Halifax ISA Direct Reward extra .2% question

jennifernil

tipsychick wrote: »

@jennifernil, see my post #49 above. It will be far quicker.

It's a complete joke. They're obviously making it up as they go along.

I cannot wait to move away from them on 28/2/12. Well, save for £1.

I honestly cannot be bothered!

I have checked they have calculated all our interest correctly so far, and we did very well out of their "ISA Promise", plus we had compensation of £100 for some tax debacle earlier this year.

We are also getting £40 per month from 6 Reward accounts and 2 Reward credit cards, so I think I will not rock the boat!

jennifernil

Why would you leave £1 with them? If you have held the product for a year then all your interest will be added on the date you transfer out.

I am hoping I can find a better rate elsewhere so I can transfer out after 28/02, but I need instant access, so that limits my choice a bit.

amictus

jennifernil wrote: »

That's what I thought, but my 12 months has now been calculated from account opening date, so over 3 weeks of no interest included in my 12 month reward period.

I have spoken with Halifax today and have the following info as it applies to me...

Account opening ...........24/11/2010
First deposit (Trf in)........16/12/2010
Move to ISA4..................28/02/2011
First interest added.........05/04/2011
2nd deposit (Trf in)......... 08/04/2011
End of Reward period..... 24/11/2011
Maturity of ISA4...............28/02/2012
Next interest date.............05/04/2012

So neither the 0.2% Reward interest nor the interest from April 2011 till maturity will be added till 05/04/2012 IF I transfer to another Halifax ISA. If I do continue with them I will also get the new interest rate from 28/02/2012 till 05/04/2012 on the balance in the account at the time, but this balance will not include the 0.2% interest I have received notification of.

So they have calculated what they consider 12 months Reward interest, but will not add it to my account for another 4+ months.

If however I decide to transfer elsewhere after 28/02/2012, on transfer both the Reward amount and the 3% interest from 05/04/2011 till 28/02/2012 will be added, plus a little at the much lower rate until the transfer takes place.

This calculating but not adding the Reward interest until much later seems a bit mean.

Well that's pretty clear. I'm in much the same position as you in terms of timings, so I appreciate you reporting your findings.

jennifernil wrote: »

Why would you leave £1 with them? If you have held the product for a year then all your interest will be added on the date you transfer out.

Yeah I didn't understand the need to leave the account open with £1 in... the interest will be paid when the account is closed or in April, whichever comes first.

jennifernil wrote: »

I am hoping I can find a better rate elsewhere so I can transfer out after 28/02, but I need instant access, so that limits my choice a bit.

I'll probably transfer my ISA4 over to Northern Rock e-ISA at 3.05% as it seems to have the best easy access rate

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3626253

I am also considering locking the money away for a year to get an extra 0.30%, but I can't say with absolute certainty that I won't need to withdraw... so I probably won't!

tipsychick

jennifernil wrote: »

Why would you leave £1 with them? If you have held the product for a year then all your interest will be added on the date you transfer out.

I'd like it actually confirmed in writing that the 0.2% interest will be applied on account closure, as the old t&cs that apply to our accounts are worded ambiguously to say the least and do suggest the need to leave the account open until April 2012 for the 0.2% interest to be credited. I was just going to leave £1 in the account to be on the safe side and transfer the rest away on 28/2/12. I wrote to them seeking clarification in early Oct but despite chasing 2-3 times, have yet to receive a reply.

We've been collecting the free fivers on the current a/cs for almost two years now and had several hundred pounds' worth of compensation for various errors during that time, mostly ISA related. It certainly seems to be a dept with more than it's fair share of incompetence that's for sure.

10_66

tipsychick wrote: »

...I was just going to leave £1 in the account to be on the safe side and transfer the rest away on 28/2/12. I wrote to them seeking clarification in early Oct but despite chasing 2-3 times, have yet to receive a reply...

The only problem with leaving the account open with £1 in and transferring the rest elsewhere is that you'd be left with this amount (plus the added interest) with a possible difficulty in putting it somewhere if you, say, put the rest you'd transferred out into a fixed rate account which usually don't allow you to add to. If, has been suggested above, you leave the account open with Halifax the interest won't be paid until April 2012. However, if you close and transfer the whole amount after the anniversary, but before April then, according the the latest info coming from Halifax (ie what Jennifnil and I have been told by Halifax), the whole lot of interest will be paid on closure (I was told the whole lot would be added on the anniversary anyway, but closure would see to that). I know it's hard to trust what Halifax say without written proof, but I've decided that I'll be transferring out in March to get shot of this stupid account, and hopefully there'll be something worth transferring to by then.

amictus

tipsychick wrote: »

I'd like it actually confirmed in writing that the 0.2% interest will be applied on account closure, as the old t&cs that apply to our accounts are worded ambiguously to say the least and do suggest the need to leave the account open until April 2012 for the 0.2% interest to be credited. I was just going to leave £1 in the account to be on the safe side and transfer the rest away on 28/2/12. I wrote to them seeking clarification in early Oct but despite chasing 2-3 times, have yet to receive a reply.

We've been collecting the free fivers on the current a/cs for almost two years now and had several hundred pounds' worth of compensation for various errors during that time, mostly ISA related. It certainly seems to be a dept with more than it's fair share of incompetence that's for sure.

Fair enough, I guess that minimises the chance of more mistakes!

jennifernil

The original terms on our accounts were that both interest and Reward interest would be paid at the end of the Reward period, which is 12 months from opening it seems. This 5thApril business was a later introduction. Then of course the waters were muddied by the upgrading to ISA4.

However, I cannot think of any bank that would refuse to let you have your interest added on closure if you had fulfilled the obligation (in this case) to keep at least £1 in the account for 12 months.

I am expecting over £1000 in interest, so I would not want to leave that with Halifax for an extra month or so and then have the hassle of an extra transfer.

tipsychick

I agree completely with everyone else. Logically, all the interest, 3% and 0.2%, should be applied on account closure but given the confusion that's surrounded this product in all its incarnations, I'd just like it confirmed once and for all in writing before I transfer out. Like you jennifernil, the interest we're expecting is a largish amount and we're not intending accessing the money in the ISA for several decades hopefully. I'd just like to know exactly what will be paid and when. Shouldn't be too much to ask really, should it?!

When I dismantled the house looking for the t&cs a couple of months ago, we only ever received a copy for one of the ISAs and unfortunately it's the set that says the 0.2% will be paid on the next interest due day, i.e. 5/4/12.

What a shambles! I wonder if anyone from HBOS is reading this thread and would like to provide some official enlightenment?

AirlieBird

I've just discovered this (pdf) when looking for information on the Halifax thread on the main savings board


It says on page 24

All customers that fund their Halifax ISA
Direct Reward between 22nd September
2010 and 5th April 2011 will receive an interest
payment on 5th April 2011 and at the end of
the reward period.
All customers that fund their account after
6th April 2011 will receive interest at the end

of the reward period.

10_66

AirlieBird wrote: »

I've just discovered this (pdf) when looking for information on the Halifax thread on the main savings board


It says on page 24
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The link didn't work for me. Where did you find it on their website, please?