Santander say I have busted by ASA allowance when I have not.

Scarpacci

innovate wrote: »

You cannot transfer an ISA without filling in a form and signing it.
The only way to get money out of your old ISA is either by a transfer form, or by a withdrawal you make.

Certain banks do seem to be moving towards a system where you can just instruct your new bank to start the transfer, without having forms to sign and send off. Halifax allowed me to enact a transfer over the phone and a transfer form on their website suggests they might be able to start transfers from certain banks without requiring a signed form. ( https://secure.form.halifax.co.uk/application/isa_transfer.asp There's a part that says "Please note that as your existing ISA provider is not in the list above, you will need to print this form, sign it, and post it back to us." )

I think it would be an improvement over the current system, which though faster than it was, it somewhat slow and laborious.

pqrdef

smjxm09 wrote: »

Santander wrote to me telling me that I have exceeded this year’s allowance

They can only go by what Halifax tell them. If the paperwork they get from Halifax says that the ISA contains current year's money, they can't accept the transfer. They wouldn't have a leg to stand on.

Does Halifax online banking say you've paid money in this year?

smjxm09

Does Halifax online banking say you've paid money in this year?

My Halifax account shows no activity apart from the interest earned. When I phoned the Halifax up they said there was no reason why I could not move the money.

Certain banks do seem to be moving towards a system where you can just instruct your new bank to start the transfer, without having forms to sign and send off

Santander told my wife when discussing her ISA’s that they could electronically request an ISA transfer from the Halifax but needed a signed form for transfers from the Newcastle

Does the new ISA with Santander accept more than one deposit transaction? If it's a fixed rate one it may not

I can transfer money in within the first 14 days of my account being opened

How much money was put into your ISA from where, when, how and by whom? What is your new Santander ISA called? How much have you still got in the Halifax ISA?

The new Sanstander ISA was funded from a Santander current account on April 8th. The ISA is a Santander Major 123 ISA. I have several ISA's with the Halifax which are fixed rate and can't be topped up. The ISA I am trying to move has £27000 in it and has now lost its bonus payments. I have not put any money into this ISA this year.

innovate

smjxm09 wrote: »

I can transfer money in within the first 14 days of my account being opened

Given you opened the ISA on 08/04/13, and that you had 14 days from opening to request transfers, did you have your transfer form(s) with Santander by April 22nd 2013? (Santander website says "Cash ISA transfer applications must be received within 14 days of opening.")

smjxm09 wrote: »

Santander wrote to me telling me that I have exceeded this year’s allowance so I could not combine ISA’s

Can you post the exact wording of what they wrote to you?

smjxm09

April 13th
Your Cash ISA transfer

"Unfortunately we have been unable to transfer your cash ISA from the Halifax to a Santander ISA because your current years subscription exceeds the limit in the transfer request"


I did not use a form but asked the Santander call centre person to transfer the money out of the Halifax. He just asked me for the roll number and account number and said they would do it.

As I am now in dispute with Santander the 14 day transfer in limit rule does not apply if they are in the wrong.

innovate

It seems you found one or more people in Santander (and/or Halifax?) who have not got the foggiest about ISA transfers. Firstly, I still believe they should not have taken your instruction over the phone - but they did, so you can insist on them having the instruction. Keep that letter safe, you might need it again as evidence that they have an ISA transfer request from you.

Secondly, there is no such thing as a "limit in the transfer request" - neither the Santander Major ISA nor the HMRC put any limit on transfers (as long as they are processed by the receiving ISA provider).

Thirdly, the current year's subscription is entirely irrelevant to the transfer since no current year's subscription formed part of your transfer request. There is an outside chance that Halifax got mixed up over interest payments and told Santander that you had made a subscription.

I any case, though, the letter makes absolutely no sense. I would tell the Santander complaints department that they have 1 more chance to sort this to your satisfaction before you escalate the complaint to their CEO.

Sorting to you satisfaction should be

1. completion of the transfer asap
2. interest backdated to the date of your initial ISA transfer request
3. a reasonable compensation for the extra effort and inconvenience they have caused you

They might not fully play ball on the second point, but you can ask. They must pay you interest from working day 16 after receipt of the transfer request, however.

savetilibleed

Reading this makes me wonder about transfer instructions taken over the phone. I also opened and applied for a transfer into a 123 Exclusive Major ISA, all done in a single phone call.

The transfer was rejected three times because the instruction to the other bank was wrong, even when it apparently wasn't (someone read the form out to me over the phone). I had to act as a go-between the two banks and the other bank ended up phoning Santander to tell THEM what the instruction should be, which worked!

Whilst this was going on, I complained online to Santander. I had one letter from the person there who was trying to progress the transfer. On the same day I had another from their complaints manager, on the lines that they handled the transfer poorly and that I should not have needed to be go-between between the banks. I got £40 compensation. Then today, about a week after, I got another from the same named person but job title was now customer advisor! I dunno!

Good luck and stick with it.

notbritishgas

notbritishgas wrote: »

Yes I did see that on the website and after I cleared down from the phone call I did wonder whether to print out the form and send it as a belt and braces exercise.
In the end I did not and trusted the advisor!! I will update when/if the money hits Santander.

Looks like Halifax do the same.

The transfer has gone through as promised , the money hit my Santander ISA today, completely paperless.

smjxm09

Update

I contacted Santander again on Tuesday after they sent me another text to say they had closed the case yet gain. They maintain that 3 times they have requested the money from the Halifax and 3 times the Halifax has said no.

I then phoned the Halifax again and was told again that they can't see why there is a problem but I needed to speak to the ISA specialist team but they go home at 7.

I phoned tonight at 6:15 and was told that the ISA specialist team finishes work at 6.

I have now lodged a complaint and was told that it might take until Tuesday for someone to look into it.

innovate

Thanks for the update, keep chipping away at it. Don't let Santander off the hook - - they are responsible for the transfer. I would by now have written to their CEO.

It's quite new information though that the Halifax said 'no'.....not sure how this fits with the earlier letter from Santander?

But leaving that to one side: may be the Halifax said 'no' because Santander didn't produce a transfer document signed by you?