can contact us 24/7 by email at [EMAIL="ukservice@icicibank.com"]ukservice@icicibank.com[/EMAIL] or by calling Freephone 080 81 31 41 51. " but It is of no particular interest to me. If they really wanted to contact me for something important why dont they use the secure messaging system ?


"Dear Customer,

We were recently unsuccessful in an attempt to contact you regarding your HiSAVE account. We believe this may be because we no longer hold the correct contact details for you. It is important that we have your correct contact details so that we are able to get answers to important queries that are raised about your account - these could range from anything from a fraud concern to instructions regarding a funds transfer. If any of your contact details have changed please update them by logging into your HiSAVE account or by giving us a call on Freephone 080 81 31 41 51.

This is an auto generated mail. Please do not reply to the same.

Regards,
Customer Service Team
ICICI Bank UK PLC."




"I received a communication from ICICI BANK UK PLC stating that my Account has become Dormant. What does it mean?

If you make no transactions on your Account for a period of more than 12 months, as a precautionary measure, we would classify your account as 'Dormant'.

After classifying your account as 'Dormant' and we will not be able to process instructions for:

Cash and Cheque Deposits in your Account
Cash and Cheque based Withdrawals
Renewal of ATM/Debit Card
Issue of fresh cheque book
Change of Address
Transactions through Internet Banking
Password Regeneration or change of linked Savings Account

For reactivation of a Dormant Account, you will have to visit one of our Branches in person and submit your Proof of Address and Identity."

Biggles

'We have been unsuccessful in contacting you' normally means, in my experience with several companies over the last few years, that Customer Service couldn't be bothered and it was simpler/cheaper to write. No phone call, and there was someone here all the time. But 'We couldn't contact you'.........

But I am concerned if ICICI are going to make it difficult to obtain any remaining funds in your account after 12/12 of no transactions. Our last transaction was two years ago, though I do log in each month to check the (tiny) amount of interest. I may well have to withdraw what remains rather than having to drive miles to withdraw a few quid.

Anyone else heard this?

withnell

Why not deposit a quid if you're worried? Alternatively ring them up, it's a freephone number

wombat42_2

I cant for the life of me work out why an account that has had no transactions for 12 months is consiered a security risk .

Redback_2

Accounts with ICICI are a nightmare, especially when they go dormant. One of mine went dormant, and I had to complete a round trip of 90 miles, produce passports and proof of address, and would you believe, make a statement of why I wanted the account reactivated - like I wasn't being reasonable in wanting access to my own money. The ICICI website reassuringly says something along the lines of "Your money in a dormant account will always be your property or if you die it will become part of your estate" ...maybe they get customers dying of old age waiting for accounts to be reactivated.

More worrying is the fact that ICICI gave me no indication that the account had actually been closed, and I was given no warning that closure was imminent. The problem is that they have no concept of customer service, and the levels of beaurocracy within this Indian bank might be a new and interesting experience for customers of UK banks.

The other problem I've had related to the extreme length of time it takes to clear funds deposited to the current account. One over-the-counter deposit at an ICICI branch took nearly 2 months - yes, months, to clear because of some admin error in the bank, and a deposit made to ICICI through my Lloyds bank took several weeks. To cap it all, the Visa debit card was not accepted in India.

I'm sticking with them for one more try, as I think things can only get better, but my advice to anyone considered starting up with them would be to think carefully, and be prepared for advantages to be cancelled out by problems in managing the accounts.