M&S Money 4% ISA

bandana999

Stompa wrote: »

I was merely suggesting that it was a pretty obvious question to ask, whether they would have known the correct answer is another matter!

The problem is that it's a fixed term ISA, so AIUI all the funds have to be in place on the start date, they can't open it with some of the funds then add to it later.

I faced a similar issue last year when I merged two ISA's from different providers into a single ISA with another provider. They ended up having to create a temporary variable rate ISA until they'd acquired all the funds, then transferred the whole lot to the fixed term ISA. I'm pretty sure that if I'd just left them to it, I'd have ended up with two separate ISAs.

Thank you for the reply - but actually I have a fixed rate ISA myself opened with a cheque and then a transfer, and it's all in one account - and the ISA I transferred to M&S for my Aunt was a fixed rate opened in the same way. I change my ISA provider nearly every year and have never had two accounts opened before.
The fact is that the whole selling point of this account is the £100 fixed penalty - so it's obvious to get the best deal you need to put all the cash in one account. M&S know this isn't going to happen, but don't tell you. I wonder why?

Porcupine

According to the Ts&Cs:

1. Definitions
“Fixed Rate Bond(s)” means deposit(s) paying a fixed rate of interest for a specified
period of time.
“Start Date” means for each deposit you make into a Fixed Rate Bond the day that
we receive your application and payment.
“Maturity Date” means for each deposit you make into a Fixed Rate Bond,
depending on the period you have selected, the same day one year, two years or
three years from the Start Date, unless that day is a non working day, in which case
it will be the next working day.
Unless the context requires otherwise terms defined in the Marks & Spencer Cash
Individual Savings Account Terms and Conditions have the same meaning in these
Terms and Conditions.

My argument is I made one application, and hence opened one bond. Timing of transfers isn't something I can control. And I didn't receive notice of the transfer until past 30 days for the £3600 so I can't unwind it.

Can I urge people to write a letter of complaint (even if they've had to back out), so that it wakes them up a bit? The address is:

Complaints Department
Marks and Spencer Financial Services
King's Meadow
Chester
CH99 9UT

I did ask the lady on the phone to point out where in the Ts&Cs it said this. She spent about 15-20 mins looking and rang me back saying she couldn't find anywhere, but muttered something about the definitions.

bandana999

Old_Slaphead wrote: »

That's petty much what M&S are saying.

The website says 'You can move the money you've saved in another Cash ISA into your M&S Cash ISA' which to me implies that it's your existing ISA and not the creation of a new one.

Exactly - the fixed ISA I have ATM was opened on April 8th with a cheque and a transfer - the account shows the cheque balance from the start date, and then the addition of the transfer approx 3 weeks later - but the whole ISA ends on April 7th this year.

Stompa

Old_Slaphead wrote: »

Stompa - maybe you're alert to this because you had an issue last year but many people are gonna get caught and won't be very happy.

Quite possibly. I don't think I've ever seen a provider have information about how this works on their website. Most of the time I guess it makes little difference to the customer whether they end up with one or two ISAs, but there are times (e.g. fixed exit penalties, tiered interest rates) where it does become important and so should be clearly documented somewhere for the customer.

david78

M&S have a policy whereby a number of account types are held in the one cash ISA. So you can have a mix of instant access and fixed rate bonds in the account. Those transferring more than one ISA in should consider transfering to the instant access account first and then consolidating them into the fixed rate. This will give them one bond, and one penalty.

Porcupine

But if you do that you haven't any idea what the Fixed Rate offer will be when the transfer month is up. The 4% offer has been around for a while, but they're saying the old cash ISA will be withdrawn and replaced by something else in early February.

david78

I agree. Its a bit of a gamble of course.

Old_Slaphead

Porcupine wrote: »

But if you do that you haven't any idea what the Fixed Rate offer will be when the transfer month is up. The 4% offer has been around for a while, but they're saying the old cash ISA will be withdrawn and replaced by something else in early February.

I was told that in February, they're going to offer a variable rate ISA with an element of guaranteed bonus (first year only) paying a total of around 2.8%.

savit4l8er

I have just found out I have the same problem, two separate isa accounts under one client number.

ankspon

halifax 4.25% isa