Super Complaint into Cash ISA transfers launched - let the OFT know you views

Red_sky

DENELEY wrote: »

I am an exixting customer and went to Nationwide last week with my transfer form and documents to transfer my ISA from their poorly paying one to the one paying 2.8% and was told I could have an appointment in about 2 weeks because there was no one there who could help me even they weren't busy and there were 2 employees who appeared to be doing nothing.
Is this just poor customer service or have branches been told to delay transfers if it means paying a better rate of interest?
I wonder if I should report Nationwide to the OFT?

You shouldn't need an appointment to transfer an ISA. You just need to submit your transfer forms. I would raise a complaint with the Nationwide. Also, the FSA would be interested to know why you weren't allowed to transfer your ISA because you had to wait 2 weeks for an appointment. That sounds absurd to me.

Red_sky

King_Pugwash wrote: »

HHHHHHHHoooooooooooooooooorrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

I feel compelled to add my support to help influence this area of a really poor banking system.

I had a B&B ISA and wanted to transfer it to Abbey Santander (ultimately an internal transfer!). Went into a B&B branch in early April 2009 and completed all the paperwork. On 24th April 2009, I received a letter saying that my ISA had not reached maturity date (although it did not mention the date) so did I want to wait for the maturity date or loose 90 days of interest (no mention of any risks of waiting). I posted my reply on 29th April 2009 saying I wanted to wait for the maturity date before transferring. Then on 7th May 2009 they wrote to me again saying that my account had been closed and a cheque sent to the Abbey. However on the 19th June 2009 I then received a further letter to say that my ISA funds had come back from the Abbey as "the account you applied for with them is no longer available". "Your funds are now back in your B&B eSavings account" (no mention of the interest rate, or the name of the ISA).

I phoned B&B last week (April 2010) to find out that I have 2p LESS balance than I did a year ago??? They did explain their excuse as to why this was the case. The whole experience has been a disaster....I have been put off dealing with Abbey and B&B again, but my experience with other ISA providers like FD has been fine.

Yes, I had exactly the same problems with both B&B and Abbey. I would never use Santander again. Why on earth did they put your money back in your eSavings account? That's not an ISA! You should have taken this to the FSO to get your gross interest that you lost repaid into an ISA.

Red_sky

martincov wrote: »

I started the transfer process for my Bradford & Bingley eISA by sending forms to SAGA on 11 February. After several letters and telephone calls trying to identify the location for Bradford & Bingley 'transfer' department I finally received a letter from Santander dated 19 March saying they had sent a cheque for the balance to SAGA.
On 26 March a letter was received from SAGA saying they had NOT received it. To date (31 March) it has still not been received.
SAGA suggested I chase Santander again. I told them that was pointless as they would just tell me that the cheque had been sent.
At the end of the day, and in the hope that the cheque does eventually arrive at SAGA, who's responsible for the lost interest?? Both sides insist it is not them

It's Santander's responsibility because they still have your money up until the cheque is cleared. If they want to send cheques, then they should pay interest up until the money is transfered and the cheque is cleared. The FSA do state in their ISA transfer 'guidelines' that the 'transfer date' ie. between the 2 ISA accounts should be the same and that includes any interest due.

MarkyMarkD

There are no "FSA transfer guidelines" saying what you claim, Red Sky.

Are you just making things up to defend your position?

Alyraqs

My wife opened an ISA with Principality in December 2009. They sent a request to NatWest to transfer her other existing ISA to them mid December 2009. Nothing happened. Six weeks later, at her request, they sent a second transfer request. Still nothing happened. My wife phoned NatWest in mid Feb and they said they had never received said requests (ye right, like I believe two can go missing!). My wife wrote a letter of complaint in mid Feb with a written request to transfer the ISA, and at the same time Principality sent a THIRD request to transfer the ISA (surely a pincer movement would yield action!). Phoned Principality end of Feb. Still no sign of transfer. My wife wrote a second letter to NatWest at the end of Feb informing them that the transfer had not occurred and that Principality would be FAXING them a FOURTH request and threatened to take them to the Financial Ombudsman. The ISA was eventually transferred mid March. Estimated loss of interest £100.
It is obvious that when a bonus ends and the ISA rate goes down, the banks want to hold on to your money for as long as possible as they are making more profit. Multiply £100 of lost interest by the millions who want to transfer ISAs and you get a nice tidy addition to banks' balance sheets.
The system is archaic and ludicrous. I suspect, however, that banks don't complain because it works in their favour. Why am I soooo surprised!

