MSE News: Cash Isa transfers slowly getting quicker

innovate

ceejayblue wrote: »

I'm chasing Natwest re my ING transfer into my new account. I was told it could take up to 21 days in one phone call! Now they are going to chase ING up for me.

21 days is way beyond the industry standard they are all meant to comply with - - - at a minimum, they'll have to pay you interest at the rate you are eligible for* from (working) day 16, as you can see from the industry standard timeline. I'd also ask for compensation for having to ensure that they are doing their job - it is their responsibility to ensure your transfer request gets executed, not yours. So if you have to chase them, they should be paying you at least for your time & expenses (telephone charges etc), and a couple of tenners to say 'sorry' wouldn't go amiss, either!

Good luck to get it all done

*it can be a bit tricky to figure out which interest rate you are eligible for with NatWest. You should be getting the rate they offered when you applied - hope you made a note of what it was, they have dropped it over the last month.

ceejayblue

Yes, I'm on the one that starts off at 2.75% (I think that's right) and goes up to 3.5% as I've got over £30k saved with them. I'm hoping that the cheque turns up in their system but I'm not really holding my breath, once they've chased ING hopefully it will go through asap.

Fellwalker

Been reading through again, and updated my earlier post about time actually taken.
Thought I ought to point out that the time-scale quoted in the industry guidelines is "business days", so only Monday to Friday.
Also it is actually two steps of 5 days, followed by 3 days to credit the account, so each step has 5 or 3 days from when they get the instruction. One day is allowed for the post between each step. However, it seems that if the posted instruction from your new provider takes longer to get there, the remitter still has 5 days from when they get the instruction.

The guidelines are on the bba website here (sorry, not yet allowed to post links, you need www and yes, it does appear to stop before it should but that is the right one. Alternatively go to the bba and search for ISA transfer:)
bba.org.uk/media/article/revised-version-of-the-cross-industry-cash-isa-to-cash-isa-transfer-guideli

I quote: If the new ISA provider has not heard anything from the old ISA provider within 10 business days after sending the ..form, it is the responsibiilty of the new ISA provider to check the progress. IT IS NOT THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE INDIVIDUAL TO HAVE TO REMIND THEM OF THIS. (Oh, and pigs fly.)

The LATEST date on which the new ISA provider should give you interest is day 16, so if they got your paperwork on Tuesday 1st May, say, they would have to give interest from Tuesday 22nd.

Looking at my transactions, NatWest must have sent the forms out pretty well on the day. They and Santander have been efficient in their time to process. However, NatWest do not appear to have credited my account on the correct day, and Santander have not provided a closing statement, nor have they responded to my secure message about that.

You'd hope things would work smoothly, but it is depressing.

isofa

I transferred a cash ISA from a local building society to the Santander Major 2 year fixed rate ISA (4%) – took forms into branch on the 24/4/12 April to save postal delays – all ok and cleared in Santander today (10/5/12). That was 12 working days in total – although no interest added to the deposit in Santander, which is listed as credit on 9/5/12, despite the building soc sending chq with final balance on 3/5/12 (confirmed to me when it occurred).

Will keep an eye and report back, assuming interest on the transfer should be calculated from 3/5/12, but perhaps not credited until interest is normally paid?

Other than that had no problems with Santander so far (but countless issues when it used to be Abbey)...

innovate

isofa wrote: »

Will keep an eye and report back, assuming interest on the transfer should be calculated from 3/5/12, but perhaps not credited until interest is normally paid?

I think you are right, they should be paying you interest from 3/5/12.

I doubt, however, that they will do this without prompting, and wouldn't leave it until next year to get them to clarify how they are complying with the industry standard. I raised a complaint for my case - they need to backdate my credit by 5 days. Not heard back from them yet.

isofa

innovate wrote: »

I think you are right, they should be paying you interest from 3/5/12.

I doubt, however, that they will do this without prompting, and wouldn't leave it until next year to get them to clarify how they are complying with the industry standard. I raised a complaint for my case - they need to backdate my credit by 5 days. Not heard back from them yet.

They confirmed today that they would indeed pay interest from the date of the transfer, but of course I'll have to wait until the Int is paid next year to check this is indeed correct - will keep an eye on it!

If you haven't heard anything about your case innovate, give them a call and a new secure message - bit of pressure usually yields results.

DragonQ

Yeah they told me that too but I've had so many interest miscalculations from banks that I will never trust them to get it right. The only ISA that I can remember giving me exactly what I expected (a penny out I believe) was with Alliance & Leicester. Shame they got bought out by Santander...

innovate

isofa wrote: »

If you haven't heard anything about your case innovate, give them a call and a new secure message - bit of pressure usually yields results.

Good advice! Don't worry, "pressure" is one of my middle names, "persistence" another.

Rang them today cos I felt like a bit of fun. And indeed, an officious sounding CS person told me everything was alright, interest was due from the day they clear the cheque.

Oh no it isn't, not for ISA transfers, sweetie............

I rattled off a few buzzwords - industry standard timeline, FSA, BBA, FOS, and I can't remember, I might have said I am immensely annoyed that I have to spend my time chasing a large bank for things they should be doing by default. I now have a complaint number which apparently someone will respond to within 48 hours. Major progress, lol!

isofa

Just to add - had a letter today confirming that interest would indeed be backdated, so that's quite reassuring - and if it isn't done correctly, at least I have written proof of the promise!

Fellwalker

Just updated my 3 May entry. Ridiculous delays on transfer from Northern Rock to NatWest, from 26 April to 10 May . Now have to check all interest backdated.