New Halifax ISA 2.8%-3.0%

opinions4u

Hi Lisyloo.

In that case I'd say your year will end on 15th November 2011 and you will earn interest on the "interest adjustment" too. The Customer Relations guy's suggested outcome is how I thought they may have gone about things, but the way they've done it appears to ensure that the customer has been treated extremely fairly (although obviously the delays you encountered won't be acceptable to either you or Halifax management who will not want to see too many "Promises" paid out on 40+ days).

rb10's post #169 looks ot have covered off what I was trying to ascertain rather well!

lisyloo

Thanks guys

although obviously the delays you encountered won't be acceptable to either you

Actually double interest for 5 weeks (it was in the post for 1 week) is most acceptable especially as it's quite a large 5 figure sum.
It's about £200 plus we've both had a £15 cheque for phone calls.

It's obviously not good for them though, but as I did everything possible to speed things upon my side and just got told "we have procedures" then I don't have a lot for sympathy for them.

jennifernil

Yea, we are talking fairly large 5 figure sums too, so earning/lack of interest is a significant amount.........which we are really fed up with losing out on when we transfer. Especially when rates are so low to start with.

I am not actually a taxpayer now rates are so low, so I am seriously considering whether it is sensible for me to have an ISA anymore.

lisyloo

so I am seriously considering whether it is sensible for me to have an ISA anymore.

Is this a long term situation or will you be a taxpayer in future?
I'm sure you know that you will lose the very valuable lifetimes ISA allowances forever.
You can build them up again but it could take a decade for a large sum.

If you're a mum at home for a few years, then personally I don't think I would, but it depends on your circumstances.

jennifernil

No, I am a pensioner with only a small state pension (about £2650 at present), so will have about £4800 allowance to use up in 11/12.

Then in 13/14 I will also qualify for the age allowance, assuming it still exists.

While rates are low I could easily cover all my interest and pension with my personal allowance, but if rates rose it would be different.

There is the added complication that we really should "downsize" in a couple of years, and then we would (hopefully) have a fair amount of extra cash. On balance, it seems to be wise to keep the ISA at least until we get that sorted out.

It also seems to be getting very difficult to get much over 3% anywhere without tying up the money for at least 2 years, so the attraction of removing the money from the ISA is slowly disappearing.

I have been pretty impressed with the way NR and HBOS have handled our transfers, a BIG improvement on last year when we had transfers FROM HBOS TO NR and FROM Principality TO Clydesdale that all took over a month, so a fair bit of interest lost.

We will be transferring in last year's ISAs from Clydesdale in March, and this year's ones from Principality in April, so I hope it goes as well then. At least with the "promise", we should not loose interest.

However in 12 month's time we will have to move the ISAs again when the rate drops, and so it starts all over again!

opinions4u

jennifernil wrote: »

However in 12 month's time we will have to move the ISAs again when the rate drops, and so it starts all over again!

It will be interesting to see how competitive Halifax will be at that time. Point 3 of their ISA Promise states "All cash ISAs will be available to all customers, new and existing" which suggests it should be quite easy to move to their "headline" offer at the time.

lisyloo

a BIG improvement on last year when we had transfers FROM HBOS TO NR and FROM Principality TO Clydesdale that all took over a month, so a fair bit of interest lost.

Are you sure you are correct about the interest you are losing?
My last transfer took 6 weeks, but for 5 of those the money was still in the outgoing account receiveing interest.
As it happened I got 5 weeks double interest, but without the ISA promise I would ONLY have lost 1 weeks interest whilst the cheque is in the post because for 5 of the 6 weeks it was getting interest in the old account.
Are you sure you are calculating the loss correctly?
The interest on the outgoing account should not stop until they write a chequ and put it in the post. It doesn't stop when you fill in an application form.
My own personal experience of the last few transfers is about a weeks interest lost.

jennifernil

Yes, the loss was significant, firstly as the sending provider took ages to release the funds after the fixed rate interest period expired, and in that time the interest rate was a pittance, and secondly as the receiving provider took ages to credit the money to our accounts. I don't know where the money was between leaving one account and appearing in the other, but we were certainly earning no, or very little, interest on it for over a month.

jennifernil

opinions4u wrote: »

It will be interesting to see how competitive Halifax will be at that time. Point 3 of their ISA Promise states "All cash ISAs will be available to all customers, new and existing" which suggests it should be quite easy to move to their "headline" offer at the time.

Yes, we are hoping that they will offer a decent rate to retain the money, but that cannot be depended upon.

It's a real hassle!

lisyloo

Yes, the loss was significant, firstly as the sending provider took ages to release the funds after the fixed rate interest period expired, and in that time the interest rate was a pittance

Oh I see.
I think they now have timescales that they must adhere to.

I don't know where the money was between leaving one account and appearing in the other, but we were certainly earning no, or very little, interest on it for over a month.

There is normally a period of about a week of NO interest whilst the cheque is in the post and before being opened at the other end.
I have been told by many providers that they interpret the rules as the cheque must accompany the ISA paperwork.
Some providers do automated payments so there is obviously some room for interpretation here.

But I understand what you are saying about the low rate period.

That problem should be largely gone now (if you apply in time) by the timescales enforced on them.
I know that doesn't help your past experiences, but at least it's now improved.

If you go for non-ISA account I think you will still have this hassle opf moving every 12 months although the transfer should be simpler as there is no ISA paperwork.
I look after parents money (they are non-tapayers) and to get the best rates you have to tart every 12 months.
This is a real hassle for us as the parents are disabled so it's a real pain getting their id sorted as it's really hard for them to get out without assistance.
We do our best to help but as we aren't local to them it generally introduces delays.
It's much harder for someone severely disabled to get to a photocopier or post office, but they want the best rates just like everyone else.