ISA, Halifax & residency.

cyclonico

Hello, a bit of a story at first, then a couple of questions!

I was travelling in 2009, and changed my address with all institutions and companies to my father's address in France.
I remained a UK resident though, as I was all over the world, and never more than 2 months in the same country.
Halifax sent a letter to my father's address asking me to justify of my residency status, they did not receive any reply from me.
Now back in the UK, I changed my address to my current one, and initiated a transfer to an ISA I have with Halifax, as part of my 09/10 allowance (on March 23, before the end of tax year). Halifax reject it as I was not a UK resident according to them.
I checked with HMRC, my residency status has not changed with them; I have been a UK resident in 09/10.

Now, I really do not want to loose a year's contribution... Has Halifax the legal right to reject an ISA deposit, based on internal policies? Can I file a complaint (with whom?) and have this decision overturned and not loose the 09/10 contribution?
I am just not sure where to go from here...

ND.

glider3560

Have you proven to Halifax you are a UK resident?

cyclonico

No I did not because my residency status did not change.
They assumed it did because of the change of address.

That's why I want to find some info regarding the obligations of the banks regarding residency status check. Where they actually obliged to act like they did by the FSA, or did they follow their own policies?

Halifax argues that I should have told them I was a UK resident. I argue that they should not have assumed I was not.

ND.

cyclonico

I found something on HMRC website (do a google search with "ISA bulletins").

From "ISAs Guidance Notes for ISA Managers" (link in "bulletin 1"):

3.10 Where ISA managers receive information suggesting that an investor does not, or may not meet the residence qualification (for example, an address outside the UK is entered on the application form), the investor should be asked for written confirmation that he or she does meet the residence qualification.

3.11 In these cases, ISA managers may continue to treat subscriptions as valid for 90 days while they make enquiries.
Where the investor confirms that he or she does meet the residence qualification the manager should retain that confirmation with the ISA records.
Where the investor states that he or she no longer meets the residence qualification, or does not reply, the manager should void the relevant subscriptions (paragraph 12.47).

So, Halifax followed HMRC's guidelines: they sent a letter to my father's address apparently, and did not receive any answer from me; I need to check when that letter was sent.

I only wished they had told me when I asked them to transfer the money that they would be an issue... I would not have missed the end of tax year if they had.

ND.

glider3560

Transfers don't count towards your yearly subscription limits, so the tax year that the transfer occurs in is irrelevant.

cyclonico

glider3560 wrote: »

Transfers don't count towards your yearly subscription limits, so the tax year that the transfer occurs in is irrelevant.

Yes, a poor choice of words from me. I was transfering money from a bank account to an ISA; so not an "ISA transfer" but a contribution for the current tax year.
BTW, Halifax did block an ISA transfer (07/08 & 08/09 contributions) due to the residency issue in 09/10; which is the situation you refer to. It took 2 phone calls for them to check and proceed.

ND.

Mikeyorks

cyclonico wrote: »

BTW, Halifax did block an ISA transfer (07/08 & 08/09 contributions) due to the residency issue in 09/10;

Unless that was internal - they've no right (or reason) to do that. The residency criteria permits you to both hold and transfer existing ISA funds - you just can't add funds if you're not UK resident.
But whilst you can, in theory, transfer ISA funds - in practice it's virtually impossible to find a provider that will accept you with an abroad address.

cyclonico

Final decision from Halifax, they won't accept any contribution, they won't move my ISAs to other Haflifax ISAs.

Very very poor customer service experience. Many phone calls, conflicting information, not the right information on time to avoid problems.

I am transferring my ISAs to the competition, and Halifax loses 4 years of contribution...!!?? I really don't understand their reluctance to help.

ND.