iii introducing quarterly £20 charge

jimkenyon

Is this charge a real concern given that you get the equivalent in trades? What concerns me most with Interactive Investor is their failure to credit dividends on the due date. Other brokers do - why not Interactive Investor?

pqrdef

jem16 wrote: »

I'm not so sure it does only affect funds. The FSA wants all investment types charged in the same way.

Many platforms will be using kickbacks from managed funds to cross-subsidise other areas. With those gone, platforms will have to make their money in other ways.

So much for the Thatcherite dream of a shareholding democracy. If you see Sid, tell him.

If this results in small investors going back to certificates in shoeboxes, or just not bothering, what a great step forward that will be.

Bishopswiz

I have also received the bog standard reply to my letter of complaint, so I have responded as follows:

I am now writing to inform you that I will be making an official complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service regarding the introduction of your new pricing structure from 1st July 2012.

You enticed people onto your platform with your low charges, no annual fees or inactivity charges. Now suddenly your have ripped up the old agreement and replaced it with one that clearly disadvantages a large number of people, and left them in a no win situation.

If you want, or need to re-write your charging structure, you should at least allow disadvantaged persons to exit your platform cost free by removing the stock transfer charge.

In addition I will also be complaining about the service that has been received since you moved to your own platform, particularly the late payment of dividends, and also your decision to round down all dividends, where as previously dividends were rounded up or down to the nearest pence.

I understand that you have eight weeks to respond to this complaint. I wait with anticipation to your response.

i1189

BLB53 wrote: »

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.

Now compared to a £80 p.a. fees increase this is something that is more concerning! I haven’t been able to substantiate this from a second source, however.

It was me that posted the original info - should anybody wish to check it's authenticity, it is all available from Companies House - the main documents you will need are the latest set of filed, audited accounts, plus the latest annual return. I also used the Fame company database as some of the summaries are better.

BLB53

Is this charge a real concern given that you get the equivalent in trades? What concerns me most with Interactive Investor is their failure to credit dividends on the due date. Other brokers do - why not Interactive Investor?

Its the sort of thing a company may resort to when it has cashflow problems.
I'm sure iii could have set up direct debits with the registrars pretty quickly after the change to a new platform. Instead they have dragged it out waiting for the divi to become due, receiving a cheque, waiting for it to clear etc etc - very unprofessional imho.

miller

Optimist wrote: »

I have now received the same response however they do not say it is the final response something that is a requirement before the Ombudsman can look at it.

Same here - I clearly labelled my message as a complaint and instructed them to label their reply as a final response. They treated it just as a "normal" message.

I will be going to the FOS now with a paragraph explaining iii's obstructive reply. Complaints procedures should be followed. They have not been.

If they want to play s1lly b-ggers fine. I am sure the Ombudsman will take a dim view.

simonfitba

I just received the following....

Dear simonfitba

Thank you for your email. Your thoughts and feedback have been taken on board and passed to senior management.

We believe that the charges, taken as a whole, will be advantageous for many customers.

We would be very sorry to lose you as one of our customers. We would like to offer you a transfer of stock free of charge.

If you still wish to close your account, you will need to take the following steps:

First you will need to transfer your existing holdings out of your account. You can either transfer them to another broker or withdraw them as cash. Please ensure you understand the implications of withdrawing money from your ISA account. If you wish to transfer to another broker you will need to set up a new account with them and fill in their relevant transfer forms. Your new broker will then liaise with us directly.

Once the transfer is complete or your account balance is £0, you will then need to send us a secure message confirming your instruction to close your account with Interactive Investor.

Whilst we appreciate our new pricing structure may be an unwelcome development to some customers, we consider our new charges fair and that our new pricing structure and prepayment of trading commissions per quarter still remains extremely competitive.

We have taken a lead in rebating all the income that we receive on funds holdings ahead of any forthcoming changes required by the FSA and believe that many customers will benefit by consolidating their holdings with us.


Kind regards,


So I guess this means I can transfer shares to another broker without paying the £15 per line charge.

I only had four different stocks so they've only lost £60.

i1189

simonfitba, what on earth did you write to get them to offer that?! You seem to have succeeded where everyone else has failed.

I went back and forward for ages, both by message and on the phone, and the most they offered me was the first quarter's charges waived. I just want out though...

foxes1884

Yes simonfitbe what did you do. I got past the standard no response and then onto we are looking at your complaint and aim to respond within 5 days.

Maybe the complaints are piling up and iii are letting some escape without the transfer fee where (like you) your lines of stock of limited in number? If so that's not going to help them much.

Anyway well done to you.

simonfitba

i1189 wrote: »

simonfitba, what on earth did you write to get them to offer that?! You seem to have succeeded where everyone else has failed.

I went back and forward for ages, both by message and on the phone, and the most they offered me was the first quarter's charges waived. I just want out though...

I sent this email to douglas.boyce@iii.co.uk....

Dear Sir,

I am writing to you to provide you the opportunity to respond to my complaint before I and many other customers take our complaint to FOS over the introduction of your new charging structure.

I currently hold a share dealing account with Interactive Investor. I opened this account three weeks ago and hold the account due to you previously advertising that you make no administration charges (if you review your previous financial promotions you will find this is a statement you have made).

I have subsequently received notification that you will, on the 1st of July, introduce a quarterly charge of £20.

I do not want to pay this charge and wish to move my investments elsewhere. You have informed me that there will be a £15 switching fee that you will levy if I choose to move my shares.

I therefore find myself in the unfortunate position that I will incur charges to move/sell or remain with you.

Whilst your terms and conditions might allow you to introduce a charge, I opened the account on the basis of your financial promotions that promoted you make no charge. I believe you have misled me, entrapped me and now I have no option other than to incur fees I was not expecting. Under the financial promotion rules, that must be clear, fair and not misleading I believe I have significant grounds for a compliant to be upheld by FOS.

I am therefore offering you the opportunity to either waive the transfer fees so I can make the appropriate transfer before the 1st of July.

Give the short timescale you have given me to make the transfer I would like a prompt response to this correspondence. I have made this complaint in writing on the 1 June and I would like a response within 5 working days.

Please respond in writing to....

Regards etc