HL gone downhill since going public

Pinner_Ram

Since HL listed on the stockmarket the service has gone downhill. Now when I ring up I get surly staff who think they know better. One day I queried why my dividend was not showing at 2pm on the day of payment only to be told that I bought the shares so recently that I didn't qualify for that dividend, I took great delight in pointing out to the little knowitall that I bought the shares over 12 months previously.

Anyway, to my gripe today. My wife has a sizeable S&S ISA with them and in March we decided to transfer it to Cavendish, so saving a few hundred quid a year in charges. To this day nothing has happened. HL deny ever receiving any correspondence despite it being sent three times. Cavendish have now agreed with Fidelity that, at my request, they will send the forms to HL a fourth time, this time by recorded delivery!

How very petty of HL, fast and efficient when assets go to them, dilatory and ineffective when they are asked to transfer assets away (which would, in big amounts, impact negatively on the share price).

Be aware!

joerugby

I've used them for several years and found their service to be very good indeed

srcandas

My only complaints are them using all those trees to repeatedly send me junk by post, and having to wait for them to declare what charges will be in the future. All telephone interaction has been polite and very useful.

But I've never moved anything away from them apart from a bit of ISA cash withdrawal

I'm going to put my HL SIPP into drawdown (£80000 of funds, no trackers + my 25% in cash) and thought I might shop around, especially if there are offers about so I'll note your issues Pinner

Glen_Clark

Why use them at all when you can keep the certificates yourself for nothing?
You might have to if you really need a S&S ISA, but many people save nothing from having shares in an ISA because their gains are below their CGT allowance. They are paying a middleman like Hargreaves for something they can easily do themselves for nothing.

srcandas

Glen_Clark wrote: »

Why use them at all when you can keep the certificates yourself for nothing?
You might have to if you really need a S&S ISA, but many people save nothing from having shares in an ISA because their gains are below their CGT allowance. They are paying a middleman like Hargreaves for something they can easily do themselves for nothing.

It's true that many people think a S&S ISA will save them money and often it will not but an HL ISA does:

save on administration
and does give easier access to a wider range of investments
and some free help
and I think for many access to a SIPP (if I was only ISA I might go elsewhere )

But next year after the shake out it will be a new ball game. Who knows who will offer a good secure timely low cost platform? Answers on a postcard to ....................... :cool:

grizzly1911

Glen_Clark wrote: »

Why use them at all when you can keep the certificates yourself for nothing?

Ho do you get your unit trusts certificated?

I thought there was a cost associated with getting an hard stock/share certificate?

JoeCrystal

grizzly1911 wrote: »

Ho do you get your unit trusts certificated?

I thought there was a cost associated with getting an hard stock/share certificate?

I am not sure you can with unit trust. The closest thing you can come to it is to hold them directly with the fund managers like I did with Neptune for Africa Fund. (You can do it through fund managers' ISA as well). However, the problem with holding fund managers directly is the charges for them is higher (5.00% initial charge and 1.85% annual charge and god know what else) Which is why holding them through platform is popular because the charges is a lot cheaper.

In my case, I do not want to rely on any platform so I keep them directly. It is nice to get statements on my fund value plus a fact sheet every six months so I am not complaining. However, you still need to go through administrative hoops to sell them. So in this case, I am not sure holding unit trusts directly is a good idea after all.

I do have share certificates for all my investments and there is a cost associated with them which can be quite high although I did switch to SVS Securities recently and emailed them today to withdraw my latest purchase onto certificates for £15 so it is possible to find cheaper options if you conduct some research. But generally, for most brokers, the cost is too high like £35 like Halifax.

On the other hand, holding share certificates is much better for me as long buy and hold investor, allowing me to avoid annoying annual fees and so on. Plus you get all the paperwork and dividends delivered to you directly as well taking advantage of scrip dividends.

I am clearly biased for holding the share certificates

Cheers,
Joe

Totton

Not had a problem with HL service which for me has remained excellent, sorry to hear of Pinner Rams issues but wish him well with Cavendish.

gadgetmind

Pinner_Ram wrote: »

One day I queried why my dividend was not showing at 2pm on the day of payment

Out of interest, why did you call them? Dividends will often not show up until the next day, even longer with some platforms.

grizzly1911

JoeCrystal wrote: »

I am not sure you can with unit trust. The closest thing you can come to it is to hold them directly with the fund managers like I did with Neptune for Africa Fund. (You can do it through fund managers' ISA as well). However, the problem with holding fund managers directly is the charges for them is higher (5.00% initial charge and 1.85% annual charge and god know what else) Which is why holding them through platform is popular because the charges is a lot cheaper.

In my case, I do not want to rely on any platform so I keep them directly. It is nice to get statements on my fund value plus a fact sheet every six months so I am not complaining. However, you still need to go through administrative hoops to sell them. So in this case, I am not sure holding unit trusts directly is a good idea after all.

I do have share certificates for all my investments and there is a cost associated with them which can be quite high although I did switch to SVS Securities recently and emailed them today to withdraw my latest purchase onto certificates for £15 so it is possible to find cheaper options if you conduct some research. But generally, for most brokers, the cost is too high like £35 like Halifax.

On the other hand, holding share certificates is much better for me as long buy and hold investor, allowing me to avoid annoying annual fees and so on. Plus you get all the paperwork and dividends delivered to you directly as well taking advantage of scrip dividends.

I am clearly biased for holding the share certificates

Cheers,
Joe

I still have some paper share certificates form historic holdings. I used to have paper fund "evidence" but migrated these over to the platform I use now. The saving on initial fee is reason enough for new stuff.

Glen_Clark

grizzly1911 wrote: »

Ho do you get your unit trusts certificated?

I thought there was a cost associated with getting an hard stock/share certificate?

When I read the platform terms and conditions it put me off (they hold your shares and can put up their charges which you have to pay before you can get your own shares back :eek:) so I have always bought shares in certificated form. It costs a bit more to buy and sell, but I am a buy and hold investor so spread over years its still probably cheaper than a platform - because there are no other charges however long you hold your shares.
I use N&P Building Society (Jarvis) or Skipton Building Society Stocktrade)
N&P UK Stock
Up to £500 £18.50
£501 to £2,000 £25.00
£2,001 to £4,000 £35.00
£4,001 to £6,000 £45.00
£6,001 to £10,000 £55.00
£10,001 and over £65.00
Skipton website says 0.75% with no maximum charge, but I have done deals over £10k and never been charged more than £60

If you know of cheaper rates for Certificated Trades please post