Red_sky

MarkyMarkD wrote: »

There are no "FSA transfer guidelines" saying what you claim, Red Sky.

Are you just making things up to defend your position?

Hello Mark

When I made an official complaint about the length of time it had taken for my ISA to be transferred, the company in question sent me a letter which quoted the HMRC's guidelines (not the FSA - sorry Mark my mistake) which they had to follow for an ISA transfer to take place. In it it said that the 'transfer date' must be the same date when transferring from one ISA to another. I can only tell you what I was told. They also compensated me for the time it had taken from writing and sending the cheque to the date the cheque was cleared ie. when the actual transfer took place. I'm sure there are guidelines which the banks or building societies should follow even if these are only guidelines and not compulsory because they certainly don't follow them as all these posts have confirmed. Why should anybody lose interest on their ISA when the money is transferred directly between 2 banks and why don't they transfer the ISA money electronically instead of sending cheques through the post? How outdated is that?

deedub99

I had a bad experience last year, which has since been satisfactorily resolved, but not without considerable time and effort being expended. Below is an edited copy of the letter sent to Lloyds. I have removed names for example.
I hope it helps your case!

26/02/10
Lloyds Ref: XXXXXXX

Dear Sir/Madam,

In early May 2009, 4 Transfer Forms were handed in to Lloyds Bank XXXXXX, for the transfer to yourselves of 4 ISA accounts from Intelligent Finance, one for each member of my family.
Here is a summary of the timeline provided by Lloyds Bank XXXXXX:

Funds Requested -- Received -- Duration
ISA1 -- 07.05.09 -- 04.06.09 -- 1 Month
ISA2 -- 07.05.09 -- 05.08.09 -- 3 Months
ISA3 -- 08.05.09 -- 30.06.09 -- 2 Months
ISA4 -- 08.05.09 -- 14.08.09 -- 3 Months

As you start your 12 month interest period from the date of opening the account, not the depositing of funds, and as the problem of transferring the funds had nothing to do with my family, I think you will agree that we should not suffer from the loss of a total of about 5 months interest on these ISA’s.

I have allowed for each transfer to take up to the maximum Revenue and Customs Timescale of 30 days, and of course three of them exceeded that by 5 months in total.

I am enclosing an email response from Intelligent Finance, together with the full timescales from Lloyds Bank XXXXXX.

I think there is nothing to be gained by me trying to ascertain which of the two financial institutions involved is liable for this series of problems, as earlier efforts resulted in each blaming the other.
I therefore look to you to extend the interest period as appropriate.


I am pleased to say I have now been told I will be compensated....I will wait and see!

bobblebob

I have an Halifax Reward ISA. The reward expires on Friday, so i rang up earlier to transfer it into the new Halifax Reward ISA. The lady on the phone told me she can put it through today but it wont transfer until Friday so that i dont lose interest. Im hoping come Friday it will be sorted

However, last year when i did this they didnt transfer it 1 week after i rang. Apparently they didnt have the request (even tho the Customer Service person said they put it through), and they didnt even have my phone called logged. So it was as if i never rang up. Very strange

ThriftyBristolian

I was an existing customer and wanted to transfer from two ISAs with poor interest to the new online one. Online banking let me transfer in and out of all my other accounts but not the ISAs. I went into the nearest branch (six miles away) and was given a form to fill in and post, but was told that really I should apply for a "welcome pack". I did this and received another identical form in an envelope - that was the "pack". This took a week.
I filled in the form, most of which was details they had online already, and posted it with my paying-in books as required. I paid for registered post, although the cover it offered in case of loss was a fraction of the value of the accounts. Ten days later I received notification that the transfer had happened. What a palaver!

10_66

Red_sky wrote: »

...why don't they transfer the ISA money electronically instead of sending cheques through the post?...

Frustratingly, because nobody makes them.