Why transferring an ISA has been a waste of time

steve!_10

Hi all,

I gather it's probably not the same for everyone, but to me transferring my ISA from First Direct to A&L has been a waste of time.

The time it's taking to transfer the funds has probably cost me in interest what I would have gained from the higher rate.

I contacted FD and they said the cheque was sent to A&L on the 2nd (yes, a cheque!). If you call A&L you'll get an automated message saying that they are currently working on applications from date x or y. So they're clearly a victim of their own success here because of the backlog.

All the while the balance isn't showing in my FD account or the A&L one, and it's been like that for 2 weeks+ now.

Pfft!

Berisford

steve! wrote:

Hi all,

I gather it's probably not the same for everyone, but to me transferring my ISA from First Direct to A&L has been a waste of time.

Me too! Mine took just under 4 weeks to move from FD and my wife's is still not in the A&L account after nearly 5 weeks!

Like you say, 1 months interest has been lost, thus wiping out any advantage that might have been gained.

After lurking on this site for at least a year this was the first piece of advice I've ever taken from MSE.com.

That's not to say I can't make financial mistakes on my own!

baldbloke_2

It seems likely that they would open your account from the date they received your payment - which would have been logged. It is not your fault that they have a backlog. When you finally have some paperwork in your hands you should check the opening date. Interest would be payable from then.

Most providers state that about one week will be lost for the transfer - but hopefully you will not be penalised in the extreme way you expect. I am surprised if their Customer Service team can not answer this question for you - if you can get through to a real-live person!

steve!_10

Berisford wrote:

After lurking on this site for at least a year this was the first piece of advice I've ever taken from MSE.com.

That's not to say I can't make financial mistakes on my own!

To be fair, because of the financial year there was going to be a surge at this time. But I'm still astounded at the inefficiency and greed of the banks.

They're using cheques, and FD closed my account before the cheque has even been processed by A&L. So where's the money now? In that magical ether? Don't think so, it's being held on to by FD and they're keeping 100% of the interest.

steve!_10

I've just sent a message to FD asking them why they closed my account before the funds had been transferred and what's happened to the money in the mean time.

lisyloo

Mine took just under 4 weeks to move from FD and my wife's is still not in the A&L account after nearly 5 weeks!

Can I confirm. Are you saying that the money was in the ether for 4-5 weeks getting no interest or are you saying that during some of that time it was with FD getting interest and the whole process took 4-5 weeks.

Just want to clarify.
If it's the latter then you should complain.

I know halifax say the process takes 30 days but this is for the entire process, the money should only be our of both accounts for around one week.

Sillychuckie

Might I add the following, just to add insult to injury...

The Cheques, posted from bank A to bank B when swapping ISA funds are all 2nd class postage. Someone I was talking to at Abbey let this slip the other day. My timetable is as follows... so its all down to A&L now:

02/05 - Posted ISA transfer request to Abbey
03/05 - Abbey received ISA transfer request, processed same day, closing my ISA.
04/05 - Received interest from Abbey for ISA term Jan-Apr, on closure.
05/05 - Abbey posted, 2nd class, cheque to A&L
07/05 - (A FAIR ASSUMPTION) - A&L received money from Abbey
08-09/05 - (A FAIR ASSUMPTION) - A&L pay cheque in. In their best interest to do it ASAP, or they lose money on it.
11-12/05 - (Today.. an assumption, cheque clears).

All activity up to the assumptions have been confirmed. With that info, I would expect the funds to show in my A&L account tomorrow, or Mon/Tue of next week. If it takes much longer, I'll be complaining, especially if I dont earn interest on the amount from the day A&L most likely received the cheque (approx 7th May).
Its madness it has taken them 4-5 weeks in some cases.

Congrats go out to Abbey for their swift closure, and relatively swift (albeit a 2nd class cheque) postage of the funds to A&L. If it goes slowly now, It'll be A&L I start shouting at.

Walshy

Relax people!

I transferred an ISA from Norwich & Peterborough to A&L recently. N&P closed my ISA on the 19th April. The money didn't show in my A&L account until last week, but it shows as being paid in on 21st April - the day they would have received the cheque. So I only lost a couple of days interest.

Steve: All banks/building societies send ISA transfers by cheque, so its not just First Direct.

codetown

Yes,
to be fair to A&L they credit the money from the date they received the check from the other bank.

The total loss of interest (ie. no interest at all from any of the two sides) in an ISA transfer should not exceed in any case 3-4 days (even when there are bank holidays in the middle).

It is true though that A&L are silent for a very very long time. It might be even 3 weeks before they update the account, but when it is done the money is shown as credited just the day they received it.

Sillychuckie

Ah, thanks. That makes me feel a fair bit better about the whole thing.
I can assume they have the cheque by now and have paid it in, so won't let it worry me if it doesn't show up in my online statement for another week or two... or 3

Berisford

lisyloo wrote:

Can I confirm. Are you saying that the money was in the ether for 4-5 weeks getting no interest or are you saying that during some of that time it was with FD getting interest and the whole process took 4-5 weeks.

QUOTE]

Yes, the transfers were started 31st March, by the 4th April our FD accounts were closed. My monies did not show up in my A&L account until 28th April.

As of today the monies transferred to my wife's new A & L account are not showing!

FD acted very swiftly in closing the accounts. It's A&L that have been dragging their feet.

Chasing the lost interest is a non starter with A & L 'cause of the 0870 number catch.

I tell you, a complete waste of time and money this has been.

Oh, A&L called last night and wanted me to attend a 'Financial Review', jerks! :mad: