iii introducing quarterly £20 charge

wastedtalent

I will be transferring out, possibly to iWeb, and then raising the issue with the Ombudsman if necessary.

Optimist

Lot of talk on here, but how many have actually complained ?

For info I have put in a official complaint my main objection been that they are making a fundamental change in the T & Cs that I signed up to and giving me no get out unless I am prepared to either sell my holdings or incur a substantial transfer charge. This I believe is a a unfair term under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.

The FSA guidance brochure FSAs Unfair Contract Terms, Improving Standards in Consumer Standards Section 3.16 seems to cover this situation .

pqrdef

Glen_Clark wrote: »

I think you will find somewhere in the terms and conditions that few people seem to have read is that they have the right to amend their charges at any time.

We expect the numbers to go up occasionally. I'm not sure this goes as far as a whole new charging model.

Glen_Clark wrote: »

If someone else is looking after them for you, it is costing them money.
How long can you expect them to do that for nothing?

Open accounts generate trade. The broker that's holding your shares is guaranteed the selling commission when you sell, and they'll probably get the buying commission if you buy something else with the money. And if you do any other trading in the meantime, you'll have a bias in favour of using your existing account rather than opening a new one somewhere else.

decombobulator_2

I too will be raising a complaint...

As for agreeing to the transfer fees....I assume they are talking about the T&Cs we signed when they moved to the new platform. But there was no mention of changes to the transfer fees in the communications at the time. In fact they explicitly said there was 'no material changes in the terms and conditions' and that the costs will be the same.

Here's a link to the email sent at the time...

Ah, well it would be a link if MSE let me post links! Instead you'll have to reconstruct the URL manually. Sorry!

www 'dot' iii 'dot' co 'dot' uk 'forwardslash' email

Maybe somebody who isn't a new user can post a proper link to the URL?

Optimist

decombobulator wrote: »

I too will be raising a complaint...

As for agreeing to the transfer fees....I assume they are talking about the T&Cs we signed when they moved to the new platform. But there was no mention of changes to the transfer fees in the communications at the time. In fact they explicitly said there was 'no material changes in the terms and conditions' and that the costs will be the same.

Here's a link to the email sent at the time...

Ah, well it would be a link if MSE let me post links! Instead you'll have to reconstruct the URL manually. Sorry!

www 'dot' iii 'dot' co 'dot' uk 'forwardslash' email

Maybe somebody who isn't a new user can post a proper link to the URL?

http://www.iii.co.uk/email

i1189

Optimist wrote: »

Lot of talk on here, but how many have actually complained ?

For info I have put in a official complaint my main objection been that they are making a fundamental change in the T & Cs that I signed up to and giving me no get out unless I am prepared to either sell my holdings or incur a substantial transfer charge. This I believe is a a unfair term under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.

The FSA guidance brochure FSAs Unfair Contract Terms, Improving Standards in Consumer Standards Section 3.16 seems to cover this situation .

Thanks for this information - I have certainly complained. They have now phoned me, and again stated that there is no flexibility to change anything. They will not class me as a new customer even though I made my first investment only a week ago, and they will not waive the transfer fees. I have requested the relevant details of the Ombudsman complaint procedure and will now be complaining to them.

xemeter

I just closed my account, fortunately I hadn't made any contributions yet. They didnt even ask me why I wanted to close it.

guitarman001

How much are the exit fees?

How do you go about this? Surely you have to find the new broker FIRST and they arrange a transfer of all shares so you're not 'out of the market'?

WHat other big boys are cheaper? Motley fool? Selftrade?

astreix

Optimist wrote: »

Lot of talk on here, but how many have actually complained ?

For info I have put in a official complaint my main objection been that they are making a fundamental change in the T & Cs that I signed up to and giving me no get out unless I am prepared to either sell my holdings or incur a substantial transfer charge. This I believe is a a unfair term under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.

The FSA guidance brochure FSAs Unfair Contract Terms, Improving Standards in Consumer Standards Section 3.16 seems to cover this situation .

I have also lodged a complaint asking for a free transfer out. Waiting to see what they say. However given other brokers might also start charging soon, I'd rather iii reduced the proposed charges and I don't have to go through the transfer out process.

i1189

Interestingly I've just had a better look at the Interactive Investor Group (I know, I should have done this before I put money there). The group made a £2m loss last year, on £14m turnover, which is pretty bad, and has made a loss every year except 2010. Despite being a plc, they are not publicly quoted and only have 63 shareholders. Venture capital is involved. Their reserves are negative and they had to have a round of fund raising after their last year end.

They have just changed their platform to their own, which could well have cost them a fair bit too, especially with the teething problems they've had.

In light of the above, this charge increase smacks a bit of desperation, and the need to get some cash in quickly, either by quarterly fees or transfer fees.

Interestingly, their CEO changed his registered address to the company address right before the changes were announced. Do you think he is expecting some letters?